No. of Recommendations: 7
America doesn't need more God. It needs more atheists.https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/10/03...We need Americans who demand ' as atheists do ' that truth claims be tethered to fact. We need Americans who understand ' as atheists do ' that the future of the world is in our hands. And in this particular political moment, we need Americans to stand up to Christian nationalists who are using their growing political and judicial power to take away our rights. Atheists can do that.At age 12, when confirmed in the Episcopal Church, I was a true believer. Later I lost that false faith but thought that maybe humanity needed religion; that it was still, at least partially, a force for good. Now I think it is a source for irrational thinking and endless conflict.
No. of Recommendations: 7
I've only been to two weddings in my adult life (three total...). One in 2019, one last weekend. It's dangerous to declare a trend from two weddings but one thing struck me at both. In both cases, the weddings not only weren't IN a physical church, they were not "in" any church at all, in any sense of the word. The officiant at each was a friend of the couple who possibly obtained their credential for conducting a marriage by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope to an address in an ad in the back of Rolling Stone. In both weddings, the couples wrote and read their own vows (about 90-120 seconds each) and NOTHING in those vows mentioned anything about God at all.
That doesn't bother me at all but it was interesting to think that organized religion has so thoroughly screwed the proverbial pooch with its protection and coverup of sexual abuse in pretty much every denomination, it has lost all moral authority and claim on the minds of upcoming generations. They DO NOT CARE at all about anything even hinting about religion. I suspect most treat religion as another category of politics -- something they see as completely disconnected from meaningful (positive) impacts on their life and therefore only eyeroll-worthy. And in both of these cases, these were couples of really well-adjusted, hard working kids who seemed to have a really good set of friends around them who are all likely pretty similar in their thinking.
WTH
No. of Recommendations: 2
Would you please label these atheist posts as OT? ;P
I never was a believer. I went to Sunday School, etc., but the religion bit seemed more like science fiction and fantasy than reality. My father had become an atheist over time.
We have Gods and Religion because we are like that. They are a source for irrational thinking and conflict, but not the only source. And now we need to combat sources by getting out the vote and taking critical states. Whos designed this thing anyway?
No. of Recommendations: 3
I have to pay to read that one. But I do know that the share of the population who claim "none" when surveyed about religion is up dramatically. Twenty years ago, or so, it was around 12% (flying from memory), but today it's about 35%. Just in the US. Other nations are farther along than us, with Denmark and Scandanavia clocking in around 80%.
Back in the day, benjd25 could be relied upon to post articles about surveys from time to time (as well as some difficult philosophical questions). But, as I recall, the oldsters are dying-off, and the youngsters are leaving the church (any church). JWs and Mormons especially aren't keeping their children (which can be problematic since both engage in "shunning" people who leave their church).
I was raised loosely religious. Dad and stepmom talked about Jesus and God as matter-of-fact, but no bible-thumping, and no attending of services. Even when I entered college, I thought there was something to it, and asked questions like "since energy can't be destroyed, where does the energy that is my lifeforce go when I die". (Answer: if that is even a coherent question, it would be "entropy".) But I already knew the bible was rubbish just with Noah's Ark (I'll forego the lengthy explanations of why that is complete BS). By the time I graduated, I was convinced there were no deities at all. I was (and still am) open to new evidence. It won't be coming from christians as their belief system is self-contradictory, illogical, and flies in the face of what we know about many topics (e.g. neither Genesis nor Exodus happened as described; neither book aligns with what we know and can prove today).
One of the reasons I am no longer a Republican was the growing influence of religion in the party. Reagan really started that with his alliance with Falwell. I didn't like it at the time, but let it slide. By 2000, candidate Bush Jr was spouting all that rubbish on the campaign trail (i.e. christian victimhood, etc). "You're violating my religious freedom by saying I can't discriminate against anyone I don't like."** I changed my registration to "independent" within a year of that. Then in 2008, McCain (my senator) injected a bunch of religion into his campaign (pandering), plus picked that loudmouth moron as a running mate, and I knew it was like a disease. My senator had never spoken like that before, and normally wouldn't have tolerated that harpie running mate. I voted Obama that year. Ironically, I think Obama was more devout than McCain, but he kept it private (as it should be). It wasn't a plank of his platform.
And so here we are today. The evangelicals are exercising out-sized power, punching above their weight. There really aren't that many of them, but a lot of Republican officials cow-tow to them. Of course, there are a few open atheists in Congress now (where it would have been almost unthinkable to declare atheism while running for office). Sinema is one. I suspect there are many more who are in the closet. But we're moving more toward open atheism, and that will be a good thing. It won't solve all our disagreements, but at least we can get magical thinking out of the discussion.
**Bush didn't say that, but it was an example of christian victimhood that we still see today.
