JUST SAW THIS ON HEADLINE NEWS
Offline While trying not to get distracted by Robin Meade's huge "telepromters" I caught the story that people who claim no religious affiliation has gone from 86% in 01 to 76% today. (no link, just saw the story on cable news)
Now while it is true it is hard to get an accurate account of people claim the label religious, the number of people who don't go to church, don't hold a religious label, or flat out don't believe has jumped to roughly 15% of the population.
This is good news for secularists and atheists. I can honestly see the change from where this country was in 01 to where we are now. BUT if we want those numbers to increase, it is up to every one of us to connect with local media, national media.
No one here should expect overnight victories. Movements are slow and take time. Our goal is not to force religion out of existence via government force, but to get the word out that good lives can be lived without belief in fairy tales.
To the theist reading this, we live today without belief in the Egyptian sun god, once believed in for over 3,000 years. We no longer believe that the world is flat. What makes you think you need to believe in virgin births(which we have no evidence for) or magical harems in the sky?
The fact is that humans make up gods and believe in them. And human history repeats itself in every generation by splitting, changing and morphing.
Atheists don't want a violent take over to dominate the world, anymore than Christians would want Islam to violently take over the world. We simply want humans to think for themselves and be unafraid to question themselves introspectively and be willing to put their beliefs to scrutiny.
If someone offered you a kaleidoscope to look at the stars, would you take them up on it? But if they offered you a telescope, would you take them up on it? We are simply offering the world a better way of thinking without the shackles of ancient myth. It is up to you to want to look at it, and it is our hope that you do.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
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Things have been going better than I would have anticipated 3 years ago. I now predict that number you gave will jump further in the next ten to fifteen years to incorporate about 40% of the population. Once it gets to 80% in our favour(maybe 50-100 years?), most of the hard work will be done. Only the hardcore fanatics will remain. And like UFO/ghost/conspiracy nuts, religion will be reduced to the ridiculous. But we can't stop until we get there. And even then we can't stop, or we invite a reversal of momentum.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
Well, I would not mind having a link. Since you saw it on TV, that only happens if I impress you enough to google one up for me.
The thing here is that it is a statistic. What I want to know is what the question they asked was. Only from that can we really go anywhere. The numbers change all over the place because different questions are being asked.
Just for grins, let me make up some fake numbers that might match to different questions.
Do you believe in something/anything? Probably 95%
Do you believe that some part of you is so special that it will exist after you die? Somewhere around 60%
Do you believe that the earth is only 6,000 years old? I really hope that most people are on top of this one. <20%
Do you believe that pi=3.0 (the bible actually is specific on this one)? I am going to go out on a limb here but I think that there are people who are both Christians ad engineers at the same time.
=
In that goal we must not let them think that our goal is forcefull oppression via government, but wrather getting the word out to a better alturnitive to superstition.
I don't want theists thinking that, even with my blunt criticism and blasphemy, that I am out to spark up ovens. I would be just as horrified as an atheist if I had been there to witness the genocide of Hitler.
I am for example against China's oppression of many religions. I am against the opression of Christians, Jews and atheists in Iran. BUT that doesn't mean I buy the superstition that believers do, nor does it mean I wont try to show them the error in the position they hold.
Theists should be threatend by our postion, but not for the reasons they think. What they call a "threat" we merely see as challenge to them to be intellectually introspective and be willing to go outside their comfort zone. A belief worth defending can withstand the daylight of scrutiny and is not propped up by popular belief or naked assertions.
Their insecurities allow them to call it a threat, when the reality is that we are merely putting the word out maybe they should be unafraid to examine their own fantastical claims.
Sometimes telling the truth hurts, but once someone faces it, they are much better off. What they fail to consider is that we are trying to help them, not hurt them. If humans can leave behind claims of sun gods and Thor making lighting, they can leave behind the bad claims of virgin births and magical harems in the sky.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
I couldn't agree more. A suggestion that we're "sparking up ovens" or anything even remotely similar would be the worst blow we could deal ourselves. It would unmake all of our progress in the last few years if atheists started spouting such idiocy.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
Thats why when I blaspheme Christianity I like to remind those whom I am criticising that the founders also did the same. How can they attack criticism when the founders, whom were a variety of beliefs, criticised religion as well. They cant really call you a commie if you support the First Amendment. If they accept the fact you do, then the only thing they have left they can do is attempt to make a coherent argument for their position.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
I saw it here:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/03/09/us.religion.less.christian/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
The decline in mainline Protestantism continues. But it is finally become socially acceptable to be non-religious in many parts of the country. So expect the decline to continue.
Taxation is the price we pay for failing to build a civilized society. The higher the tax level, the greater the failure. A centrally planned totalitarian state represents a complete defeat for the civilized world, while a totally voluntary society represents its ultimate success. --Mark Skousen
One thing I fear about this study, as I've seen these numbers floating around the web lately, is this: I know a good deal of "Christians" who claim they aren't religious, don't go to church. But are still just as wacky in their theist beliefs. They just don't like the label of being a religious person.
I just hope this number doesn't include such people, because otherwise there really hasn't been a decline.