Maybe there is a churchless God after all, because my prayers are being answered: Christianity is becoming less influential in American culture and politics.
So argues Jon Meacham persuasively in Newsweek's "The End of Christian America" — just in time for Easter weekend.
The percentage of self-identified Christians has dropped 10 points since 1990, from 86 to 76 percent. People unaffiliated with any faith have doubled to 16 percent. The number of agnostics and atheists has quadrupled.
As if this wasn't enough to throw Christian fundamentalists into a frenzy, this week they also had to deal with President Obama's remarks in Turkey.
great strengths of the United
States is — although as I mentioned, we have a
very large Christian population, we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation
or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation; we consider ourselves a nation of
citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of
values.
It's difficult for me to see how anyone could disagree with those sentiments. But folks on Fox News managed it.
Optimist that I am, I'm confident that one day in the not-hugely-distant future fundamentalist religious beliefs are going to be looked upon like racism is now: as a deluded thought process.
People used to view some races as superior. Most humans have moved to a higher level of understanding now. Yet a majority of people still see certain religious beliefs (namely, their own) as being superior to other dogmas.
So this is why it makes sense to say that "fundamentalism is religious racism." For a long time the United States condoned slavery and overt racism.
Eventually a belief that certain people are favored by God, while others are doomed to an inferior life (and afterlife) will be viewed as equally ignorant and uncivilized. The decline in Christian fervor is a positive step in that direction, but we still have a long ways to go.
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I’d love to believe this will one day be true, but I ain’t gonna hold me breath. 🙂
“Optimist that I am, I’m confident that one day in the not-hugely-distant future fundamentalist religious beliefs are going to be looked upon like racism is now: as a deluded thought process.”
Amen Brother!!!!
you hit the nail on the head!