Silk Road forums
Discussion => Philosophy, Economics and Justice => Topic started by: Ahoyhoy on March 18, 2013, 08:39 pm
-
Christians are now in a minority in most advanced European countries and in scandinavian countries are in a distinct minority. In the UK, churchgoing is at an all time low and the influence of the church is extremely low. In the USA however, Christianity is growing at a frightening rate.
Why so?
-
On paper, sure. In heart, doubtful.
True belief is hard to discern among people desperately searching for identity.
You would have to question your sources of information as well. There may be some who benefit by keeping the status quo of Faith as "normal" If you watched the movie Religilous by Bill Mahr - he proclaims that Christianity is in the minority in the U.S. now.
-
Maybe because after WWII life became easier or safer for people, so they felt that they could rely on social programmes if they were in a bind. I had heard or read (a while back now) that in Europe, religeous institutions were also political bodies with some legal authority. Certainly in the USA this really isn't the case - separation of Church & State thing, thus people rebelled against religeous leaders as they were also a kind of LE. Another possibility is that in Europe (and I'm mostly referring to the UK as that is what I am more familiar with) people who did not like the Catholic church (the continentals) or the C of E were ostrasized & thus came to the USA for religeous freedom. Yet another possibility is that, up to the 1950's or there-abouts, most of the US population was rural (I think the figure was around 95% at the early 20th cen.) Yet another possibility is that the USA is just starting to catch up (catch down?) with Europe.
This is a very, very deep question, and a very good one at that. There is probably a multitude of reasons. Personally, the one about religeous leaders being polictical authority figures in Europe but not so much in the USA seems a very logical one to me, but I will be the first to say I know very little about why this is, even though I am a practicing disciple of Jesus Christ myself (who likes drugs, I admit my hypocracy fully).
-
Oh yeah, +1 karma to you both...
:D
-
iono they must really want a celestial dictator in the sky.
a father who never gets out of the way.
comfort of believing the party just keeps on going when you die.
the ability to accept extraordinary claims without extraordinary evidence.
“Jesus is Santa Claus for Adults”
“The person who is certain, and who claims divine warrant for his certainty, belongs now to the infancy of our species.”
All great thoughts and quotes from
― Christopher Hitchens
-
Also, developing one's own prophecy for Life is quite exhausting, albeit pointlessly unending - It can consume your being very quickly to the point where you are no longer experiencing Life as intended. (Again, there is the conflict of what "intent" is)
A very easy alleviation of that cycle is Theism of God(s) or even the opposite; Atheism. The funny thing about Atheism though, is that it is not inherently a school of thought by itself. It is only a reactionary non-belief to an existent belief system. So in the case of Chicken [God(s)] or Egg [No God(s)] - the Chicken was first.
The question is what is the Chicken or does the Chicken, the Egg, the Coup, the Farm and the Farmer even exist.
I wonder what Caveman thought about it - Or if they even did
-
Because it has been the Tradition. In practice there aren't many "True" Christians imo. Most of them would be blind followers of something they have never really given an actual real looking over. Many are just absorbed into the Christian culture based on family tradition, cultural stigma etc etc. Kinda like Islam. Lots of sects but no one really knows whats going on for the most part.
So while the States are nominally Christian in practice I would beg to differ.
-
Funny question, but on target for many reasons. But the real question is, why are there so few REAL christians? I mean, if you read Jesus, he'd be considered, in the US, a lefty-pinko-commie anti american terrorist if he were alive today.
Really, who would Jesus bomb, huh?
-
From a historical standpoint, America was settled by religious fundamentalists. Additionally, our "New World' geography inhibits significant cultural exchange.
-
From a historical standpoint, America was settled by religious fundamentalists. Additionally, our "New World' geography inhibits significant cultural exchange.
Sometimes the short answers are the best. America suffers from a bad case of culture vacuum. Also, contrary to the whole separation of church and state thingy... religion has often played a core role in all levels of local and national politics. This is because of the christian's apparently robust social and economics agenda. Christians, like muslims, love shoving themselves down your throat... it has worked for them in the past.
-
Because that is the religion this country is based upon, and uses to delude the masses. Simple as that. There's a reason why every president sworn in puts his hand on a damn Bible.
-
There was a very interesting book published recently which covers this topic and offers a historian's perspective into role of religion in America's policies. "Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith, Religion in American War and Diplomacy. -Andrew Preston
-
Those documentaries on the link between the evangelists and the American right scare the shit out of me. Thank fuck for the sweet mediocracy of the Church of England - the limpest, most diluted religion in the world and the reason that most Brits consider themselves deists or agnostics. What do you expect from a religion based upon the famiily values of King Henry VIII.
-
What do you get if you cross an Anglican with a Jehova's Witness?
Someone who comes and knocks at your door for no particular reason at all.
-
Why so?
Christianity has been the main religion for quite some time now and people tend to follow social norms/rely on a higher being.
-
Adding to the list, :)
Another theory says that state-sponsorship of religion killed it in Europe. It became "religious socialism". Meanwhile, in America, there was a healthy competition among religions and memes that were the most persuasive in getting people to believe in them (through fear, guilt, and more recently "love bombing" type strategies).
-
And by religions, I meant denominations, because Christianity has never had competition in America.
Without an official state-sanctioned religion or denomination (like Lutheranism in Norway and the Anglican Church in England, for example), people were more free to form splinter denominations, and the most persuasive ones (not necessarily for rational reasons) got more popular. The result is a more religious populace.
-
I am from the USA and a christian just not a right wing nut job. I am a cafeteria catholic. I believe in what makes sense, but their position on birth control is a little out of wack. Alo 20 years ago 95% of us were Cristian now is 76%. I expect that number to grow because hispanics are very catholic and that is where our population growth is comming from.
-
Islam is becoming more popular and Islamists are having alot more kids than Christains
-
There are:
* Christians who are secular and believe in a seperation of church and state. Ultimately they are worldly supernaturalists
* Christians who are not secular and believe in religious domination. Ultimately they are pure supernaturalists.
* Intellectuals who believe there are subjective differences but parts of the world are knowable.
* Intellectuals who believe the world is not knowable.
People are not finding answers as there are more intellectuals who believe the world is not knowable, and are turning to pure supernaturalism. So extreme Christianity and Islam are thriving, because of the neckbeards at the top of our Universities.
-
I think Bullgren was on the right track; religion fills a void left by the lack of culture and social structure in the US. Humans thrive on social interaction, tradition, and a shared sense of community and purpose. Sadly, many people here are lacking those things, but religion can provide them. That is why religious people in the US tend to be happier than the non religious.
I think that most religious people, when really pressed about some of their more absurd ideals (like birth control, or the evils of homosexuality) will admit that they don't really believe these things but assert that their church is good overall.
So what is the cure to the scourge of Islam/Christianity?
The first step is to provide an alternative social structure.
-Richard Dawkins does a great job of addressing some of these issues on his YouTube videos. See Slaves to Superstition and The Enemies of Reason
-
i remember hearing that "80 % of americans are born into the christian belief system in one way, shape, or form."
which is the same for most countries. they have a main religion that the majority are going to be born into, without a choice.