Mary Dunsmore
Member
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2018
- Messages
- 129
- Reaction score
- 42
- Location
- UK (God save the Queen)
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Other
Coming from the UK, I have noticed quite a large divide between the US and and us lot over the pond. Of course, our predominant religion is Christianity, albeit Islam is growing at an alarming rate. 49% of Brits now consider themselves atheist or non religious, 43% say they are Christian, whilst only 67000 actually go to church, that's barely 1% of the population. In the US 78% of the country claim to be Christians, and 62% of the population claim to be part of a congregation. Only 3.1% of the US public admit to being atheist, whilst 5% are agnostic. Of course, it's easy to argue the figures, but nobody can pretend the the US isn't a far more religious country than the UK. Fortunately for you, your religion will slow down the Islamic take over of the west, so well done for that.
I have always been aware that the US is more religious than the UK, but after reading the figures I am shocked by how much. From a personal standpoint I have it very strange that anyone can believe in a non proven mythical being, especially after we have disproven so much in the bible. I have a wide array of friends, and only one of those actually believes in God, and even he isn't particularly religious. I don't know anyone who attends church. However, I respect anyone who has a religion, and to some extent I am little jealous. Of course, my respect goes when somebody follows a religion that is not peaceful and preaches little else but hate and intolerance, and I think you may know which one I refer to. My question is, that although our two cultures are reasonably close, why is there this massive gap in religious belief ??
Coming from the UK, I have noticed quite a large divide between the US and and us lot over the pond. Of course, our predominant religion is Christianity, albeit Islam is growing at an alarming rate. 49% of Brits now consider themselves atheist or non religious, 43% say they are Christian, whilst only 67000 actually go to church, that's barely 1% of the population. In the US 78% of the country claim to be Christians, and 62% of the population claim to be part of a congregation. Only 3.1% of the US public admit to being atheist, whilst 5% are agnostic. Of course, it's easy to argue the figures, but nobody can pretend the the US isn't a far more religious country than the UK. Fortunately for you, your religion will slow down the Islamic take over of the west, so well done for that.
I have always been aware that the US is more religious than the UK, but after reading the figures I am shocked by how much. From a personal standpoint I have it very strange that anyone can believe in a non proven mythical being, especially after we have disproven so much in the bible. I have a wide array of friends, and only one of those actually believes in God, and even he isn't particularly religious. I don't know anyone who attends church. However, I respect anyone who has a religion, and to some extent I am little jealous. Of course, my respect goes when somebody follows a religion that is not peaceful and preaches little else but hate and intolerance, and I think you may know which one I refer to. My question is, that although our two cultures are reasonably close, why is there this massive gap in religious belief ??
Our cultures are not "reasonably close", but it's funny that you think that. I've actually been across the pond, it's not at all like here. It's also not near as "religious" here as maybe it seems. We have a very loud evangelical crowd, small, nutty and deluded, but loud and with political power. Mostly over making people believ nonsense about murdering babies and scaring them with a mythical hell. Fact is, Hell was a Christian invention for social control, made up by some English guy I think, back in the 1400s or 1800, I don't recall for sure, but I read up on it once. Sill people realyy. I believe in god, but I don't think it much cares about religion. There's plenty of good in most religions, and they give purpose and meaning to millions, and personally I think "god" whatever it is is probably fine with that, but it's just silly people trying to simplify things to terms we can undersand.
I do really enjoy British humor, I could watch Monty Python and Benny Hill reruns all day
Outside of Leftbubble, America is OVERWHELMINGLY CHRISTIAN, they just do not hang around with you.
Outside of Leftbubble, America is OVERWHELMINGLY CHRISTIAN, they just do not hang around with you.
‘Christian America’ dwindling, including white evangelicals, study shows
(RNS) — The future of religion in America is young, non-Christian and technicolor.
Almost every Christian denomination in the U.S. shows signs of growing diversity as white Christians, once the majority in most mainline Protestant and Catholic denominations, give way to younger members, who tend to be of different races, according to a study released Wednesday (Sept. 6) by the Public Religion Research Institute.
And American evangelicals — once seemingly immune to the decline experienced by their Catholic and mainline Protestant neighbors — are losing numbers and losing them quickly.
Americans are also continuing to move away from organized religion altogether, as atheists, agnostics and those who say they do not identify with any particular religion — the group known as the “nones” — hold steady at about one-quarter (24 percent) of the population.
The study, “America’s Changing Religious Identity,” contacted 101,000 Americans in 50 states, and has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 0.4 percentage points. And while the survey spotlights transformations afoot in many religious groups, it also shows a seismic shift for a long-standing American religious powerhouse: white evangelicals.
“This report provides solid evidence of a new, second wave of white Christian decline that is occurring among white evangelical Protestants just over the last decade in the U.S.,” said Robert P. Jones, PRRI’s CEO and author of “The End of White Christian America.”
“Prior to 2008, white evangelical Protestants seemed to be exempt from the waves of demographic change and disaffiliation that were eroding the membership bases of white mainline Protestants and white Catholics,” he said.
“We now see that these waves simply crested later for white evangelical Protestants.”
Among the survey’s chief findings:
White Christians, 81 percent of the population in 1976, now account for less than half the public — 43 percent of Americans identify as white Christians, and 30 percent as white Protestants....
Coming from the UK, I have noticed quite a large divide between the US and and us lot over the pond. Of course, our predominant religion is Christianity, albeit Islam is growing at an alarming rate. 49% of Brits now consider themselves atheist or non religious, 43% say they are Christian, whilst only 67000 actually go to church, that's barely 1% of the population. In the US 78% of the country claim to be Christians, and 62% of the population claim to be part of a congregation. Only 3.1% of the US public admit to being atheist, whilst 5% are agnostic. Of course, it's easy to argue the figures, but nobody can pretend the the US isn't a far more religious country than the UK. Fortunately for you, your religion will slow down the Islamic take over of the west, so well done for that.
I have always been aware that the US is more religious than the UK, but after reading the figures I am shocked by how much. From a personal standpoint I have it very strange that anyone can believe in a non proven mythical being, especially after we have disproven so much in the bible. I have a wide array of friends, and only one of those actually believes in God, and even he isn't particularly religious. I don't know anyone who attends church. However, I respect anyone who has a religion, and to some extent I am little jealous. Of course, my respect goes when somebody follows a religion that is not peaceful and preaches little else but hate and intolerance, and I think you may know which one I refer to. My question is, that although our two cultures are reasonably close, why is there this massive gap in religious belief ??
As a former Episcopalian/Anglican, I look at England and appreciate anew the separation of church and state in the United States.
Fortunately for you, your religion will slow down the Islamic take over of the west, so well done for that.
Europe is decidedly more secular = the birthplace of socialism ( "The Social Contract"-Rousseau, 1762) and all of its bastard, atheist children : communism,("The Communist Manifesto"-Marx, Engels, etal.,1848) nazism, ("Mein Kampf"-Hitler, 1924) fascism ( "The Doctrine of Facism"-Mussolini, 1932) , all of which are dependent upon atheism, as a starting point.
This is insight into the European flight from Faith.
Coming from the UK, I have noticed quite a large divide between the US and and us lot over the pond. Of course, our predominant religion is Christianity, albeit Islam is growing at an alarming rate. 49% of Brits now consider themselves atheist or non religious, 43% say they are Christian, whilst only 67000 actually go to church, that's barely 1% of the population. In the US 78% of the country claim to be Christians, and 62% of the population claim to be part of a congregation. Only 3.1% of the US public admit to being atheist, whilst 5% are agnostic. Of course, it's easy to argue the figures, but nobody can pretend the the US isn't a far more religious country than the UK. Fortunately for you, your religion will slow down the Islamic take over of the west, so well done for that.
I have always been aware that the US is more religious than the UK, but after reading the figures I am shocked by how much. From a personal standpoint I have it very strange that anyone can believe in a non proven mythical being, especially after we have disproven so much in the bible. I have a wide array of friends, and only one of those actually believes in God, and even he isn't particularly religious. I don't know anyone who attends church. However, I respect anyone who has a religion, and to some extent I am little jealous. Of course, my respect goes when somebody follows a religion that is not peaceful and preaches little else but hate and intolerance, and I think you may know which one I refer to. My question is, that although our two cultures are reasonably close, why is there this massive gap in religious belief ??
Coming from the UK, I have noticed quite a large divide between the US and and us lot over the pond. Of course, our predominant religion is Christianity, albeit Islam is growing at an alarming rate. 49% of Brits now consider themselves atheist or non religious, 43% say they are Christian, whilst only 67000 actually go to church, that's barely 1% of the population. In the US 78% of the country claim to be Christians, and 62% of the population claim to be part of a congregation. Only 3.1% of the US public admit to being atheist, whilst 5% are agnostic. Of course, it's easy to argue the figures, but nobody can pretend the the US isn't a far more religious country than the UK. Fortunately for you, your religion will slow down the Islamic take over of the west, so well done for that.
I have always been aware that the US is more religious than the UK, but after reading the figures I am shocked by how much. From a personal standpoint I have it very strange that anyone can believe in a non proven mythical being, especially after we have disproven so much in the bible. I have a wide array of friends, and only one of those actually believes in God, and even he isn't particularly religious. I don't know anyone who attends church. However, I respect anyone who has a religion, and to some extent I am little jealous. Of course, my respect goes when somebody follows a religion that is not peaceful and preaches little else but hate and intolerance, and I think you may know which one I refer to. My question is, that although our two cultures are reasonably close, why is there this massive gap in religious belief ??
Assuming that an "Islamic take over of the west" is unstoppably moving ahead, how can the US religion be particularly potent at "slowing it down?"
Also, is the atheism community idle in the matter?
It's my belief that a countries culture is largely driven by religion. That is to say the UK is presently considered a Christian country. Islam is growing rapidly, whereas practising Christians are becoming a thing of the past. Once Islam becomes the dominant religion (not in my lifetime) the UK will become an Islamic state. The fact that the demographic remains predominantly white Anglo Saxon will become irrelevant. Already we have senior Muslim politicians and Muslim Lord mayors of large cities is an indication of what I am predicting. Due to the fact the US have far more practising Christians than we do will surely slow down the infestation of Islam. Anyway, for your sake's I hope I am right.
I am a atheist and live in America. With the United Kingdom, you have the state religion and it does not need to make a profit to stay around. With America, most churches have to pay the bills like a loan to the bank. I have noticed a number of churches that have gone bankrupt and closed. They need new members because they see them as donors to the church. In fairness, a American church is a business model to get more people and high donors willing to give to the church -- that is why we have megachurches with a vast amount of people with deep pockets to donate to the church. That is also the reason why the conservative movement wants low taxes so the donors have more capital to give to the church. If the government did everything that Christian values ask to be done and and taxed the wealthy -- the churches would collapse and close.
Europe is decidedly more secular = the birthplace of socialism ( "The Social Contract"-Rousseau, 1762) and all of its bastard, atheist children : communism,("The Communist Manifesto"-Marx, Engels, etal.,1848) nazism, ("Mein Kampf"-Hitler, 1924) fascism ( "The Doctrine of Facism"-Mussolini, 1932) , all of which are dependent upon atheism, as a starting point.
This is insight into the European flight from Faith.
Hi there Atheist,
Do you see anything in particular in Islam that has a fighting chance to turn you over to the religious side and sort of take over from where Christianity may have left you?
See previous post above for some discussion and reference.
From a personal standpoint I have it very strange that anyone can believe in a non proven mythical being, especially after we have disproven so much in the bible.
Christians have been around 2,000 years and Islam has been around less time. If you take Africa, all of Africa having contact with Christian values has been only done during the 20th century. Even that I am a white male, being a African American I would have direct issues about being a Christian. As a observer, we discovered the black African without being connected with the Islamic world. They went centuries without understanding Christian values, so they died and went to hell. If that was Gods will, we came to accept them as slaves. Since we accepted them as slaves, it did not become practical to or wanted to give knowledge of the Christian God until the last century. So, you can be a black African that is a Christian, but, your great grandfather is burning in hell because he had no knowledge of being a Christian.
I assumed you were an atheist like your username is called.
Assuming that an "Islamic take over of the west" is unstoppably moving ahead, how can the US religion be particularly potent at "slowing it down?"
Also, is the atheism community idle in the matter?
Coming from the UK, I have noticed quite a large divide between the US and and us lot over the pond. Of course, our predominant religion is Christianity, albeit Islam is growing at an alarming rate. 49% of Brits now consider themselves atheist or non religious, 43% say they are Christian, whilst only 67000 actually go to church, that's barely 1% of the population. In the US 78% of the country claim to be Christians, and 62% of the population claim to be part of a congregation. Only 3.1% of the US public admit to being atheist, whilst 5% are agnostic. Of course, it's easy to argue the figures, but nobody can pretend the the US isn't a far more religious country than the UK. Fortunately for you, your religion will slow down the Islamic take over of the west, so well done for that.
I have always been aware that the US is more religious than the UK, but after reading the figures I am shocked by how much. From a personal standpoint I have it very strange that anyone can believe in a non proven mythical being, especially after we have disproven so much in the bible. I have a wide array of friends, and only one of those actually believes in God, and even he isn't particularly religious. I don't know anyone who attends church. However, I respect anyone who has a religion, and to some extent I am little jealous. Of course, my respect goes when somebody follows a religion that is not peaceful and preaches little else but hate and intolerance, and I think you may know which one I refer to. My question is, that although our two cultures are reasonably close, why is there this massive gap in religious belief ??
I am a atheist and live in America. With the United Kingdom, you have the state religion and it does not need to make a profit to stay around. With America, most churches have to pay the bills like a loan to the bank. I have noticed a number of churches that have gone bankrupt and closed. They need new members because they see them as donors to the church. In fairness, a American church is a business model to get more people and high donors willing to give to the church -- that is why we have megachurches with a vast amount of people with deep pockets to donate to the church. That is also the reason why the conservative movement wants low taxes so the donors have more capital to give to the church. If the government did everything that Christian values ask to be done and and taxed the wealthy -- the churches would collapse and close.
I'm an atheist but I'm not part of any 'Community' on that account. We do not congregate to sing dopey songs or dress up in silly clothes or anything of that sort.
yes, that is true
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?