America's belief in God hits new low

[brooklynite]

Axios

The number of Americans who believe in God has dropped to the lowest level in the 78 years Gallup has asked the question, per a poll out Friday.

Driving the news: 81% of U.S. adults say they believe in God — down 6 points from 2017.

Belief in God dropped the most among young adults and liberals and Democrats, with these groups showing a drop of 10 or more percentage points compared to an average of polls from 2013 to 2017, Gallup found.

More than 90% of Americans believed in God between 1944 and 2011.

[The Magistrate]

1. Evangelical Political Work Is Really Paying Off, Sir

[spooky3]

3. LOL! Nt

[uponit7771]

9. +1, they are evangelizing there is no god but Trump

[spooky3]

2. We're starting to resemble Europe in these numbers.

Aussies also point out that our politicians talk a lot more about religion than theirs do, but I don’t know what their answers would be on this survey.

[The Magistrate]

12. One Of The Great Founding Mistakes, Sir, Was To Refain From Establishing A State Church

People come to regard such as an onerous duty to be shirked, and view it as a sort of bureaucracy, something no one likes any better than the local DMV.

On a larger view, blather about the 'Christian West' or 'Judeo-Christian principles' misses the one sure point of the world's recent development. The reason the West rose and thrived, dominating all others, is precisely because people and governments in the West ceased taking their religion too seriously. This commenced after the great bloodletting of the Thirty Years War, the last great religious war we threw in this part of the world. Anyone running a state could see the fanaticism was bad for the business of maintaining and profiting from authoritarian governance, and began a process of 'toleration acts', allowing subjects to go to hell in their own way, without government lifting a finger to save them from themselves.

[haele]

33. I remember an interesting discussion on the Religion for Breakfast channel

About the difference between a Civil Religion (which is basically a group of secular common ethics practice and rituals that is legally toothless but build a common communal baseline) and a State Religion, which is an official legally protected required Religious practice.

Civil Religion typically shows up as providing non-denominational, non-judgemental community services for those who need a higher, accessable spiritual based power to help them help themselves. Face it, there's a majority of people who emotionally need and seek approval from a higher power to direct hard decisions and actions.

His point, if I remember correctly, is that if Civil Religion going so far as to mention a generic blessing or God, while rightfully fractious to anti-theists and various individualist right groups, must always remain secular and non-forced to the general population. It must be available and accepting of all practices, including Atheism, that will not harm the Social Contract.

A State Religion enforces morals and ethics. A Civil Religion should support community.

BTW, Religion for Breakfast is a long running channel hosted by a religious studies major who is basically an Atheist Anthropologist.
It's a very informative channel that covers a wide range of religious and cult archeology, practices, definitions, and evolution, and he always has interesting scholarly guests that will occasionally co-host with him. This channel is really good resource for Atheists and Cult deprogrammer types who want to find the actual histories, available evidence and artifacts that religions and cults are based on laid out in easy to follow laymen's terms. He also does debunking on occasion.

Haele

[FoxNewsSucks]

4. 81% is still pretty high

Someone should ask them the question I saw on Duncanpup's thread - Why does god's plan never include republicons doing the right thing?

I'd also ask why god's "plan" seems to be for good people to suffer the most and greedy assholes to get the most.

[Wounded Bear]

11. "Belief in god" does not equate to belonging to a church...

and an even smaller group of those who belong to churches are in the Evangelical Taliban. Talibangelists, I call them.

Your questions are pertinent, to be sure.

[jimfields33]

27. God gave free will. That's why evil exists.

Perhaps he should not have given free will. I don’t know. I’ll ask that and a few more when I see him after death.

[Dysfunctional]

28. Then we would just be another animal. Sometimes I think God should have rested on the sixth day.

[jimfields33]

29. Good point. Lol on resting an additional day. Probably should have.

[hlthe2b]

5. Honestly? I am surprised it is that high...

The young have largely picked up on the RW fundamentalist exploitation of religion to promote bigotry, selfishness, greed, misogyny, racism, and homophobia. That inevitably impacts the more tolerant denominations and religion in general.

[spooky3]

25. There is still a social disapproval problem. Many don't want to tell

A survey taker that they don’t believe. So the number may be higher than reality.

[EYESORE 9001]

6. Jesus and the lottery

Faith in those two saviors is all that keeps some people going.

[HardPort]

7. Which one?

Are we talking Thor? Anubis? Vishnu? Quetzalcoatl? Flying Spaghetti Monster?

I'd rather have any of them than the made-up misogynistic murderer one finds in the pages of the Old Testament ... that's just this old atheist/agnostic's opinion, though.

[czarjak]

15. The Mormon one. Of course. It's like a miracle.

[HardPort]

21. Ah -- The Mormon one! That dude is a hoot and a horndawg! (as many wives as stars in the night)

Here's a brief look at the words of the Mormon god (yes, I was raised in that cult), from D&C 132. I can't imagine reading this and thinking, yessiree--that's the god for me! (This is god's message to Joe Smith's wife if she didn't like him taking 14-year-old girls to wed.)

52 And let mine handmaid, Emma Smith, receive all those that have been given unto my servant Joseph, and who are virtuous and pure before me; and those who are not pure, and have said they were pure, shall be destroyed, saith the Lord God.

53 For I am the Lord thy God, and ye shall obey my voice, and I give unto my servant Joseph that he shall be made ruler over many things; for he hath been faithful over a few things, and from henceforth I will strengthen him.

54 And I command mine handmaid, Emma Smith, to abide and cleave unto my servant Joseph, and to none else. But if she will not abide this commandment she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord; for I am the Lord thy God, and will destroy her if she abides not in my law.

[czarjak]

34. Being raised Assembly of God, and having an uncle and three cousins who preached...

Trust me, I learned about the evils of "that sham religion" from an early. (Of course they're all shams)

[msfiddlestix]

16. ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ n/t

[rurallib]

19. In a new poll, 35% of gods no longer believe in Americans

[eppur_se_muova]

8. It's progress. nt

[Miguelito Loveless]

10. Well, since according to AG Paxton

"God's Plan" is that children are slaughtered in schools with high power, military grade weapons, I want nothing to do with their "god".

[msfiddlestix]

13. LOL.

oh lordy, lordy

81% of U.S. population "believe" in the dog?



Trying to remember, was this question put to census takers?

When I register to vote, or renew my drivers license, or open a new credit card account, I do not recall ever being asked if I believe.

Maybe I've always missed the national religion affiliation registry.

[Girard442]

14. God's belief in America isn't doing too particularly well either.

[USALiberal]

17. GOD, an imaginary friend for grownups!!!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

18. I blame the Republicans for trying to co-opt God.

[exboyfil]

20. How many people say yes because they don't want to hurt those they care for?

I have gradually drifted away from Christianity. Still working out what I do believe.

I am not going to openly state it because I have people in my life who would be hurt by my denial. I will maintain this level of intellectual dishonesty to prevent them from grief and heartache. They are people who use their faith as a comfort and not a sword.

[roamer65]

22. The belief in the Evangelicals version of God is even lower.

[edhopper]

23. This would make

Atheist/Agnostics the 3rd largest religious group in America, on par with Catholics.

https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/

Yet with no political clout. The disparity to groups like Mormons and Jews, with under 2% each is palpable.

[SoonerPride]

24. Fairy tales are for children.

[Srkdqltr]

26. I now look at religion or churches as social like clubs.

Many people I know who talk about finding a new church talk mostly about the social aspects. Were they welcomed, was the welcome sincere. were there outreach groups or charity groups. Did they have gatherings besides services. Was there coffee after the service. Stuff like that.

[LakeArenal]

30. God seems mean, unjust, judge-mental, vindictive and downright

crude, rude and not very omnipotent.

I would have made up a much nicer god. Maybe make tv shows that god is really a space alien.

[maxsolomon]

32. Used to be there were nicer gods. Venus/Aphrodite for instance.

The lack of a nice (female) God prompted Christians to turn Mary into one.

Jesus is also pretty nice compared to his dad.

[maxsolomon]

31. Good.

Also, 81% contains a large number who are hedging their bets.