9 in 10 Americans Continue To Believe in God (born, preacher, atheist)

[DennyCrane]

Not sure if this has been posted already. If it has, feel free to disregard. This poll came out today.

Gallup Poll

No surprise, but still disappointing. Maybe there's hope. Young people believe less in God. I guess when you come out of school with mountains of debt and no job, it's hard to believe in a higher power.

[Chango]

I don't think it's really a problem to believe (more like hope ) there is a higher power somewhere in the universe...

...but when they belive god demands a 10% cut, wants them to hate gay people, wants them to force other people to think/behave the same as them, ect, ect. that's an issue.

There is no need to get rid of belief in god, just belief in a stupid god.

[LargeKingCat]

Reason and Logic will help usher the "stupid god" out the door....

I see with religious people first and over whelming fear, socond ignorance. I think those are the two greatest factors that diety has in his favor. If we tell our kids from an early age that there is this guy named "God" He looks like us, he created us in his image to be like him, he has an ego that has to be worshipped or else that if you disobey or believe the wrong things about him (including attending the wrong worship to stoke his ego ) or say the wrong thing, or because you were born in the wrong country, follow the wrong path, he'll kick your booty all the way to hell for eternal damnation, well, kids, not knowing any better, not having the ability to rationalize that such an entity could not possibly exist, Well, they may grow up believing it and teaching it to their kids as well.

For Example
That is what happened through generations of my family UNTIL I said NO MORE THE BUCK STOPS HERE !!! and I teach my kids to use logic, inteelegence an d reason not fear and blind faith to solve problems and explain the world....No longer will children have to go to bed at night for fear of the Boogeyman with red skin and horns, (in fact they have no concept of that non-entity either) Nor will they have to endure Sunday mornings of abuse at the hands of fundamentalist prigs who spout hellfire and brimstone, quote some historical mythical book at random and contribute to a midieval thinking which poisons the mind as well as the soul.
Keeps me too, from having to explain why the preacher's daughter ran away from home due to sexual abuse (Like what happened in the church I attended as a child) or why, years later, in My parents church, the pastor got defrocked from the pulpit for having "Numerous adulterous affairs" Not that there is anything wrong with that, if all parties agree, but if you are the kind of guy who likes to park the limousine in the neighbor's garage, then don't be a part of a religious movement which openly condemns such activity.

This is the 21st Century. Logic and Reason Must prevail, and we who are the more educated and the more intellegent need to do our part to show that mankind was not saved by some guy who got killed by the Romans because he irked some jews 2000 years ago, but that our planet and humanity is saved by our own efforts.
We need to step up against the ignorance that is outdated theistic thinking, and as Chango said, we need to foster and encourage positive, healthy belief, whether in god or not, but s something that is truly good.
Oh and Chango, it wouldn't let me give you reps until I spread them around some more so I have to go hunt down Rifleman and Mercury Cougar then I will be back

[Asheville Native]

[Stokes172]

I'm an atheist but laugh at the bible thumpers as much as I laugh at the people who complain about the bible thumpers.

Must be because I am a conservative.

reminds me of an old joke.

Conservative vs Liberal

* If a conservative doesn't like guns, he doesn`t buy one.
* If a liberal doesn't like guns, he feels that no one should have one.

* If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn`t eat meat.
* If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants to ban all meat products for everyone.

* If a conservative sees a foreign threat, he thinks about how to defeat his enemy.
* A liberal wonders how to surrender gracefully and still look good.

* If a conservative doesn't practice religion he leads his life without it.
*If a Liberal doesn't practice religion he demands all western based religions be banned.


* If a conservative is homosexual, he quietly leads his life.
* If a liberal is homosexual, he loudly demands legislated respect.


* If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation.
* A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.

* If a conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels.
* Liberals demand that those they don't like be shut down.

[LargeKingCat]

YOU MUST SPREAD SOME REPUTATION AROUND BEFORE GIVING IT TO ASHEVILLE NATIVE AGAIN

Message of the day

[Visvaldis]

Americans are conformists and run with the herd without any questions.

[Ceece]

9 in 10 SAY they do. They don't.

[DennyCrane]

Originally Posted by Chango

I don't think it's really a problem to believe (more like hope ) there is a higher power somewhere in the universe...

It's fine to have hope, as long as that hope is reasonable and not driven by fear. For example, I might be unemployed, but I maintain hope that I'll eventually find a job. That's reasonable. What's not reasonable is expecting to win the lottery. I don't have a problem with people who believe in God, although I can't understand why they would. My issue is the people who believe in God out of fear, fear that we might actually be alone in the universe, fear that there isn't someone watching over us. As children, we all take comfort in knowing that our parents are in the next room to protect us. But eventually, we go out in the wilderness of the real world where our parents can't protect us. In that sense, believing in God almost feels childish.

Originally Posted by Stokes172

If a liberal doesn't like guns, he feels that no one should have one.

Wrong. He wants to keep guns out of the hands of people who can't be trusted with them.

Originally Posted by Stokes172

If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants to ban all meat products for everyone.

Wrong. He wants to make others aware of everything that happens before that meat arrives on their plates so they can make an informed decision about whether to eat it.

Originally Posted by Stokes172

A liberal wonders how to surrender gracefully and still look good.

Wrong. He just doesn't need to wage war in order to look tough and sees war as a last resort when all other options have failed.

Originally Posted by Stokes172

If a Liberal doesn't practice religion he demands all western based religions be banned.

Wrong. He just demands that people leave it at home where it belongs, not bring it in the schools or in government.

Originally Posted by Stokes172

If a liberal is homosexual, he loudly demands legislated respect.

Wrong. He just demands fair treatment.

Originally Posted by Stokes172

A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.

Wrong. He can take care of himself. He just asks that the people at the top do so as well, not cry to the government to lower their taxes.

Originally Posted by Stokes172

Liberals demand that those they don't like be shut down.

Wrong. They just boycott the advertisers.

[Thomas R.]

The Gallup Poll shows 87% of Americans with postgraduate education believed. There are many religions that are not Hell-focused.

Intelligent people aren't automatically and inevitably Rationalists. Not that you even need to be a Rationalist or Positivist, or even Metaphysical Naturalist (I know of at least one atheist who believed in ghosts), to be an atheist but most people here I think lean toward one of those.

Granted I'm a theist, Catholic, etc. However if people were say increasingly unaffiliated Theists who don't believe in Hell, the Devil, Creationism, or even the Bible wouldn't that still be positive from your perspective?