"Growing up godless"--America's secular families raising kids are doing "quite well"

He does tend to rabbit when confronted..

Absolutely true.

I have actually done that from time to time.

Like I said, see Hilton; Paris. Textbook example of finding "religion"...then forgetting it.

 

I would guess that nowadays, many Christians, especially from the younger generation, haven't had Biblical education or have even picked up the book and read any part of it besides the first chapter. I think that has more to do with upbringing and priorities our society has now. I would guess that most youth don't read books in general. If our youth aren't reading the fun stuff, what makes you think they are reading the boring ol' Bible?

I would also guess that this lack of religious upbringing is what is causing the rise in secularism, agnosticism, and atheism. Also, those who DO read the Bible and are turned off from it grew up with an education that teaches certain principles that contradict the Bible. That, and we live in an increasingly multicultural world that causes people to think, "If he is X religion and she is Y religion and I'm Z religion, how can all three be right?" Christianity, especially fundamentalist Christianity is predominant in areas of the country where there is not a lot of diversity of thought. This prevents youngsters from questioning their belief system when their beliefs aren't challenged. I grew up an atheist, had no religious education, didn't even know what "God" was until I was about 13. So if I'm not exposed to religion or religious ideas, why question my world belief?

As far as the prison system goes, I think many either develop faith or develop a stronger faith because faith acts as a force of good in their lives and gives them more meaning. I have nothing against that, nor will use that statistic to put down Christians. Jesus didn't discriminate between criminals and non-criminals, in fact he reached out to them.

 

I also do not believe you need faith to be a moral, good upstanding human being. Such values are taught by our parents and society. Those values come from trial and error over generations and generations, and new ideas, inventions, and modes of thought challenge such values overtime. We are a much more educated society than we were 1000 years ago, and they were much more educated than society 1000 years before them. Morality reflects this shift in knowledge and adjusts accordingly. Education plays the largest role in ensuring we raise a moral society, capable of looking at things from others perspectives.

 

Claiming to be religious and being religious are very different. Besides the falling away from faith in Christ has been predicted and in fact is necessary for certain prophecies to be fulfilled. What you see as inevitable we also see as inevitable just for different reasons. I am in no way saying the end times are here, after all we will not know the time or place. But if you do believe in scripture then Revelations is a part of the New Testament and does mention this phenomena. The question is are we seeing prophecy fulfilled or just another change in the demographic of a nation?

 

The answer to your question is neither.

 

Exactly. I like this trend though. The fewer people we have believing fairy tales, the better.

 

Religion is being replaced by science. Science can take you to the moon; religion can take your un-vaccinated kid to the hospital and spread AIDS in Africa. Science is the eternal search for the answers to the unknown; religion is man-kinds arrogance and the answer to man-kinds desire to have to have an answer for everything, even if that answer is obviously false and breaks the laws set forth by science. Science creates smarter, educated citizens with the ability to use critical thinking skills to solve life's every day problems; religion keeps you with the herd of people who can't think for themselves, who are ok with letting the writings of nomad desert men dictate their lives.

 

Actually yes.

For once I agree with the op.

I work in a prison and have never met an atheist inmate. Virtually all of them believe in some god or another. Most of them Christian and most of them carry this belief from somewhere on the streets where they first picked up on the idea.

 

Yes it is quite big within the black community...................so how is that working out?

 

What this OP's theme confirms is that the "family" is the focus point and stability starts there. Too bad it was being used to bash religion, which is an entirely different issue. Guess some people cannot help themselves.

 

A biased study that set out to prove a certain agenda point, then the data was manipulated to fit.

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Science proves itself wrong all the time. So.....not so much. besides, who says science and religion aren't compatible?

 

Religion is declining in educated, wealthier first world countries for a few reasons.

1. It's obvious that each newer religion (Christianity is a "newer" religion) borrowed off older religions and reflected the morals, politics, and societal structures of the day. Even from older parts of the OT to newer parts of the OT, there is a distinct change in how the stories are written. This distinction is even greater from OT to NT. With this in mind, it becomes hard to deny that the book was man-made. And at that point, you have to question these men and their credibility, especially considering they believed in value systems and natural truths about the world that are clearly false, and/or definitely immoral by today's standards.

2. All religion is based on mythology or borrows from mythology. Christianity did not bring religion, the concept of salvation, or even monotheism to the world. These things had been in place for centuries. Christianity, Islam and other such belief systems (and there are many similarities there as well) can be seen simply as the myths that have somehow survived to this day. It can be argued that the globalization taking place at the time allowed Christianity to prosper where other belief systems failed. It was easier to connect, mostly by force ideas that in prior times wouldn't be possible due to the lack of ability to transport easily from one part of the world to the other. It also explains why there are no Christian native Americans until we forced our religion on them.

3. Modern values of secularism do not mesh, at all, with the values of religion. In fact the opposite has happened, religion has meshed, changed, and adapted to modern values. This lack of credibility, plus the very real evil of many of the holy books followed today are definitely a turn-off. They say, "The easiest way to create an atheist is to make a Christian (substitute your religion for Christian) read their Bible. Back in the old days, most people couldn't read to begin with, so questioning the cherry-picked sermons and making heads or tails of it wasn't possible.

4. Historical texts of the Bible are in many cases not possible, or were clearly localized events. Noah's Ark (we won't get into the obvious impossibilities of this story) was, if a real event, something that took place for a small percentage of the world's population.

5. Religion plays favorites in a way that would cause anyone to ask themselves at one time or another, "What makes mine right and theirs wrong?" This question is the first step in opening your mind to other realities and possibilities. In an age where the only people you ever encountered were those with the same beliefs as you, its no wonder religion was so strong. You can't challenge an idea if nothing sparks that challenge within you. A group of 200 Christian students in Chicago who encounter people from all walks of life are more likely to question, soften, or drop their belief systems than a group of 200 Christian students in Oklahoma who grow up in a town where the only two religions are methodist and baptist.

6. Science is answering questions about life on Earth where religion used to. Religion claims to know, and you have to take the writings of desert nomads to be truths without cross referencing them. Science proudly admits it doesn't know, and has a system of steps to find the answers. Science, at the very least refutes a couple main tenants of Christianity (but not Islam surprisingly, which accepts evolution) that completely debunk a few theories about the origins of man.

7. Spirituality is taking the place of religion. This need for oneness, for return to a singularity, is a part of human nature that is so very easily manipulated, as those who claim to offer it to us are doubtless aware. But there is no one path to it, no one way; and likewise, no way to absolve ourselves of the one absolute imperative of human existence. This is perhaps the concept that troubles the non-religious the most, because WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR OWN ACTIONS. We cannot give credit, or lay blame to a deity. Instead, we have to take credit for our own actions. And this will lead to a more prosperous Earth, where the solutions to all our problems lay with science.

The purpose of the human race is to never stop growing, to never stop learning. Many of us in the younger generation are excited by these possibilities. Religion stifles the advancement of humanities potential. It's no longer needed, and to fall back on an obsolete piece of technology is to reduce efficiency where others are moving on and creating more than you.

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Science is ok with proving itself wrong. You say this as if it is a bad thing. Science is the search for truth, and if science 100 years from now disproves a theory written today, then we are the more better off for it.

 

Hitler was raised Christian, so that has nothing to do with being good or bad in later life, though it could be where his hatred from Jews came from... who knows

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Friday, I mentioned that one kid in class who had just moved had left her pens behind - my students are able to leave their art materials in the class storeroom so that they don't have to lug them in their backpacks everyday. When I asked the class if anyone had her as a friend on Facebook or somesuch, one kid loudly asked me why I was doing this - "Just keep 'em!" When I told him that trying to return them was the right thing to do, he had absolutely no idea why. I quickly found out explaining to him that doing the right thing by others was like trying to explain quantum physics to a fly. Yeah, this kid had ZERO grounding in morality - and it's easy to see where he'll end up in life.

 

In America poll statistics have 85% of people in America believe in God. Of the 15%, some are sure to get it right, even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.

 

Proof it's big with inner city youngsters please.

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Is there early release for good behavior and those who appear to turn their lives around?

 

Hitler was into the occult and a staunch believer in evolution. That belief agreed with his idea of terminating the lesser race of Jews to leave only the master race Ayrians..

 

No. There opportunities for parole but not based on church participation.

 

Wouldn't we be better off if the errant theory wasn't ever communicated in the first place? How about some actual proof that religion is "declining"!

 

I've always thought there were 3 FEARS as the basis for ALL religion. Don't kill me. Don't take my stuff. Control my woman.

 

Bloods and Crips?? Your old gang reference is pretty dated. MOST are in jail or a dead or 'mutating' far from the original group or moniker. The areas they are KNOWN for 'habitating' have actually been taken over by others including Hondurans and Mexican gangs.

 

America's secular kids are doing quite well. If you dont believe me, just ask their team of psychologists.

 

You said.........

Can you prove that or not?

 

Well compared to how many times religion has proven itself right.........................

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You have something the shows they are more prone to mental health issues?

 

I did not limit my statement to inner city. Is it your contention high crime rates among blacks are in just urban areas? Or that the is a difference in church attendance with blacks who live in large cities and those who don't?