America’s Changing Religious Landscape

I'm astounded that intelligent human beings still believe in these myths. I'm a NH native, raised in SE Asia, and after observing the continuous justification of murder, bigotry and torture in the name of the same fictitious, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent figment of the imagination, I concluded over forty years ago that the belief in such a being is for the ignorant or truly evil people intent on preserving their power

I wanted to comment on the guest who said even non-religious traditions, such as wicca, use rituals that comes from religions. I believe that what the organized religions give in addition to rituals is the dogma. If it were just community rituals and traditions I believe more people would claim more religious affliation. However, if you want that ritual and tradition you have to listen to what you are supposed to believe, who you are supposed to support, and what you need to do to get into heaven. THAT is a complete turn-off.
I was raised catholic and no longer consider myself a catholic. I have a two-year-old son and will not raise him with any particular religion. However, I do want to raise him with spirituality which means borrowing rituals and traditions from lots of groups whether they are religious or not.

Laura,

For me religion is politics using God as it's guiding principal. Religions are political organizations whose first goal is self-perpetuation. As with other political orginizations, I choose to remain independant. The various rituals used by religion are creations of man, not God, designed to obtain and hold the greatest number of constituants possible. The people, to any organization, are where the power, and money, are. God, for lack of a better word, is the good in all of us. I, for one, do not feel the need to have someone else tell me how to live when it is within me to do it for myself. For all too many religion is an easy way to avoid the hard work of being a good person on ones own.

Brian
N. Conway

As a catholic, and also a 'baby boomer", I use to be too lazy to go to church and stayed away, but those catholic values did not stay away, no matter how far a field I got from my catholic upbringing, I still practiced those values. I find that a great many christians practice a buffet approach to morality in general and catholic teachings in particular. So many people pick what they want to believe and discard the rest, this "boutique" view point undermines the stength that you must have to live the life that Jesus ask of us in the New Testament, to make the personal sacrifices, you may be called on to make. One example would be homosexuality, the church's position on this is clear, however the church did not ask me to shun or discredit the people who are gay, that act in itself is cruel. No catholic is asked to be cruel, however, when I make my position known that I am in disagreement with this lifestyle and then, say that I am cruel and punishing to disagree, is a double standard, gay people cannot have it both ways,that is I do not wish them any harm, my position to disagree is simply that and no more just as their position to come out is simply that and no less. I prefer to get along with them, though I disagree, you are still welcome in every other way, I got that from my catholic upbringing.

If George Bush is the manifestation of a "pro-life Christian," we are in DIRE need of examining our selective interpretations of both. One million innocent Iraqi men, women, children dead(and they're going to execute Chemical Ali for killing 30,000 over decades), and a toxic environment, and this is "Godly?"
If this so called "Godly" nation is in fact, responsible for consuming 25% of earth's resources frivilously, without consideration for the catastrophic consequences of the consumer mind set, we must ask ourselves then, how do our practices and behaviors translate into holy relationships with one another, nature, and the creator of all life?
I am a Jew, and sickened at the ongoing violence in the Middle east between Jews and Palestinians. I sang in a church choir, and was outraged when I tried to show the "church" what animals are going through in the meat and dairy industry, and they wanted nothing to do with learning about these atrocities.
Holidays have become feasts of violence. Religion has become judgemental and modified to suit human manufactured desires, and where is the "church" to stop biotechnology, the remaking of nature with "synthetic biology," for profit?
I view institutionalized "religion" as a failure. I pray reverently many times daily for Divine help with worldwide problems. I pray humanity will see the error of our attitudes about our place on this planet, amidst the miracles of nature that are suffering at our hands, our toxic creations, and misuse of agriculture for profit.
In my opinion, we have a long road to manifest and articulate the basic kindness, justice, mercy, and reverence at the root of all religious teachings. We have made ourselves judge and jury, God made in man's image, to enable the perversion of capitalism that is destroying our planet, reducing all life to production, market shares, commodites.
If the nation's news, crime rates, domestic violence, addictions, diseases and environmental destruction are the manifestation of "religious" behavior, again, isn't it time to re-examine the value system that has created this dysfunctional social structure that seeks to expand itself across the globe?
How about looking into these sites for what I feel has been lost from modern 'religion."
www.HumaneReligion.org
www.Christianveg.com
www.nansealove.com
www.jesusveg.com
www.compassionate-spirit.org
www.serv-online.org
I look forward to ongoing discussins about this topic, the ethical and moral imperative to leave our planet in better condition, and protect all living beings who are helpless, vulnerable, at our mercy, including animals, birds,fish....

Tolstoy Said, From the murder of animals to the murder of humans, is only a small step."

When my father, an agnostic and devotee of Clarence Darrow, wanted to marry my Catholic-raised mother, he was told that he had to sign papers guaranteeing that his children would be raised Catholic. Sure, he said, no problem. That obstacle overcome, love triumphed, they married, and God knows what became of those papers. My mother tried taking me to mass a couple of times, but stopped when the church installed a turn-stile as a replacement for the collection plate (I'm not making that up).

Today the New York Times reported that many young Iraqis have become disenchanted with the imams and by extension with Islam in general, holding them responsible for much of the violence and criminality that has gripped the country since we "liberated" it. Those kids have had it with the old time religion of the seventh century.

So is it any surprise that people in this country are losing their enthusiasm for institutions that base their authority on the myths of bronze-age people and a view of the universe consistent only with a flat earth? Some may call the decline of the churches a crisis of faith; I call it growing up.

I am Jewish.My family only celebrated Hanukah and Passover.My brother was bar Mitzvahed.
I believe in God.I think religion and going to temple or church is up to an individual.I do my praying any time and anywhere I choose.I don't feel people have to be a particular religion to love,pray and believe in God.
I have a question that I always wanted to ask.Maybe someone has an answer.Mary and Joseph were Jesus' parents.Doesn't that make Jesus Jewish?Doesn't that mean that Christianity is a facet of Judaism?Like Catholicism,Baptist,Protestant,Methodist etc. are facets of Christianity?