tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21353439.post7414988148745610518..comments2023-10-28T06:16:41.152-05:00Comments on Hip Suburban White Guy: America becoming less Christian, survey findsXavier Onassishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01345787343828318445noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21353439.post-47440551903509668272009-03-14T09:22:00.000-05:002009-03-14T09:22:00.000-05:00Hip guy, atheists have killed plenty of people whe...Hip guy, atheists have killed plenty of people when they had the power.<BR/><BR/>Of course, you will deny this, but I have no more respect for that than I do a Holocaust Denier.<BR/><BR/>Atheists killed millions and millions of believers, in an attempt to destroy religion.<BR/><BR/>The officially atheistic government of the Soviet Union is only the best example...they tried for 70 years to destroy Christianity.<BR/><BR/>They failed and self destructed.Emanuel Goldsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02653303041185240250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21353439.post-22834145187709982132009-03-12T10:14:00.000-05:002009-03-12T10:14:00.000-05:00*ignoring previous comments* It looks like America...*ignoring previous comments* It looks like America is becoming less Christian and more Christian at the same time. Interesting that the rise of right-wing, fundamentalist churches contributes to more people abandoning their faith. Personally I'm much more comfortable with granny down at the Episcopal church having coffee hour and buying altar flowers than the young, vitriolic crazies at churches who don't have saints in the name.The DLChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12804981463092544712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21353439.post-50249879860378599582009-03-11T10:38:00.000-05:002009-03-11T10:38:00.000-05:00Well, I've been evaluated several times in both a ...Well, I've been evaluated several times in both a professional and nonprofessional manner, but "insane" is a first.<BR/><BR/>Funny.<BR/><BR/>Good luck on all that.I Travel for JOOLShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07348834982890831188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21353439.post-84603884043515348672009-03-10T22:07:00.000-05:002009-03-10T22:07:00.000-05:00Briefly ( I don’t want to take over this post ) wh...Briefly ( I don’t want to take over this post ) what I am encouraged about is the lessening influence of organized superstition on my children’s’ lives and (for at least the next 4 years) my government.<BR/><BR/>Yes, org’d crime in general (of one ilk or another) have always been with us, but that is straight up crime and relatively easy to deal with; bank robbers are not tolerated, much less given tax breaks. The same is true of o.g.’s (though one can argue the nature of our complicity in their origins until the cows come home). Essentially, however, they are also a police problem.<BR/><BR/>Religions, however, are given a wide latitude in this country to repeatedly step on their and everyone else’s dicks. They are legally allowed to protest at funerals of folks they have never met but heartily disapprove of; they can and do emotionally abuse women making heartbreaking choices for themselves; they have killed doctors who assist those women. They can do this while not paying taxes because of their federal and state exemption statuses; they can and do intrude into public policy, attempting to force changes in the common weal based on their particular superstitious beliefs (which of course varies from church to church and, sometimes, from sect to sect within the same church).<BR/><BR/>You mentioned 9/11. Yes, those were religious terrorists. Religious terrorists who labeled America a religious terrorist for letting her companies kill tens of thousands in places like Bopha because of our blind devotion to Mammon. And, before you rebut, consider: it <B>DOES NOT MATTER</B> what you think or believe here, because those terrorists believe with the same fervor in their religion as do millions of Americans taking the ‘body of christ’ every Sunday. <BR/><BR/>For Pete Rose’s sake, man, it just goes on and on and on. <BR/><BR/>I can, and have, written over 10,000 words on this phenomenon more than once. And what always astounds me is that the practitioners are – apparently like yourself – oblivious to your insanity. Substitute Elvis in whatever mythology you cling to and tell me you can still take it seriously. Because that’s how more of us than you can imagine view religious adherents.<BR/><BR/>So, yes, it <B>IS</B> a good thing that fewer people get sucked into the mental Amway scheme; that’s more people who will evaluate reality and its already incredibly hard-enough choices without referencing a magic book that proclaims the end is nigh and, really, that is a <B>GOOD</B> thing. It is fewer people who will look to a spiritual ‘leader’. It is fewer politicians who can hide their cowardly decisions or outright fucking of the country behind ‘religious’ considerations…<BR/><BR/>In fact, I can think of not a single downside.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21353439.post-4479996869413502282009-03-10T18:07:00.000-05:002009-03-10T18:07:00.000-05:00Nick, of course extremists are the problem e.g. mu...Nick, of course extremists are the problem e.g. muslim extremists, and not just in America. I believe 9/11 proved that. The same could be said of people with no obvious religious affiliation who are murdering people all over this country e.g. violent gangs.<BR/><BR/>I fail to see what has changed or why it is "encouraging news" to you that America is becoming less Christian which is what this article was about.I Travel for JOOLShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07348834982890831188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21353439.post-21950008868094482862009-03-10T14:33:00.000-05:002009-03-10T14:33:00.000-05:00@ I Travel For Jools:You misread me, sir/madame: "...@ I Travel For Jools:<BR/><BR/>You misread me, sir/madame: <BR/><BR/>"...<B>religious</B> extremists have never been shy about using coercion or force to intimidate or kill."<BR/><BR/>I saw no reason to single out Christians, <I>per se</I>, when all religions in America have all contributed to intolerance and violence, starting with witch hunts in our new country, moving no to the bible wars of the 19th & 20th centuries; the terrorism and murder of abortion doctors in the 20th century; the promulgation of discrimintaion toward gays in the 20th and 21st century, <I>et alis</I>...<BR/><BR/>The list goes on and on. Nor is this list of intolerance, hatred and murder by religious zealots a new invention; organised religion has historicaly used these means as tools to hold and extend their sway.<BR/><BR/>And these epsiodes of violence almost always seem to coincide with major changes in society such as were are about to experience.<BR/><BR/>Christians, Mormmons, Lutherans and SOuther Baptists may all be delusional -in my view - but that does not make them <I>a priori</I> extremists or zealots. And it was of those I wrote.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21353439.post-59077832766840728802009-03-10T12:54:00.000-05:002009-03-10T12:54:00.000-05:00Good grief, Nick. I think your worry about Christ...Good grief, Nick. I think your worry about Christians killing people is extremist in itself. There are nut cases of every stripe and always have been, declared religious or not. Do you feel the same way about other religions as you do Christians, or are we alone that scary?I Travel for JOOLShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07348834982890831188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21353439.post-70592475997135083302009-03-10T10:31:00.000-05:002009-03-10T10:31:00.000-05:00While this is encouraging news I believe we are st...While this is encouraging news I believe we are still at a dangerous precipice: religious extremists have never been shy about using coercion or force to intimidate or kill. I see no reason why they would abandon said tactics when they perceive the stakes to be so high.<BR/><BR/>And should those folks join forces with the political luddites who are fearful of President Obama's "secret socialist agenda", it could spell trouble. Add in the "good ol' boys" -- who can barely disguise their hatred of the "half caste" in the WH -- and that trouble could become an inferno.<BR/><BR/>We should not kid ourselves about the possibility; there are those who feel they can hold back, by main force if necessary, the changing face of America. While this is not possible short of deporting everyone who isn’t Caucasian, there are those who would be happy to shed blood in that effort…Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21353439.post-8757346523513906422009-03-09T23:50:00.000-05:002009-03-09T23:50:00.000-05:00!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com