Some good news about Americans and religion

[bjorn_skurj]

Survey Shows U.S. Religious Tolerance

By NEELA BANERJEE

 

Although a majority of Americans say religion is very important to them, nearly three-quarters of them say they believe that many faiths besides their own can lead to salvation, according to a survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

 

The report, the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, reveals a broad trend toward tolerance and an ability among many Americans to hold beliefs that might contradict the doctrines of their professed faiths.

 

For example, 70 percent of Americans affiliated with a religion or denomination said they agreed that

[EL the Famous]

i'd be interested to hear what david foster wallace has to say about this...

[uncle wilco]

i don't believe in polls.

[sweetheart-mine]

if it's true, most of this would be very heartening. i actually felt happier for a couple of minutes. better than none!

[Scalzunfield]

Heartening, but a long way from actually demonstrating that complete tolerance. I wonder how each of those groups feels about atheism...and how tolerant towards atheists are they?

[myboyblue]

I don't like people that are different from me.

[Good Old Neon]

Heartening, but a long way from actually demonstrating that complete tolerance. I wonder how each of those groups feels about atheism...and how tolerant towards atheists are they?

 

I cannot not speak for anyone but meself, but based on my experience, lots and lots of people, when first learning that I am an atheist, ask, in all earnestness, if I believe in or worship the devil

[JUDE]

 

I cannot not speak for anyone but meself, but based on my experience, lots and lots of people, when first learning that I am an atheist, ask, in all earnestness, if I believe in or worship the devil

[Good Old Neon]

I don't recall anyone on this board calling you out based upon your atheism. Yet you have no problem calling out anyone who believes in any sort of religion. I know you enjoy a good debate but does "Skygod" ring a bell?

 

You

[JUDE]

You

[uncle wilco]

And I stand by my sky god comment

[Good Old Neon]

Don

[JUDE]

I don

[EL the Famous]

You

[Good Old Neon]

I am Jack's war on war,

 

I think you are a good guy, seriously I really enjoy hearing your point of view.

 

I'm a big fan of C.S. Lewis' work and he's been a big influence on me. He was also once an athiest like yourself. I don't know if you've read any of his books or not, but I highly recommend them. And whether or not you would agree with his points of view, he's certainly thought provoking.

 

Aw shucks, I feel the same way about you uncle w

[sweetheart-mine]

Heartening, but a long way from actually demonstrating that complete tolerance. I wonder how each of those groups feels about atheism...and how tolerant towards atheists are they?

it's probably a mixed bag, as usual. some individuals in possibly every religious group exhibit tolerance toward atheists (or agnostics, which is what i consider myself), and some definitely don't. when they don't, we certainly do hear about it, and when they do, we usually don't hear about it, which is why it's hard to quantify these things and why those who are tolerant don't get their due in public or the media.

 

what has amazed me in my personal experience is how cruel some people who hold their religion very dear can be to their own (as in family and friends). my husband grew up in a fundamentalist baptist family who, though extremely nice in most ways, actually convinced him when he was very young that he had "the devil inside him" and would go to hell for it because he couldn't lie and say he was a believer. he was a wreck for years, as a little kid! eventually, after leaving home, he became a tibetan-type buddhist. i've learned a lot from him about big stuff, like life itself!, and "little" stuff, like how the mind works. he's not a teacher, i've learned just from watching him and listening to his turn of mind. if there's any organized religion whose groupthink doesn't scare me and isn't overpowering , it's buddhism, though i'm still agnostic.

 

what scares me most, in religion but in other organized groups too, is zealotry. i'd love to see more of that excessive energy transferred to art, music, nature, helping the world get along.

[ponch1028]

As an evangelical Christian (just giving you my religious designation), I find tolerance as many people define it to be overrated. Many define tolerance from a theorethical stance. They, in theory, truly believe they respect the philosophical, moral, and religious differences that many people have, but in reality, rarely do they cultivate or sustain ongoing relationships with people drastically different than they are.

 

To me, the true test of tolerance is the willingness and ability to cultivate relationships with individuals and groups (or communities) who drastically differ in their religious, moral, and philosophical worldview. Until I see progress in these areas, I'll take this report with a grain of salt. Healthy relationships generally develops respect, which to me, leads to actual tolerance.

 

my 2 cents.

 

I've really enjoyed many of these posts.

[Analogman]

Somehow I don't see the Baptists who jammed god tickets in my door frame, the Mormons who cracked the neighbor's front door glass pounding on it, and the Jehovah Witnesses who bug the heck out of people at the Laundromat all sitting down together and accepting each other

[ikol]

I don

[uncle wilco]

I

[M. (hristine]

As an evangelical Christian (just giving you my religious designation), I find tolerance as many people define it to be overrated. Many define tolerance from a theorethical stance. They, in theory, truly believe they respect the philosophical, moral, and religious differences that many people have, but in reality, rarely do they cultivate or sustain ongoing relationships with people drastically different than they are.

 

To me, the true test of tolerance is the willingness and ability to cultivate relationships with individuals and groups (or communities) who drastically differ in their religious, moral, and philosophical worldview. Until I see progress in these areas, I'll take this report with a grain of salt. Healthy relationships generally develops respect, which to me, leads to actual tolerance.

 

my 2 cents.

 

I've really enjoyed many of these posts.

My personal experience is this; I am a student of Buddhism. One of my best friends is an evangelical Christian. Over the years I have spent many Sundays in the prophetic/evangelical Christian church. I know what they (the preachers, missionaries and hundreds of people saying YES! at the several churches I went to) think of my spiritual practice (many Christian missionaries spend a good deal of time knocking on monastery doors in the far east. I have heard the word "evil" used in this regard). I don't talk to her much about my spiritual beliefs (I call myself a "contemplative"). Though I do encourage her to speak of her beliefs.

 

I have also read most of C S Lewis' Christian writings. His social life was spent cultivating friendships with people of all beliefs. A truly remarkable man.

[Good Old Neon]

i think in any of the instances where you've been referred to as a

[uncool2pillow]

On a semi-related note, does anyone watch the Morgan Spurlock show, 30 Days? This week, a woman against gay adoption lived with a gay (male) couple who had 4 kids. She would get so upset when people would question her beliefs that all of these gay people she was around shouldn't have children. The only justification she had was her religious faith, which is fine. But faced with the prospect of the lives these kids would be living without gay people being willing to adopt them, she still said it was "wrong" even though she admitted they were great parents. It was funny and sad at the same time.

[JUDE]

Yes, my agenda all along has been to convert the entire VW community into faithless atheists. The jig is up

[ikol]

As I