Parents beware! The younger generation is rejecting the faith of their
fathers and the rise of the internet is making a great impact on them.
Today's music, movies, and video games are also making an impact.
Just yesterday a young friend told me that in a newly released very
popular video game players are shocked to find on the last level they
must kill the Pope! ;-) Hint: This game! Is that not the hoot? Also, the movie The Invention of Lying contains an atheist message. Robert Price has even argued that the changing morals of the younger generation will be the undoing of evangelicalism, seen here.
What other signs have you detected? There are plenty others.
I've heard it before it must be true.Kids are smarter than their parents.They are obviously less likely to take anything on faith.There is hope for future generations.
This almost sounds like a satirical article to me, too. The stupidity emanating from it makes me think satire, but I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't.
I just love this line:
"..the movie The Invention of Lying contains an atheist message."
.as if atheism itself is inherently evil or immoral. People are afraid of that which they do not understand.
After closer inspection I see the author is John W. Loftus. So indeed, it is a satirical piece.
Also, submariner's right. This ain't a blog, make the articles actually thought out please!
That said, any decline in religion brings a smile to my face :)
This will get blamed on Obama as well. It's all a part of the fundamental change ! He's turning the kids non-Christian! Those will be some of the headlines and topics we'll be hearing with regards to this kind of success, even though it is unrelated to Obama. It's a half-thought argument which I could see the Right running with, even if Obama too is a man of faith - just happens to be a different faith than others.
Even Atheists, people who do not have faith / belief in a primordial being, do sometimes have faith if they can be tricked into thinking of it as such. It's more confidence in people and what they are capable of. Believing in 'nothing' is only possible for the mindless mad ones. The world is real. This much we can all be sure of.
Technology, the man-made magic of today, is proof that science is real but not always empirically correct in every field.
I will add , though, that freedom to have religion is an important thing. People should still be allowed to believe as they want, even if they don't believe as they should. Using logic and reason, verify that your religion makes sense. Fewer people blowing shit up with backpack explosives or spending an entire day in uncomfortable clothes listening to fabrications and paying to be told how incomplete they are / were is unacceptable.
I could stomach a Christian who does not take a single part of the Bible literally. Unfortunately, I've not met a one. They omit wherever they please. Not a very solid foundation, eh?
"..is more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules" Barbossa, The Black Pearl.
And it's the "thumpers" that have driven me away from all religions, Oy! I can believe in my Creator and the Trinity just fine without a " church " and/or a " religion ".
I agree with you, it is the "thumpers." Like I said, I can stomach someone who takes the Bible as more abstract than a historical record. Perhaps even an astrological text, pushing it into the realm of pseudo- science but not quite real science.
I really don't believe in souls. Spirituality, to me, is merely alchemy of the mind / imagination. And that said, I can look at *some* of the things in the Bible as making sense and can offer bits of wisdom, true. But not all of it; some of it is just plain contradictory or silly. Again - sorry - it is my opinion, but you're entitled to feel as though I'm wrong.
It is hardly any different from Aesop's fables when you compare them to the Bible. You can find wisdom in there as well. Any good fairytale can have a message it wishes to impart on the readers or listeners. Religion itself started as a way of building systems or law and virtue. It can be respected for that reason as long as it's recognized as a motivator for unity..
It's when people get militant about it. That's what hurts faith / belief most, when people turn to fanaticism.
"It's when people get militant about it. That's what hurts faith / belief most, when people turn to fanaticism"
I couldn't agree with you more m46607!!!
(and believe me, I'm terrified by what I see happening in this country and around the world)
Really, like, we got anything to work with here?