This morning we read an article in the Washington Post; In Major Poll, U.S. Religious Identity Appears Very Slippery - washingtonpost.
You may click above for the article, and you may also click on these two links to see the data from this massive survey.
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
Very interesting stuff.
As much as the religious landscape is shifting, quite a bit of it never seems to change significantly. For instance, one can still see that Episcopalians and Presbyterians still maintain their lead in the percentage of the members who make more than $75,000. Both congregations are getting older, and the number of members are declining. However, these two old mainline Protestant churches are the ones which are the most socially liberal. The old idea, first brought forth back in the early 1900's, in what is now called the Progressive Movement (click here for a short overview) can still be recognized within these church walls over 100 years later. To paraphrase many of the parishioners, we hear this:
"We've got our money, and now we are going to help all of the poor and unwashed among us achieve the social justice that has been denied to them."
"Of course, that means telling them what is good for them. And all we need now is a government big enough to get it all for them."
An idea that will certainly be around forever, whether Marx has completely been dismissed to the garbage bin of history, or not. However, our freedoms may very well not survive this new onslaught from the left.
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3 comments:
You have posted a very interesting article with much food for thought. The three aspects of religion - believing, belonging and behaving - surely are the reason that 28% of the people leave the group they were raised in. Maybe I am wrong but I would think that as people change their behaviors, they must change their beliefs and thus they no longer belong to the group they were raised in. Is this perhaps because the church must stay constant? Or is it that society is making it impossible for people not to misbehave?
If the democrats win the election we will have a government big enough to take care of everyone. We will all be working for the government.
Most of us work for the government anyway, given that many public/private industries are supported and/or subsidized by the government.
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