Atheism

Americans’ belief in God, heaven at lowest point in 22 years, Gallup survey says

https://ground.news/article/belief-in-god-the-devil-falls-to-new-low-gallup_9c3949

Dr. Myers can't seem to find a definition of love that allows him to justify believing in it versus a god because he says it's too ephemeral. But I don't think that's true. We can measure it in the release of hormones and watch our minds react to it in MRI. We can see it in our behavior and in the behavior of those who love us. A dozen different people can look at a couple in love and agree, "yup. That's love."

In 1964, Justice Potter Stewart wrote,

I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description ["hard-core pornography"], and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that.

"I know it when I see it" isn't a good evidential standard, but it's the best one we have for abstract concepts. We know love when we see it. Would we know a god if we saw one? First show me a god, and then we'll talk about what we're looking at. That's the simple standard that believers fail whenever they attempt to conflate belief in their god and love.

You can find Part 2 here: https://valerietarico.com/2021/12/26/buddha-jesus-and-mohammed-stepped-into-history-or-did-they-part-2/

I absolutely love this quote:

One day I met a lady who was dying of cancer in a most terrible condition. And I told her, I say, “You know, this terrible pain is only the kiss of Jesus — a sign that you have come so close to Jesus on the cross that he can kiss you.” And she joined her hands together and said, “Mother Teresa, please tell Jesus to stop kissing me.”

Source: Purdue University Dept of Sociology

(OPINION) Two recent documentary series offer distressing portraits of Christian organizations that, although unrelated, appear eerily similar.

Both movements gained prominence in part by instilling fear and shame in their members. Both have reaped abuse, scandal and decline.

One documentary series is “The Secrets of Hillsong,” now streaming on Hulu. It looks at the spectacular rise and fall of the Australian megachurch Hillsong, which became an international phenomenon with branches in various nations, including the United States. Most notably, Hillsong revolutionized Christian worship music.

The other series is “Shiny Happy People,” on Amazon Prime. It begins by exploring the famous Duggar family of “19 Kids and Counting,” then unfolds into an examination of the fundamentalist Institute in Basic Life Principles that — forgive the pun — spiritually birthed the Duggars and many other big-brood, home-schooling families.

And just like that, SCOTUS affirms that someone's deeply held beliefs are more valid and in need of protection than someone else's reality.

Cross-posted from https://lemmy.ca/post/927980

Why it matters: If the family had prevailed in its religious freedom claim, the case could have opened the doors to a reinterpretation of the First Amendment — one that obligates government entities to actively aid the practice of religion.

From the article, when talking about the "groomer" slur aimed at LGBTQIA+ people:

"...There’s no drag queens being arrested for sexual assault of children, that doesn’t happen,” Trixie said. “Do you know where that happens? The church, okay? That’s where. This whole country mollycoddles Christians and I’m fucking tired of it, tired of it!

Shelly Miscavige has not been seen by the public since 2007 — and when officers with the Los Angeles Police Department allegedly connected with her following Leah Remini's missing person filing in 2013, her fingerprints reportedly did not match what's in the DMV's system, RadarOnline.com has learned.

That's the bombshell reported by journalist Yashar Ali after six years of investigating. According to his findings, not only did Shelly's prints allegedly not match what was already on record, but he accused the LAPD of working with the Church of Scientology to cover it up.

Church attendance in the United States is lower than it was before the Covid-19 pandemic, a new survey indicated.

In the Gallup survey, 31 percent of respondents said they have attended church, synagogue, mosque or temple in the past seven days.

In Gallup polls conducted from 2020 to the most recent poll — gathered May 1-24, 2023 — an average of 30 percent of respondents said they attended services in the past week.

It's a good start.

Jon Ward grew up in a more isolating corner of Christianity. He was raised in an evangelical church in Virginia that defined his life, his friends, his family – his whole identity. He was taught never to question the teachings of the Bible, or the judgment of the men who led his church. And he was discouraged from ever engaging in the world outside his religious community.

Jon had other plans though. After college, he decided to pursue a career in journalism. It was a choice that would fracture his family. Through his work as a political journalist, Jon learned how to interrogate assumptions, how to question authority, and eventually that meant questioning the church he grew up in — and leaving it altogether.

Jon Ward wrote a memoir about this experience. It's called Testimony: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Failed a Generation.