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June 14th, 2012
12:40 PM ET
My Take: More doubts about God doesn't mean religion is weakening
By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN When it comes to doubt, sometimes a little skepticism is in order. As CNN's Dan Merica reported earlier this week, a recent Pew Research Center survey sees doubt rising sharply inside the millennial generation. Between 2007 and 2012, this survey says, the portion of young Americans (those 30 and uner) who say they never doubt the existence of God dropped sharply between 2007 and 2012, from 83% to 68%. This report has stirred up a chatstorm in the blogosphere, with 2600 comments and counting on Merica's Belief Blog post alone. But does this data really say what many atheists want it to say? Is American religion really heading for a fall? Look carefully at the survey question. What this data is tracking is the percentage of young people for whom doubt has never creeped into their faith. I don’t know about you, but most of the religious people I know experience both doubt and faith over the course of their spiritual lives. So the fact that more than two-thirds of young people say they have never doubted God’s existence seems to me evidence of America's extraordinary religiosity, not its disbelief. That suspicion is supported by the fact that this same Pew survey found that millennials who identify with a religion is not declining. Moreover, according to Pew's U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, only 3% of millennials are atheists. The takeaway, it seems to me, is not that religion is declining in America but that it is changing. Or, to paraphrase my Boston University colleague and sociologist of religion Peter Berger, what is shifting here is the how of religion. In short, doubt is a part of the spiritual lives of more young people than it has been in the past. I have been spending way too much time lately with Google’s Ngram Viewer. This website allows you to see how prominent certain key words are in books published in various languages from 1800 forward. It’s also possible to see how these key words match up against one another over time. I searched the Ngram database for the words “faith” and “doubt” in American English from 1800 to 2008. Here’s what I found: For much of the nineteenth century, “faith” won out over “doubt.” But as Biblical criticism, evolutionary theory, and comparative religions started to chip away at traditional understandings of Christianity, “doubt” ran past faith in the late 1880s. For roughly the next century, the two terms tracked rather closely. During the Reagan Revolution of the 1980s, however, faith bypassed doubt. What matters here is not the horse race. More significant is the fact that, since the late Victorian period, doubt has become part of the landscape of faith in America. To see doubt as a denial of faith is to misunderstand how most Americans live their religious lives. The fact that doubt is now a part of faith for a significant minority of American believers strikes me at least as a sign of faith’s maturity, not its demise. Perhaps, like the millennials themselves, American religion is growing up. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Stephen Prothero. |
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Editor's Note: Stephen Prothero, a Boston University religion scholar and author of 
Notice how faith has been growing since the 180's, about the same time that technology started exploding. Scary new things have a tendency to drive people to want things the way they used to be. Coincidence, I think not.
The problem with God proving something to someone is which God are we talking about... Each demonination has a different concept and a different set of beliefs to go along with it...
BUT, just to be fair, I will pose a question... In Catholic religion you can kill your whole family and then confess to a priest and be absolved of that sin, but if you kill yourself instead of your family you can't confess to a priest so you are going to Hell... Now why can't you confess to St Peter after you die and be absolved... Doesn't he have the power like a priest does...
It just amazes me that I can kill whoever I want and confess and according to the Cathlic religion that will save my soul, but killing no one but myself will damn me to Hell...
You have to admit though, you can see why it's so popular. You can basically do whatever the hell you want, apologize and you get a free ticket to eternity in the clouds partying it up with a dead Jesus. Why one would want to go to a place like church for eternity is beyond me, but to each his own.
Why do people who are essentially ignorant if not simplistic about the Catholic faith waste time posting items that can be learned about from an authoritative source? Perhaps they don't want an answer but are merely disguising their prejudice as inquiry, thinking they are somehow making an intelligent point.
If you kill yourself, I don't think its necessarily true that you will be damned to hell. But will have to pay for it in Purgatory.
Here is a thought for you. If God is all powerful, can he create a rock which is to heavy for him to lift? Either way, there is at least one thing God cannot do. Therefor he is not all powerful.
Wrote an essay on this question in Philisophy class 🙂
If you got a grade for it your instructor should be fired. St. George Carlin delineated the thought in the 1970's
The writer asks, "But does this data really say what many atheists want it to say? Is American religion really heading for a fall?" In that question he ascribes motive to non-believers. As an Atheist, let me tell you what I want. I do not want to have to pass your litmus test to hold office. I do not want to have to pretend to be praying while forced to listen to your devotional at a secular event. In short I want for you to respect my decision to not believe as much as I respect your right to believe. I do not think that faith should be forced out of your life. However, I also do not want your faith forced into my life. All to often the religious want to introduce their beliefs into the public space such as teaching creationism in schools. The time to teach that belief is in church. School is the time to teach how science has theorized the adaptation of life on this planet. The priest on Sunday does not give me time to refute the transsubstantiation of the host, so why should he be given the opportunity to refute evolution in school and in church.
Unlike many who write on this forum, I do not think that the faithful are ignorant. I simple think they have a need for a faith in a higher power that I do not have. I only ask that both sides of the argument keep their faith/non-faith private and personal and respect the other person.
John,
I found your comment to be very reasonable. There is plenty of room in the "belief sphere" for everyone's beliefs, and mutual respect and fairness would be the best way of handling the different beliefs we all have.
As a person of faith, I agree
Why is there stuff like this in the news. There should be things more relevant to what is going on around the world. Who cares how many people believe or don't believe in God.
If only. If only religious thinking didn't impact how people act.
It's important sadly because these fanatical "Believers" vote who they want to be president and such.
Not interested in religion articles?
Protip: Don't read articles listed in the religion section of the paper!
So you're saying that writers should be limited to writing about the economy and wars and everything else should be trashed? You sir are an idiot, people write about culture, arts, science, economy, education, etc. etc. etc. Somebody should write an article about people like you who are so narrow-minded they don't realize how redundant they are being. People should not take time to write a reply to an article that they don't believe is relevant, even though it is in a section called "belief blog" Sorry I can't get over how idiotic your statement is.
Doubt is a good and natural thing. It means one is thinking and seeking answers instead of being led blind.
I was raised Catholic, went to church every Sunday. As I grew older I had lots of doubt. And eventually turned my back on my faith. I struggled with the concept of "faith" and could not rationalize believing in something I cannot proove...
AND I TELL YOU, IT WAS THE DARKEST 10 YEARS OF MY LIFE. I was spiritually dead. Unhappy with my life. Didn't know what my purpose was. Dreams dashed and I blamed God. Then I decided to go back to my church. And within 6 weeks something happened I cannot explain. A light came back into my soul that I thought was gone. By allowing Christ back into my heart, he gave me back my musical inspiration and faith calmed my spirit. I cannot speak for everyone, but having DOUBT made my FAITH stronger than ever.
Uh, so believing in a sky fairy makes you feel better. So does believing in Santa Claus. Same old same old.
Let me get this right. You did not believe in God yet you still blamed him for your issues???
Very cool, thanks for sharing.
Sounds very much like having had an addiction, breaking that addiction and getting sober, then falling off the wagon and remembering just how blissful that high was to the point that you finally realized you can't cope or maintain without said addiction.
Good article. These thinking trends are simply cyclical. Trends of disbelief have consistently gone up and down throughout history. But one thing has always remained – the vast, vast majority of the world holds to theism, and Christianity consistently experiences revival.
the star people live on!!!! Have faith in them.
More like a downward spiral for Christianity, brut. But it will likely be replaced by some other myth, just as it replaced earlier myths. Some memes are hard to get rid of, even when they are so obviously false.
Actually Christianity is dying in most 1st world countries, United States being the exception. But it looks like that things are turning, at last, shall I say.
Actually according to any source out there, Christianity on a global scale is still growing not declining. Maybe in the west it is declining, but on a global scale it is still growing.
Interesting article about new Baptist rituals at mudfalls.com. Light of the lord be praised!
This statement is ridiculous and displays the authors ignorance, insecurity, and bias- "But does this data really say what many atheists want it to say? Is American religion really heading for a fall?" Also, total straw man argument. Way to go, ignoramus.
Scripture. Tradition. Reason.
The average atheist is more most dogmatic and narrow in his/her view than the average Christian. Look at all the generalizations and venom being spewed by the postings below. Free your mind!
I wish you all peace.
The thing is, I wouldn't care if Catholics were vicious people with their data. But it is the same garbage claim over and over again. "The Bible is 100% true because God says so". And that God is only there for people who "feel" it. It's just garbage to make claims without any actual proof. They might as well believe in Thor with their logic.
I wish you would visit prolapsed.net to realize gods try plan for all Christians. May we all be ruptured!
Michael the average atheist knows more about Christianity than the average Christian, and is much smarter than the average Christian. Think about that, even if it's taxing for you.
Unless your IQ is >160, I'm smarter than you Stan!
I hope that you aren't too taxed by that...
What "dogma?" Nice try. Another empty claim from a believer. Way to try to lower others to your level. atheists merely reject the idea that there is a deity b/c the burden of proof has not been met by the claimant. There is no "dogma" involved.
@ Michael
If pointing out inconsistencies in your faith's scripture is spewing venom then I guess we're spewing venom, but that venom is in no way dogmatic, we have no scripture. Then you boast your IQ is above 160 (online exam?) talk down to people and follow it up with a "God Bless Everyone" like it instantly absolves you from the spit you talk. How Christlike of you. Enough of the "You're taking the bible out of context" stuff too, put it in context so we can point out all the contradictions and lunacy once and for all. Which parts are relevant?
I like turtles.
All Atheists! – Please view video #2 @ – thestarofkaduri.com
Well, we'll all learn the truth one day, won't we? My Lord tells me I'll never be ashamed of believing in Him. He is truth.....all that we know of truth is based in Him. What REALLY ticks people off, is that He, (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) does not answer to us and is not compelled to explain Himself or His actions or inactions. We have trouble with what He has told us.....if we don't like it, if we don't understand, if He doesn't behave the way we think He should, we rebel or reject even His very existance. As Jesus said, "You have ears but you don't hear. You have eyes but you don't see."
Is your lord the same one that will send you to a place of eternal damnation and fire and pain for all of time just because you envy your neighbor's wife?
Sista, sounds to me like you are taking Pascal's Wager. Look it up.
And I will never be ashamed of not believing in god/
God of Jesus: "God is love." (1 John 4:16)
God of Moses: "Kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man" (Num. 31:17)
God of Jesus: "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me." (Mark 9:37)
God of Moses: "Put to death men and women, children and infants" (1 Sam. 15:2-3)
God of Jesus: "Love does no harm to its neighbor" (Rom. 13:10)
God of Moses: "He totally destroyed all who breathed, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded." (Josh. 10:40)
God of Jesus: "[The devil] was a murderer from the beginning." (John 8:44)
God of Moses: "Slaughter old men, young men and maidens, women and children" (Ezek. 9:6)
God of Jesus: "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8)
God of Moses: "Like a lion I will devour them." (Hosea 13:8)
God of Jesus: "Anyone who does not love his brother [is of the devil]." (1 John 3:10)
God of Moses: "Go back and forth killing your brother and friend and neighbor" (Exod. 32:27)
God of Jesus: "[The devil] is a liar and the father of lies." (John 8:44)
God of Moses: "Put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours." (1 Kings 22:23)
God of Jesus: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy." (John 10:10)
God of Moses: "Pursue, kill and completely destroy them." (Jer. 50:21)
God of Jesus: "He who does what is sinful is of the devil" (1 John 3:8)
God of Moses: "Do not leave alive anything that breathes" (Deut. 20:16)
God of Jesus: "God so loved the world.." (John 3:16)
God of Moses: "I will wipe humankind ..from the face of the Earth." (Gen. 6:7)
God of Jesus: "Love your enemies" (Luke 6:27-28)
God of Moses: "Treat the Midianites as enemies and kill them." (Num. 25:16-17)
God of Jesus: "For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone" (James 1:13)
God of Moses: "[He] tempted Abraham" (Gen. 22:1)
You take a lot of the Old Testament out of context. But that is nothing new. You join the ranks of scoffers around the world.
2Pe 3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
"No knowledge is always better than half knowledge","Half Knowledge is dangerous" .
God of Jesus is same as God of Moses.
topcityres, so how come your big god guy can't come up with something better than a book that can be interpreted this way and that?
Old Testament laws and historical accounts and God's judgements are all types and figures and shadows of Christ and His Kingdom. Jesus is not only God of Love but God of wrath too. He came as a Saviour and now coming as a Judge.
You can't just say I take God wanting to murder babies and such out of context, you'll have to explain this one buddy. What context is it in? Side-stepping psychopath.
A lot of people seem to think that is how it is – believe or else. Well when a bloddy tyrant like stalin or his buddy god, comes along I'll pass on them as beign unworty of being worm food.
The doubt being created is due to the religious organizations that dominate the landscape. When you preach certainties, half-truths, evangelicalisms, orthodoxies and also a fair amount of hate, bullying, dominance, power, greed, self-rightousness – what do you expect. "They will know you are Christians by your love for each-other" "Truly, what you do for the least of these you do for me." Why should athiests or others believe you, you don't even practice what you preach.
Amen.
Actually that statement is funny, because irreligious people view "religious" people religiously – someone judges a Christ follower on their own felt needs. And do not address or come to grip with the depravity of man and his own sinfulness. You have to grapple with those before you can make those statements
Why should God prove anything to someone who does not desire the him? You must first seek him. He gave you free will for you to choose. He sent his disciples out only to show the way but it is only up to you if you wish to have the faith in him. God's signs and events are for the faithful to strengthen their faith. In the case of Saul, God came to him asking him a question not to prove anything to Saul but from that experience Saul then had faith in God.
As for disciples of this day we are only to witness to others and if others do not turn to God then that is their choice. You may call it spreading hate or fear but it is simply spreading the gospil as we are instructed from God to do. We are also blessed everytime someone ridicules, mocks or any other negative action taken toward someone witnessing in the name of the Lord.
I nor any other Christain have to prove anything to anyone we are only to witness to the world. We cannot be hurt in any way for our Kingdom of Glory is only a breath away.
Thank you Jesus!
AMEN.
Why should I seek your god? Is he vain or something?
and why give thanks?
Most Athiests sought God first because we were usually born into families that indoctrinated us at birth. However, we are intelligent beings who understand logical fallacies and during our youths could not help but noticing one and then another and then another fallacy within our religious dogmas. So in the quest of knowledge we dug deeper. We actually read scriptures of multiple religions critically. We compared. Then we read about the previous religions and polytheism and compared some more. Pretty soon the contradictions to logic, to science, to the scriptures themselves become to much. *poof* Athiest. Now we sigh in dismay that other people don't bother to read or investigate. I mean according to their own religions, their IMMORTAL SOULS are at stake! If I believed my immortal soul was at stake, I'd be reading that bible with a fine comb to make sure I was doing everything right.....
u mad bro?
Amen and Amen. Thank God for the blood of Jesus Christ. God will WIN in the end. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess the Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. so, bow now or bow later, either way you will bow
"You must first seek him"...code for you must first suspend all reason and delude yourself. Being pschizophrenic helps too.
GiL, sounds more like your god is quite the vicious and vindictive ass-hole. No thanks. You can keep him. To yourself. Quietly, please.
I'm not trying to belittle your beliefs, but I am going to ask some interesting questions. Why, in the age of 24 hour news programs, social media, and infinite access to knowledge, has God not shown anything definite? At the time that the Bible was written, things seemed to be happening with regularity but since Jesus's resurrection, and the age of modern man, God has not shown one definite miracle or any shred of proof that he might actually exist. Bible scholars believe that Jesus came when man needed him most. Why didn't God wait a couple thousand years, that way it could be recorded in history? Other than the Bible, there is no actual record of Jesus's life. Also, why did God create us with imperfections and then seemingly blame us for those faults? That makes no sense to me. Why did God play a sick game of I told you so with his follower Job? Wouldn't the creator of the world have the confidence to not do that with his most loyal follower. Is there on actual instance of "God's work" that you can claim other than coincidence? Sometimes people get healthy when they get sick and so and so forth. All I'm saying is that some Buddhists claim to have been capable of reaching enlightenment. God has this state of mind, in my opinion. He would not be spiteful, jealous, angry, or any other negative emotion that Baptists like to use to justify their faith. Please respond.
@Ryn:
You have made your choice and you have heard the witness. That is all that is needed for you. So after you did all that looking and searching your choice was to not believe in God. So you have nothing to look forward to after your death that is by what you believe but for me, I have the Kingdom of my Lord to look forward to.
Thank you Jesus for being my saviour!
Also the definition of a miracle is something that defies the laws of nature. Performing a miracle, by that definition, is impossible. Sick people get healthy, the Denver Broncos sometimes win, people survive car accidents, and every now and then things go your way. These are not miracles. These are everyday occurrences that people pray for and when they come true, followers say that God was looking out for them, when they don't come true, they say that it wasn't in God's will. Well if God does care about the Denver Broncos and is neglecting places in Africa, India, or South Central LA, then "he" is no God that I want to follow. If I was a Christian, I would consider pray for my own good fortune selfish and completely against the doctrine of Christianity.
@Jon:
Hence, you wish to change the definition of miracle. Why not change any other definition of any word you disagree with? This is why you have so many questions.
When your pre-conceived irrationalities are contradicted by the facts, just twist the facts to appear to support your beliefs and all is right in the world.
Actually, facts are interpreted by your worldview. Atheists have their own worldview – whither it's naturalism, materialism, empiricism, or relativism. Sadly all these worldviews are ultimately irrational – naturalism says that nature and matter are all that exist – therefore why should we expect that we evolved correctly? Does logic evolve? Materialsim says that matter is the only thing that exists – therefore since logic is an abstraction it wouldn't exist. Empiricism is that all truth claims are developed empirically – but you cannot find that out empirically. Relativism says that there are no absolutes, but in saying that it is an absolute statement
No one, atheist included believes that the world and life are meaningless, if they did, than that statement cannot have any meaning to them.
Ultimately the Biblical Worldview is the only one that is logically consistent in itself. The reason we can use logic, is because we were created in God's image. When you look at the World through a lens of a biblical worldview – the world makes sense
I don't know where paul stands, but I hope it's a biblical worldview – because his statements would hold no water if they were not
What I find amazing is how so may different religions use the same Bible yet preach it so differently... It also amazes me how the original was rewritten into the "New Testimate" and now it is the one that is used, yet it was rewritten different from the original... Doesn't make sense to me...
Growing up in the midwest in the 60's and 70's and going to different churches with friends I learned real quick what the true meaning of hypocrit was... Churches and religions are full of them... The "Do as I say, not as I do" mentality runs rampent in all demonations...
Of course it is do as I say and not as I do.
All outsiders probably should see Christians as hypocrites. We preach the truth (rarely for me to outsiders) about how all of our lives should be lived. Only if we were perfect, would we be able to actually live that way. We do our best on a daily basis, but know that we are imperfect and unable to live totally in god's truth. We know others can't either. It is the pursuit of living in that truth that makes a person a Christian.
only 3% of millennials are atheists – but only 1% of the rest of the population are atheists. It doesn't bode well.
We know that once we get you to question it, it falls apart like a house of cards. That's why atheists are celebrating.
statistics and percentages can be made by anyone to support a point 4 out of 5 people know that. An unregenerate person, or one who does not know the Lord, when they are offended by the gospel, then they will fall apart like a deck of cards
You also intuitively know that if you ever try to live in faith, you will get it. And so you hide behind a need for proof.
Have FAITH in THOR!!!! Do not DOUBT that he will keep the earth free from Ice Giants!
Jesus was supposed to rid the world of sin. Thor was supposed to rid the world of ice giants. I don't see any ice giants.
Wrong again Jim. Jesus didn't come to rid the world of sin but to atone for our sins. I'd say he did an admirable job.
amen to that
@Bill Deacon,
"I'd say he did an admirable job."
Really? How can you tell? Honestly, I'm curious.