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 The Reason Rally, sponsored by secular organizations, draws a crowd to Washington.
May 29th, 2013
03:06 PM ET
Poll: America losing its religionBy Dan Merica, CNN Washington (CNN) – More than three in four of Americans say religion is losing its influence in the United States, according to a new survey, the highest such percentage in more than 40 years. A nearly identical percentage says that trend bodes ill for the country. "It may be happening, but Americans don't like it," Frank Newport, Gallup's editor in chief, said of religion's waning influence. "It is clear that a lot of Americans don't think this is a good state of affairs." According to the Gallup survey released Wednesday, 77% of Americans say religion is losing its influence. Since 1957, when the question was first asked, Americans' perception of religion's power has never been lower. According to the poll, 75% of Americans said the country would be better off if it were more religious. The poll doesn't reflect Americans' personal religiosity, such as church attendance, but rather how large events and trends shape shared views, Newport explained. For example, the sexual revolution, the Vietnam War and the rise of the counterculture fed the perception that religion was on the wane during the late 1960s, he said. Views of a secularizing America peaked in 1969 and 1970, when 75% of Americans said faith was losing its clout in society. A similar view dominated from 1991-94 and from 2007 to the present. Americans saw religion increasing its influence in 1957, in 1962 and at a few points during the Reagan presidency in 1980. This number also spiked to its highest point ever - 71% - after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The pollster didn't speculate on the contemporary factors that led to the current views on faith's influence. Still, the poll numbers are dramatically influenced by church attendance, according to Gallup. More than 90% of people who attend church weekly responded that a more religious America would be positive, compared with 58% of Americans who attended church "less often." The Gallup poll was conducted via telephone from May 2 to May 7. A total of 1,535 people were sampled for the poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. soundoff (6,389 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 Next »
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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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any philosophy one chooses to guide one's life decisions can be a good thing – which essentially what "religion" is. However we can thank the right wing fundamentalist evangelistic movement which used hate, judgment, and the bible as a weapon to create a religious war in this country. we invite, actually beg, all races and religions to come to this country and want them to covert to southern baptist only? i am in georgia, moved from DC, and the people here are angry as hell – at what i have no idea – but if you are not like them, you have to totally watch your back at all times.
Last thing this country needs is more religion. Much less religion in politics. There is no bearded white guy waiting to greet you when you die much less St Peter waiting at a set of pearly gates. Get grip America.
Are you out of your mind. Who guarantees our rights in the bill of rights? Men? A paper? A rock?
John, interestingly enough the Founding Fathers gave ownership of God to Nature, not Nature to God. (See first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence)
Hey You
You obviously do not understand the English usage or the context. Read the writings of the authors
"You obviously do not understand the English usage or the context."
Says the doofus who can't figure out the difference between "loose" and "lose."
The Founding Fathers dream is being realized.
Indeed. It will continue to lose ground and in another hundred years it will only be a footnote in history...how things were in the old days.
Are you out of your mind. Who guarantees our rights in the bill of rights? Men? A paper? A rock?
If this country looses religion it itself will be torn down to a dot in the book of history.
Come on, John. It's "loses", not "looses".
Religion is one of the most dangerous and destructive forces that plague mankind. It sets up people to believe they are better than someone else, and they must " show others the way". People kill, die, torture, prosecute, demean, discriminate, lie, abuse, manipulate, steal all in the name of "religion".
Religion is a crutch for the simple minded, and those who want a cookbook approach to life, as in do steps A,B and C and thusly D will result. They cannot think in their own, or are to afraid to listen to their inner voice.
Religion is different from spirituality. Religion is a small group of people manipulating their large audience and maintaining power over others.
Are you out of your mind. Who guarantees our rights in the bill of rights? Men? A paper? A rock?
If this country looses religion it itself will be torn down to a dot in the book of history.
Come on, John. It's "loses," not "looses."
Attending (Christian) church is far from the only way to be religious! This article lacks depth and perspective. It's shallow and bordering on schlock, not unlike Christianity in the US.
Math is the language of the universe. I am not sure if the human mind is capable of explaining everything about our reality but I am confident the scientific method can.
less religious???
47% of americans believe in divine creation over evolution...
for a developed country that is shear fanaticism
or a complete failure to educate our youth.
Or a strong indication of people with open minds that don't depend on a few unsure scientists to explain the reality of existence
Or people that can easily be bu'll sh'itted.
At least it is a small step in the right direction!
Are you out of your mind. Who guarantees our rights in the bill of rights? Men? A paper? A rock?
If this country looses religion it itself will be torn down to a dot in the book of history.
Come on, John. Loses, not looses. How slow are you?
I always listen to Joyce Meyer. god talks to her you know. He told her to open a church and preach making sure to collect all the evil money she doesn't need. Oh yeah, he told her to buy that corporate jet for 17 million and those 5 mansions too. And my favorite part, he told her "Mention me and you don't have to pay taxes on anything again ever!" And all you sheeple still send her money. Now that's funny!
I am a Christian and I have no idea who you are talking about.
Are these people serious? There is already FAR TOO MUCH RELIGION in America as it already is! We are a developed country, not Iran. In which Western country do politicians have to so disgustingly grovel to conservative religion, deny scientific facts, openly display their bigotry in order to gain votes? In which Western country do people in government habitually pray to imaginary fairies in the sky before meetings? We need far LESS religion and far MORE reason in this country!
Are you out of your mind. Who guarantees our rights in the bill of rights? Men? A paper? A rock?
If this country looses religion it itself will be torn down to a dot in the book of history.
Loses, not looses.
Hey NO horn-y red devil or fairy in the sky............no bible 250 million years ago !
Rock Where India Crashed Into Asia And Pushed Up The Himalayas [PHOTO]
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/chris-hadfield-himalaya-satellite-photo-2013-5#ixzz2UdQgGr1G
250 million years ago ............mass..
http://www.businessinsider.com/chris-hadfield-himalaya-satellite-photo-2013-5?nr_email_referer=1&utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Science%20Select&utm_campaign=1-SCIENCE_SELECT_NEW&utm_content=emailshare
The belief is that there was once absolutely nothing. And, nothing happened to the nothing until the nothing magically exploded (for no reason), creating everything & everywhere. Then, a bunch of the exploded everything magically arranged itself (for no reason whatsoever), into self-replicating bits which then turned itself into dinosaurs.
And, they mock my beliefs.
And the green slime to go with IT !
Scientists Offer First Definitive Proof of Bacteria-Feeding Behavior in Green Algae
May 23, 2013 — A team of researchers has captured images of green alga consuming bacteria, offering a glimpse at how early organisms dating back more than 1 billion years may have acquired free-living photosynthetic cells. This acquisition is thought to have been a critical first step in the evolution of photosynthetic algae and land plants, which, in turn, contributed to the increase in oxygen levels in Earth's atmosphere and ocean and provided one of the conditions necessary for animal evolution.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130523143741.htm
K from AZ,
Very well put! Science does NOT explain everything.
@KFromAZ we have very good evidence for singularities (black holes) which are a bunch of crap packed down into zero dimensions and all the Big Bang was is the inverse a white hole. Also quantum theory explains how something can form out of nothing. Math can explain things that can not be explained easily in any other way.
Are you out of your mind. Who guarantees our rights in the bill of rights? Men? A paper? A rock?
If this country looses religion it itself will be torn down to a dot in the book of history.
Unfortunately the only reason we are having this argument at all is because reality as we experience it is much different than the true reality at the smallest and largest scales. We are truly on a tiny island in the middle of an enormous ocean. Explaining reality with anything but math is like hypnotizing chickens.
Science only doesn't explain everything because it is limited by time and the human mind. If we had all the data we need we could explain everything. Its very possible the theory of everything (ie quantum gravity) is only a few generations way. Once we have that we will be well on our way to explaining everything.
REPEAT the fairy in the sky DID NOT create US
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CNN logo CNN 3 weeks ago
When Christians become a 'hated minority'
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When Christians become a 'hated minority'
The point where religious speech becomes hate speech is difficult to define, though, scholars and activists say. The Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama is a nonprofit civil rights group that combats and monitors hate groups. Three years ago, it... Full Article at CNN
http://legalnews.findlaw.com/article/0bj7cdy2zIcqA?q=law+OR+lawsuit+OR+legal+OR+%28court+AND+law%29
Hawking seems to think the Big Bang was started by quantum tunnelling (google to see something very usual about our reality that has been proven to exist). The key to understanding cosmology is being able to understand fields and how they interact with our universe at the smallest scales.
Do a simple search for Prof. Higgs .................the church hates that !
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/05/24/prosecutor-parents-refusal-to-seek-medical-attention-led-to-infants-death/comment-page-13/#comments
Good, we can focus on spending money on other things like education instead of padding cult leaders pockets
Ok with me.
Are you out of your mind. Who guarantees our rights in the bill of rights? Men? A paper? A rock?
If this country looses religion it itself will be torn down to a dot in the book of history.
Loses, not looses. Unbelievable.
Here's why, in a nutshell: /watch?v=L5mXQP72cIY
P.S. I love you crazy christians.
I am not particularly concerned that fewer Americans are religious. I am not religious. I don't think religion makes anyone a better person. Living your life by the golden rule is all the religion anyone will ever need to live a happy life.
Who do YOU think established the 'golden' rule? Are YOU really that stupid naturally or did you have to work at it?
K from AZ
"Who do YOU think established the 'golden' rule? Are YOU really that stupid naturally or did you have to work at it?"
The concept of the "Golden Rule" came LONG BEFORE the Bible. Check ancient China for instance. OOOOPS!
"Are YOU really that stupid naturally or did you have to work at it?"
Better the golden rule instead of the golden shower.
K, you really needed some divine guide to tell you to treat others the way you want to be treated? I understood THAT when I was 4 years old.
I didn't learn, and I mean LEARN about God until later.
The golden rule is not unique to Christianity, and appears in many ancient cultural texts including those from ancient Babylon, China, Egypt, Greece, etc. It's a very basic philosophical concept.
If religion becomes less influential in America, that can only be a good thing. We'll have people making more rational decisions instead of trying to placate invisible sky wizards created by bronze age tribesman.
Are you out of your mind. Who guarantees our rights in the bill of rights? Men? A paper? A rock?
If this country looses religion it itself will be torn down to a dot in the book of history.
See John. See John stutter. See John make a fool of himself. Run, John, run. Run to your nearest remedial English class.
Loses, not looses. Man, you are slow!
Christianity: The belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree.
epic. i salute u.
Why are you all excited about nothing? What does it have? You have no proof nothing did anything.
(shakes head walking out the door)
Apparently you believe that God came from nothing and then created everything from nothing.
What was your point, if any?
We all knew American was becoming less religious, but the VERY telling thing is that a far majority of Americans think America should be MORE religious. Goes to show that evil will prevail if good men do nothing.
Oh, you mean evil like the Schaibles?
Awesome. We can join the rest of the developed world as a secular society.
Where there is killing in the streets......
You mean like in Japan, a very secular nation with one of the lowest crime rates in the world, Johnny?
Thank God.