Science, 'frauds' trigger a decline in atheism

[purcelce 11]

I was going to join this dissucssion but didn't want to get into some mud slinging. Just remember folks that God loves you.

 

 

[evmori 11]

Thanks for your post Rooster. Good article.

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[packsaddle 753]

NJ, you know, don't you, that he didn't die...he simply went home? A mini-rapture on 11 May 2001, perhaps.

[Hunt 11]

I wouldn't believe the Washington Times if it said the sky was blue, but this article does purport to be from UPI, not one of the Times' own writers.

I can't comment on the specifics, because I don't know, but it is obvious to any casual observer that contrary to the expectations of many Enlightenment thinkers, and many others since, relgious beliefs have simply refused to fade away with the acceptance of science. In the U.S., belief in God has run at about 90% for the last decade or so--worldwide, about 87% of people belong to some kind of religious group (although I suppose some of them may not be believers). According to a 2000 Gallup poll, only about 8% of people worldwide could be called atheists (although there are others who "don't know" and it's not clear to me if China was included).

I don't agree with the idea that a growing trust of science will support religious belief--indeed, I think science clearly challenges some religious beliefs (it pretty much did away with the belief that the sun revolved around the earth, for example). But I think that as science evolves, it becomes clearer and clearer that religion is a seperate thing from science, and ultimately can't be disproved.

I would also point out that atheists are not likely to get much traction until they are represented by nicer, friendlier people than the likes of Madalyn Murray O'Hair and Michael Newdow--so far, there has been no Ellen DeGeneres of atheism.

 

[Trevorum 24]

Of great interest regarding this topic may be the 2002 report by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

 

http://www.pewforum.org/publications/reports/poll2002.pdf

 

In direct contrast to BSA's official position, 50% of Amercans say that belief in God is not necessary to be moral; 84% say that one can be a good American without religious faith.