Majority of Americans Agree With Atheists on Church/State



A recent poll found most Americans think Christianity gets too involved in politics. This has been the position of atheists since way back.

Certainly there are denominations which hold as a central view religion and politics should be kept apart. It seems to me most non church people and occasional church goers have the impression Christianity in general has a goal of pushing itself into politics. Pictures of the President surrounded by preachers praying for him makes this association rather inevitable.

The impression Christianity is all about politics is not helped by the two largest denominations, the Catholics and Southern Baptists. Both relentlessly push for their views be put into law. Both endorse or are seen an endorsing politicians. While the faith often is portrayed as about "being humble" it is largely about just the opposite, being powerful.

Those wealthy people who wrote the Bible and today's leaders of the Catholic and Southern Baptist denomination shared a couple of traits. They saw themselves as very important, very worthy and as the ones destined to run society. When the Bible's authors wrote "Thou shalt have no other gods before thee" they were using code language which really meant "Thou shalt listen and obey me, the writer, and no one else."

Today Catholics can read the Catholic Encyclopedia and learn they are to let Catholic clergy tell they how they should live and what to believe. Southern Baptists have their own set of leaders who want to pass beliefs from on high down to those in the pews. I say "want to" because the legal relationships between the denomination and its churches is different.

Fortunately, these two large and powerful denominations never had the control they wanted over those in the pews and control is slipping even more. The majority has had enough of churches pushing political views.

Comments

  1. Matt NoahNovember 29, 2019 at 6:41 PM

    Wow, now that you cite a poll I should stop being involved in politics because I am just a filthy Catholic. That will leave the door open to even filthier atheists or some other more or less filthy so-and-so groups.

    I think I'll ignore the poll and stay involved in politics.

    The world has never been changed for the better by people who accepted a poll result. Rather, the world is changed for the good by those who fight for good, and won't accept evil.

    ReplyDelete
  2. little helperNovember 29, 2019 at 8:20 PM

    Beyond the church as a non political entity, the laity is free to participate and vote as they see fit in politics as any citizen should.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maybe the "Original Sin" Should be Reassigned

Image
We can all agree most Catholic priests are fine people and not guilty of sexual abuse. What Catholics must face, however, it that their church harbors executives who are dishonest . There is an incredible story about the Argentine Bishop Zanchetta. The Pope worked with him in Argentina and they are considered friends. Around 2015 Zanchetta sent nude pictures of himself and they began circulating world wide. He also was too friendly with young seminarians and some left because of him.  Three different officials say they made formal complaints to the Vatican about Zanchetta between 2015 and 2017. Yet, in 2018, the Vatican claimed it was unaware of any complaints about Zanchetta. This might be a good time to repeat the Catholic hierarchy claims to have the sole authority handed down from Jesus to what the faith stands for. It condemns as sinners those who practice birth control, have abortions and gay sexual relationships. Handing the hierarchy this responsibility would make som
Read more

The Religious Capitol Invaders May Yet Win

Image
So much about U.S. society and religion can be learned from the Civil War and what happened afterwards. After its defeat, the South started a myth about the unethical soldiers from the North. The South fought for principles of God and states rights. The North did not. It was the South, this propaganda told the country, that had the high moral ground.  The Capitol invaders, encouraged by Trump, swallowed the myth that Biden's election was stolen. Thus, they think they held and still hold the high moral ground. This was reinforced by the cross and prayers during the invasion. Even with Trump is gone, we will see political opportunists like Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley stroking crowds and feeding the same lies as Trump. Like "the South will rise again" these gullible followers will talk of victory over the unclean. After the Civil War the South rallied around the phrase, Lost Cause. For decades, and maybe to this day, there are ceremonies remembering fallen martyrs, Re
Read more

Father Frank Pavone, the Ultimate Crook

Image
Recently, the Vatican defrocked Frank Pavone. His diehard fans are outraged. This is because he cleverly manipulated his fans and the press all the while living well from donations and, apparently, abusing some women. By making abortion the "sin" of the century, and himself the main opposition to this one sin, he himself could get away with any sin he pleased.  As the link points out, Pavone was the perfect priest for the Trump era. Trump is so self-important laws have no role in his life. He felt accountable to no one. Women were there to be had. Pavone and Trump are interchangeable.  Pavone was very successful raising money. In his mind, abortion was so important in Catholic beliefs and he was so important in anti-abortion the money he raised opposing it was his to do with what he liked. The Catholic Church, the brand name he used to raise this money, thought the money belonged to it. When he gave the Vatican the bird, it gave him walking papers. With polls showing the majo
Read more