Faith in U.S. withers as apathy trumps religion

[Fishrrman]

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/dec/30/faith-in-us-withers-as-apathy-trumps-religion/

Faith in U.S. withers as apathy trumps religion
America becoming 'pagan' as Christianity cedes to culture

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times - Monday, December 30, 2019

The Rev. Stephen M. Koeth, a Catholic priest and Ph.D. history candidate at Columbia University, was teaching a class one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s sermons that mentioned the road to Jericho. He found it striking that none of the students got the reference to the road, which is where the parable of the Good Samaritan takes place.

But then the Rev. Koeth realized it wasn’t just the road — the students weren’t familiar with the Good Samaritan.

That makes them pagans, in the very real sense of the word, he said.

“They have no knowledge, no practice, no anything,” he said. “It’s not that they’re antagonistic to religion. Some of them are, but often times it just has no meaning to them.”

More at URL above...

[Absalom]

Mankind's spiritual sensibilities, which reinforce and strengthen all structured religions,
have been eroding since the French Enlightenment, now some 250 years past.
AND THE DAMAGE TO THE SOUL OF MAN HAS BEEN CATASTROPHIC!!!

[jmyrlefuller]

No belief in God, no belief in family, no belief in society. We have raised a society that believes in nothing. How long can this last?

[Absalom]

No belief in God, no belief in family, no belief in society. We have raised a society that believes in nothing. How long can this last?

-----------------------
You know that it cannot since such attitudes and behaviors
are self-evidently destructive; it's only a matter of when!!!
On the bright side consider this:
Greece and Rome had to fall before Europe could rise!!!

[Free Vulcan]

No belief in God, no belief in family, no belief in society. We have raised a society that believes in nothing. How long can this last?

I call it Death by Suburbia. When you want for nothing, why would you need anything more in your life?

Saw the same thing on a smaller scale in college as well as living in the big cities 30 years ago.

[roamer_1]

I call it Death by Suburbia. When you want for nothing, why would you need anything more in your life?

Saw the same thing on a smaller scale in college as well as living in the big cities 30 years ago.

Money for nothing and your chicks for free...

[LegalAmerican]

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/dec/30/faith-in-us-withers-as-apathy-trumps-religion/

Faith in U.S. withers as apathy trumps religion
America becoming 'pagan' as Christianity cedes to culture

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times - Monday, December 30, 2019

The Rev. Stephen M. Koeth, a Catholic priest and Ph.D. history candidate at Columbia University, was teaching a class one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s sermons that mentioned the road to Jericho. He found it striking that none of the students got the reference to the road, which is where the parable of the Good Samaritan takes place.

But then the Rev. Koeth realized it wasn’t just the road — the students weren’t familiar with the Good Samaritan.

That makes them pagans, in the very real sense of the word, he said.

“They have no knowledge, no practice, no anything,” he said. “It’s not that they’re antagonistic to religion. Some of them are, but often times it just has no meaning to them.”

More at URL above...

You can thank DEMON-RAT JFK who wanted this & LBJ & TEDDY who pushed this into law in America.  CELLER/HART ACT 1965.  JFK wanted more people from Africa, Asia, (muslims) and people from Latin country's.  They said it would NOT change demographics.  JFK..also is who gave ILLEGALS WELFARE.  GUESS WHAT? 

[LegalAmerican]

And the LEFTS and N.T.'s have to keep bashing our president.



Error 404 (Not Found)!!1

[EdinVA]

I would be reluctant to get overly excited about this conglomeration of one sided reasoning.
The professor talked with maybe a few hundred spoiled rich kids in college and he is willing to condemn an entire generation on his observations.
Lots of references to decades old "surveys" with no actual survey content, sampling data etc..
I am sure the city cesspool populations are not nearly as aware as folks in the majority of the country.
The media is very adapt at slicing and dicing society into convenient little chucks and casting very dramatic click bait articles on each. 

[Absalom]

Lord help us!!!!!
The societal morass/quagmire we are in, which is self-evident
even to toddlers, HAS NOTHING TO DO W/POLITICAL CRAPOLA!
It is the consequence of losing our way, ignoring our heritage and
turning our back on the spiritual virtues/values that birthed us.
Obviously, expressing a non-political thought is impossible for some!!!
 

[Fishrrman]

j myrle observes and [wisely] asks:
"No belief in God, no belief in family, no belief in society. We have raised a society that believes in nothing. How long can this last?"

Vacuums such as this (even societal/cultural vacuums) don't exist very long.
Look over there towards the door -- it's cracked and islam is peeking in.

Or... to go another way...
Once more, the American Timeline:
2019: USA -- United States of America
2027: USSA -- United Socialist States of America
2035: USSSA -- United Soviet Socialist States of America
2042:  ?????

[LegalAmerican]

j myrle observes and [wisely] asks:
"No belief in God, no belief in family, no belief in society. We have raised a society that believes in nothing. How long can this last?"

Vacuums such as this (even societal/cultural vacuums) don't exist very long.
Look over there towards the door -- it's cracked and islam is peeking in.

Or... to go another way...
Once more, the American Timeline:
2019: USA -- United States of America
2027: USSA -- United Socialist States of America
2035: USSSA -- United Soviet Socialist States of America
2042:  ?????

Yup..JFK CELLER/HART ACT. 1965,  PUT IN BY LBJ.  MUSLIMS.  OMAR & THAT TALIB , SOMETHING NAME.  THEN SOMALIA'S.

[Applewood]

I was raised a Catholic, but I left some years ago. Or maybe the church left me.  The church now has a liberal socialist pope who embraces homosexuality, pedophilia among the clergy is rampant and I refuse to be guilted by the church hierarchy into welcoming a massive invasion of freeloading, potentially dangerous illegals and so-called refugees.  I still believe in God and Jesus, still read my Bible for spiritual nourishment and still try (but admittedly, usually fail) to live by the Commandments.  The faith is still there.  I just feel no need for an organized religion. 

My small town was predominantly Catholic and at one time there were six different Catholic Churches.  The population has since changed, plus there are more nominal than practicing Catholics and fewer clergy.  So all but one of the churches closed and the one that's left was recently absorbed into a nearby parish.  I'm not sure that church will stay open much longer. 

By the way, I'm not slamming anyone who is active in their church or temple and not slamming anyone who doesn't believe.  We all have to follow our own paths and do what works best for us. 

[Jazzhead]

I feel the same way, @Applewood.   The church left me, but also left me with my beliefs intact.   Thankfully, one doesn't need a church to believe in God.   

[dfwgator]

The Left has infiltrated all of the major religions.  They even got the Big Prize, The Pope!

[massadvj]

I was raised a Catholic, but I left some years ago. Or maybe the church left me. 

I too was raised in Catholic schools, and felt abandoned by the church.  I am just now discovering faith again, and the power that it has over the human spirit.  I have come to realize that all churches are man-made and imperfect, while God supersedes man.  Fortunately, we are told by God (Christ) that churches don't matter all that much to Him (Matt 18:20).  He will be present wherever, whenever and however two or more gather in His name, no matter which brand of sinners they may be.

These days I worship with Lutheran sinners, though I do not consider myself a Lutheran.  I think of myself only as a Christian without any particular liturgy. This frees me up to think about the big picture: salvation, the power of faith, charitableness, forgiveness, hope.  In particular, I think it is the loss of hope that has so devastated younger people: their failure to hope has engulfed them, and they embrace despair through such things as environmentalism, all manner of sexual deviancy, and the routine use of psychotropic drugs.  These are the things that are replacing religion for young people, and they are empty of promise in comparison to The Word.

Because I interact with young people a lot as a professor, I try in my own way to influence them indirectly through my teachings in business.  One point I hammer on quite frequently is that it is better to have faith in a lie than to have no faith in the truth.  I usually frame this in terms of business propositions, but it applies to religion as well.  The proof I offer for the proposition that it is better to have faith in a lie, is the drug companies' clinical trials.  It turns out that the vast majority of drugs these companies test do not work better than placebos, and that placebos tend to be successful about 20 percent of the time.  There is but one explanation for this: faith.  If people have faith in a thing, then that faith alone will give the thing power.

Why someone would want to walk around in this life without taking advantage of it is beyond me.

[Absalom]

I feel the same way, @Applewood.   The church left me, but also left me with my beliefs intact.   Thankfully, one doesn't need a church to believe in God.

--------------------------------
Indeed!
The Natural Law was uncovered thru logic and reason, as a simple example shows.
Consider a rule and it's contrary: Man cannot kill and Man can kill.
Which rule advances/promotes the well being of culture/society???
This is the core/essence of Natural Law and has no need for any structured religion
to affirm its role as the foundation for all human conduct.

[truth_seeker]

Alcoholics Anonymous, founded in 1935  observes a simple philosophy:

"Attraction, rather than Promotion."

Several church denminations,provide space for meetings, since they know well the good work done by AA.

AA urges discovery of a Higher Power, not a particular denomination's version.

In our colonial days, the typical township plots provided a parcel for the churcch, but later after discussions and debates often granted parcels for second and subsequent denominations.