At odds with their religions
The Chronicle Herald
At odds with their religions
Most Americans believe many faiths can lead to salvation, survey finds
By ERIC GORSKI The Associated Press
June 28, 2008
The United States remains a deeply religious place, but a new survey finds most Americans donâ??t believe their tradition is the only way to eternal life â?? even if the denominationâ??s teachings say otherwise.
The findings, revealed in a survey of 35,000 adults, can either be taken as a positive sign of growing religious tolerance, or disturbing evidence that Americans dismiss or donâ??t know fundamental teachings of their own faiths.
Among the more startling numbers in the survey, conducted last year by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life: 57 per cent of evangelical church attenders said they believe many religions can lead to eternal life, in conflict with traditional evangelical teaching.
In all, 70 per cent of Americans with a religious affiliation shared that view, and 68 per cent said there is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of their own religion.
"The survey shows religion in America is, indeed, 3,000 miles wide and only three inches deep," said D. Michael Lindsay, a Rice University sociologist of religion.
"Thereâ??s a growing pluralistic impulse toward tolerance and that is having theological consequences," he said.
Earlier data from the Pew Forumâ??s U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, released in February, highlighted how often Americans switch religious affiliation. The newly released material looks at religious belief and practice as well as the impact of religion on society, including how faith shapes political views.
The report argues that while relatively few people â?? 14 per cent â?? cite religious beliefs as the main influence on their political thinking, religion still plays a powerful indirect role.
The study confirmed some well-known political dynamics, including stark divisions over abortion and gay marriage, with the more religiously committed taking conservative views on the issues. Of Catholics, 58 per cent believe society should accept homosexuality, a view that is greatly at odds with U.S. Catholic bishops.
But it also showed support across religious lines for greater governmental aid for the poor, even if it means more debt and stricter environmental laws and regulations.
By many measures, Americans are strongly religious: 92 per cent believe in God, 74 per cent believe in life after death and 63 per cent say their respective scriptures are the word of God.
But deeper investigation found that more than one in four Roman Catholics, mainline Protestants and Orthodox Christians expressed doubts about Godâ??s existence, as did six in 10 Jews.
Another finding almost defies explanation: 21 per cent of self-identified atheists said they believe in God or a universal spirit, with eight per cent "absolutely certain" of it.
"Look, this shows the limits of a survey approach to religion," said Peter Berger, a theology and sociology professor at Boston University. "What do people really mean when they say that many religions lead to eternal life? It might mean they donâ??t believe their particular truth at all. Others might be saying, â??We believe a truth but respect other people, and they are not necessarily going to hell.â?? "
Nearly across the board, the majority of religious Americans believe many religions can lead to eternal life: mainline Protestants (83 per cent), members of historic black Protestant churches (59 per cent), Roman Catholics (79 per cent), Jews (82 per cent) and Muslims (56 per cent).
By similar margins, people in those faith groups believe in multiple interpretations of their own traditionsâ?? teachings. Yet 44 per cent of the religiously affiliated also said their religion should preserve its traditional beliefs and practices.
"What most people are saying is, â??Hey, we donâ??t have a hammer-lock on God or salvation, and Godâ??s bigger than us and we should respect that and respect other people,â?? " said the Rev. Tom Reese, a senior fellow at Georgetown University.
"Some people are like butterflies that go from flower to flower, going from religion to religion â?? and frankly they donâ??t get that deep into any of them."
Beliefs about eternal life vary greatly, even within a religious tradition.
Some Christians hold strongly to Jesusâ?? words as described in John 14:6: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Others emphasize the wideness of Godâ??s grace.
The Catholic church teaches that the "one church of Christ ... subsists in the Catholic Church" alone and that Protestant churches, while defective, can be "instruments of salvation."
More than most groups, Catholics break with their church, and not just on issues like abortion and homosexuality. Only six in 10 Catholics described God as "a person with whom people can have a relationship" â?? which the church teaches â?? while three in 10 described God as an "impersonal force."
"The statistics show, more than anything else, that many who describe themselves as Catholics do not know or understand the teachings of their church," said Denver Roman Catholic Archbishop Charles Chaput. "Being Catholic means believing what the Catholic church teaches. It is a communion of faith, not simply of ancestry and family tradition. It also means that the church ought to work harder at evangelizing its own members."
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At odds with their religions
Well... all religions led to an eternal life after death... but this eternal life also can be in hell... :D
At odds with their religions
religions have always been at odds with each other, and always will. they all claim to have the truth, all have a method of salvation and claim no other way but thiers, and some say you go to hell if you dont believe as they do. humans are stupid and ignorant.
At odds with their religions
*SIGH*
DROP religion and take up SPIRITUALITY.
"God" (if there is such a thing) wanted spiritual fruit, not religious nuts!
forget about all that "one true path" bullcrap, and focus, instead, on just simply BEing.
WE'RE ALL HUMAN BEINGS, RIGHT?! SO WHY AREN'T WE BEING HUMAN?!?
At odds with their religions
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stoner Shadow Wolf
WE'RE ALL HUMAN BEINGS, RIGHT?! SO WHY AREN'T WE BEING HUMAN?!?
i feel i should elaborate... forgive the double post a moment and consider this:
most people (i can really only say most americans, i dont live in Mongolia, or England) are busy being a part of society; people are too busy being police officers, store clerks, gas station attendants, politicians, preachers, machinists, taxi cab drivers, bus drivers, construction workers, husbands, wives, chefs, etc.
But how many people are just trying to be HUMAN?
to just BE, without obligation, responsibility, or expectations is to be human.
day to day without goals or regrets, abandon the future and past and live life for right NOW. so what if you spilled coffee in your lap this morning, forget about it, it was over after it happened. it does not exist anymore. so what if you want to be a judge some day? just live life and be who you are, and if it is meant to be, it will be. if not, no regrets, you have lived life for the sake of LIVING, rather than for the sake of surviving, making money, or impressing someone.
Forget about the future, give up on the past, live for right now, while it still lasts.
At odds with their religions
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stoner Shadow Wolf
to just BE, without obligation, responsibility, or expectations is to be human.
day to day without goals or regrets, abandon the future and past and live life for right NOW. so what if you spilled coffee in your lap this morning, forget about it, it was over after it happened. it does not exist anymore. so what if you want to be a judge some day? just live life and be who you are, and if it is meant to be, it will be. if not, no regrets, you have lived life for the sake of LIVING, rather than for the sake of surviving, making money, or impressing someone.
I do it (and love it)... but people calls me a lazy... not that i give the smallest damn about what they think... but its what usually happens when we try to do anything different from the usual.
At odds with their religions
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coelho
I do it (and love it)... but people calls me a lazy... not that i give the smallest damn about what they think... but its what usually happens when we try to do anything different from the usual.
sadly true; eat sleep and die are not enough by most societies' standards.
brainwashed mind controlled freaks they are! :cool:
At odds with their religions
I'm not at odds- I'm an Atheist, by God!!!1
