The Squeaky Wheel
I've been putting off writing about this for a long time but it's probably now or never to get it done. It's one of the toughest things I'll ever write about, mainly due to the convictions of the handful of people who read my blog but also my tendency to be sarcastic when I write, I'll try to be nice.
They say the squeaky wheel will get all of the attention and while there might be times when that's a good thing, more often than not it isn't. The case in point is Kim Davis, the elected official unable to preform her duties due to her religious convictions. She's been both ridiculed for being hypocritical and praised for standing up for her beliefs. Good or bad that's just the way it is. But probably more importantly she is just being watched by people who are turning away from religion.
In 2007 27% of the millennials in this country (18-35 years old) considered themselves "nones". Meaning they're either atheist, agnostic, secular or just having no religious affiliation at all. In 2014 that percentage jumped to 36%. "Nones are also the fastest growing of all religious affiliations. In the past 8 years they have overtaken Catholics and are second only to Evangelical Protestants.
Why the trend? The churches will say it's proof of the moral decay in the country but it can't be summed up that easily. To say you can't be a moral person without religion is what made me question organized religion and while the themes have changed throughout the years it's still true today.
.
In the 1980s we had a religious movement calling themselves the Moral Majority. They believed that since they had religion on their side they were the true and definitive authority on what was and wasn't moral. At the time I knew what they were about but I didn't pay them much mind, I was busy being immorally moral to the best of my abilities. As time passed it became obvious that those who were calling out others for being immoral were in fact being just as immoral if not more so. Jim and Tammy Fayes world of morals came crashing down followed soon after by Jimmy Swaggart, all of sudden it appeared that those on the pedestals casting the most stones were nothing more than hypocrites. Throw in the rumors about the Catholic church and it became easy to question the churches.
I just kept on keeping on in my semi-state of non faith for awhile but when the internet came along, history and its philosophical thoughts were just a click away. I began to study the bible and religious history, trying to separate the knowns from the unknowns. I've never sat down and read the bible (any one who has will have to admit it's a tough read) but with the internet you don't have to. You can type "what does the Bible say about" into any search engine and the exact quotes you want are there in seconds. And it has an opinion on just about anything, from the food you should eat to the clothes you wear, from how you should treat your animals to how you should treat your slaves. It'll tell you what's a sin (many things) to what's not a sin (very few). The contradictions are many (do not kill but at the same time God is killing many people). The more I read and researched the more I thought it was something I didn't need in my life, but it was not something I took lightly.
Now just like me earlier my life the younger people are questioning religion and using the same tools as I. But they're not taking it lightly either. In a 2010 research study the highest scores on a religious knowledge study were posted by atheists followed closely those affiliated with the Jewish and Mormon religions.
So it's pretty evident that an atheist (I prefer using secular, if for no other reason than the fact that when I tell someone I'm secular half of them aren't sure what that means. Plus I think most people who consider themselves secular really don't give a shit if you want to put a nativity scene on the courthouse lawn or a cross on a mountain, it's just a symbol) is not someone who takes a quick glance at religion and throws it in the trash but rather researches the teachings and comes to their own conclusions. Just like Proverbs 14:15 teaches. For some people its easy to say "creationism or dinosaurs, pick one but you can't pick both"but others look at what the Bible says and means. It speaks of the world but every event in the Bible occurred in about a 1,500 sq. mile area.by writers who thought the earth was flat and had no idea where the sun went at night. That requires to be questioned.
When researching the history of the Bible in just this country you find it was used to justify slavery, deny women the right the to vote, aid prohibition, deny mixed race marriage, promote segregation and here lately deny rights to the LGBT community, all in stark contrast to the teachings of Matthew 7:12. There is a "why" factor there that requires to be questioned. And that is where the clerk in Kentucky comes into play.
People are questioning why this woman is so adamant about gay marriage but dismissive of other passages. The Bible states in no uncertain terms that "sin is sin" and that no sin is worse than any other. And while it's true that in Leviticus it states that "man shall not lay with a man as he does with a woman" it also states that we shouldn't eat shell fish, wear clothes of mixed fabrics, get tattoos or cut our hair. It's confusing to say the least. The younger people in this country have accepted homosexuality for the most part and when they see someone attacking Bob from accounting or Cheryl in HR both verbally and with their actions, only because of who they love, they begin to question why. They find both Bob and Cheryl to be pretty nice people.
So don't expect the number of "nones" to drop anytime soon, they're more likely to climb. And that's a shame because there are many churches in this country who do great things and can change lives for the better. There are many churches who welcome their pews to all and use Matthew 7:12 as their cornerstone, but it's the squeaky wheel that gets all the attention. And in this case that squeaky wheel is turning people away from religion.
.
I used only Pew research for this and if you want to take a shortened version of the religious knowledge survey it can be found here:http://www.pewforum.org/quiz/u-s-religious-knowledge/
They say the squeaky wheel will get all of the attention and while there might be times when that's a good thing, more often than not it isn't. The case in point is Kim Davis, the elected official unable to preform her duties due to her religious convictions. She's been both ridiculed for being hypocritical and praised for standing up for her beliefs. Good or bad that's just the way it is. But probably more importantly she is just being watched by people who are turning away from religion.
In 2007 27% of the millennials in this country (18-35 years old) considered themselves "nones". Meaning they're either atheist, agnostic, secular or just having no religious affiliation at all. In 2014 that percentage jumped to 36%. "Nones are also the fastest growing of all religious affiliations. In the past 8 years they have overtaken Catholics and are second only to Evangelical Protestants.
.
In the 1980s we had a religious movement calling themselves the Moral Majority. They believed that since they had religion on their side they were the true and definitive authority on what was and wasn't moral. At the time I knew what they were about but I didn't pay them much mind, I was busy being immorally moral to the best of my abilities. As time passed it became obvious that those who were calling out others for being immoral were in fact being just as immoral if not more so. Jim and Tammy Fayes world of morals came crashing down followed soon after by Jimmy Swaggart, all of sudden it appeared that those on the pedestals casting the most stones were nothing more than hypocrites. Throw in the rumors about the Catholic church and it became easy to question the churches.
I just kept on keeping on in my semi-state of non faith for awhile but when the internet came along, history and its philosophical thoughts were just a click away. I began to study the bible and religious history, trying to separate the knowns from the unknowns. I've never sat down and read the bible (any one who has will have to admit it's a tough read) but with the internet you don't have to. You can type "what does the Bible say about" into any search engine and the exact quotes you want are there in seconds. And it has an opinion on just about anything, from the food you should eat to the clothes you wear, from how you should treat your animals to how you should treat your slaves. It'll tell you what's a sin (many things) to what's not a sin (very few). The contradictions are many (do not kill but at the same time God is killing many people). The more I read and researched the more I thought it was something I didn't need in my life, but it was not something I took lightly.
Now just like me earlier my life the younger people are questioning religion and using the same tools as I. But they're not taking it lightly either. In a 2010 research study the highest scores on a religious knowledge study were posted by atheists followed closely those affiliated with the Jewish and Mormon religions.
So it's pretty evident that an atheist (I prefer using secular, if for no other reason than the fact that when I tell someone I'm secular half of them aren't sure what that means. Plus I think most people who consider themselves secular really don't give a shit if you want to put a nativity scene on the courthouse lawn or a cross on a mountain, it's just a symbol) is not someone who takes a quick glance at religion and throws it in the trash but rather researches the teachings and comes to their own conclusions. Just like Proverbs 14:15 teaches. For some people its easy to say "creationism or dinosaurs, pick one but you can't pick both"but others look at what the Bible says and means. It speaks of the world but every event in the Bible occurred in about a 1,500 sq. mile area.by writers who thought the earth was flat and had no idea where the sun went at night. That requires to be questioned.
When researching the history of the Bible in just this country you find it was used to justify slavery, deny women the right the to vote, aid prohibition, deny mixed race marriage, promote segregation and here lately deny rights to the LGBT community, all in stark contrast to the teachings of Matthew 7:12. There is a "why" factor there that requires to be questioned. And that is where the clerk in Kentucky comes into play.
People are questioning why this woman is so adamant about gay marriage but dismissive of other passages. The Bible states in no uncertain terms that "sin is sin" and that no sin is worse than any other. And while it's true that in Leviticus it states that "man shall not lay with a man as he does with a woman" it also states that we shouldn't eat shell fish, wear clothes of mixed fabrics, get tattoos or cut our hair. It's confusing to say the least. The younger people in this country have accepted homosexuality for the most part and when they see someone attacking Bob from accounting or Cheryl in HR both verbally and with their actions, only because of who they love, they begin to question why. They find both Bob and Cheryl to be pretty nice people.
So don't expect the number of "nones" to drop anytime soon, they're more likely to climb. And that's a shame because there are many churches in this country who do great things and can change lives for the better. There are many churches who welcome their pews to all and use Matthew 7:12 as their cornerstone, but it's the squeaky wheel that gets all the attention. And in this case that squeaky wheel is turning people away from religion.
.
I used only Pew research for this and if you want to take a shortened version of the religious knowledge survey it can be found here:http://www.pewforum.org/quiz/u-s-religious-knowledge/
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