Religion and America in 'Around the World', BBC2..

[linuxfan]

Did anyone see that show? I honestly felt freaked out by it.

I knew Americans were abit fucked in the head, but never this bad. The evangelicals made me sick to my stomach.

Who else watched it and what did you think? Sane folks in the states (if any), have you say too on religions role in America (no doubt it's big..remember that God-fearing freak during Obama's inauguration?)

FTR, I'm an agnostic..even though I think the existence of 'God' is at least a possibility, Americans in that show took it so far that its like it has room for no other religions, even if this is constitutionally untrue. Dancing around like lunatics, singing that 'they feel the touch of God', fainting, etc..it's abit ridiculous. I hope not all Americans are like this. I was thinking of taking a trip to NYC but after seeing this, gosh..
(says to myself, try not to take a TV program to heart!)

Thanks.

[Guest]

It's as if the above comment was written by a child.

[Haunted]

See "Jesus Camp"

[creepy old man]

People like that generally don't base themselves in New York City, as it's filled with heathens and homosexuals. Apparently it is also the center for the Jewish conspiracy to take over America and then the rest of the world, banishing Christianity and enslaving all gentiles. You'll be safe going there.

While I'd say (without consulting any statistics, just going on being from there) that most Americans would call themselves Christians, most of us find evangelicals who wave their arms around, listen to Christian hard rock, go to anti-Gay protests at funerals, etc, to be weird and even terrifying. There are plenty of agnostics and people of faiths other than Christianity living in America. Watching political stuff just makes it appear otherwise, as politicians feel the need to pander to Christians. The way I see it, the Democratic party knows that most people who are Jewish (like me) or don't base their entire political worldview on the Bible (non-evangelicals who don't oppose abortion, sex education, gay rights) are likely to vote for them if they agree with the candidate's economic platform. Knowing this, Democratic candidates feel no need to pander to us loyal voters, so instead they focus on Christians whose sensibilities might make them more easily convinced by conservatives. Annoying, perhaps, but it may have won Obama the election, so I don't mind. As for the Republicans, they also feel the need to talk about Christianity all the time because since the 90's it's been their way of identifying their party as the moral choice, instead of their alternative reputation as defenders of the wealthy who ignore the needs of the poor and lower middle class. So what all this means is that when you watch news coverage of American politics and speeches, you see people talking nonstop about Christ and family values and abortion, and saying "God bless ______" every five seconds. That's not how Americans actually talk most of the time, and it would seem pretty weird if anyone other than a politician or minister were talking that way.

Personally, I think people in some parts of the UK are more frighteningly close-minded about religion than a lot of Americans are. People who strongly identify as Christians here (UK) seem to be less willing to associate themselves closely with non-Christians, and the religious communities seem more segregated to me.

[Guest]

It's as if the above comment was written by a child.

It's as if the above comment was written by an ignoramus.

[LonelyPilgrim]

I second creepy old man and would like to add that even here, in one of the most fundamentalist Christian parts of the country you don't see the sorts of things they find for television specials. I honestly have no idea where they find those people.

[Power Metal Dom]

It's as if the above comment was written by a child.

It's as if the above comment was written by an ignoramus.

[Jono]

I blame the media for some reason!

A fairly good reason actually. The media reports the crude, rude and extraordinary. Regular Christian people who go to church on Sunday, and live unremarkable lives do not make the news. The gibbering imbeciles who practise mediaeval-esq flagellation, attend anti-gay rallies, and claim that every word of the bible is the whole and literal truth are slightly more interesting when news is a commodity. The idiot minority are given disproportionate screen-time. As a result they are taken as the rule rather than the exception. The final outcome are the political elites partaking in a pseudo-religious stage-show so pathetic it can't help but be hillarious!

[Haunted]

As a result they are taken as the rule rather than the exception. The final outcome are the political elites partaking in a pseudo-religious stage-show so pathetic it can't help but be hillarious!

If only. The majority of Americans believe the universe is less than 10,000 years old. Almost half of the UK are creationists. These are not fringe minorities we can ignore.

[novium]

I've heard that repeated ad nauseum, but I just can't believe it. It makes me wonder about the poll's methods. How they phrased the question, how they polled people, what their sample size was.

[Haunted]

Here is the raw data from the latest Theos poll in the UK.
http://campaigndirector.moodia.com/Clie ... ables1.pdf

Here's some gallup links
http://www.gallup.com/video/27838/Evolu ... liefs.aspx
http://www.gallup.com/poll/27847/Majori ... ution.aspx
http://www.gallup.com/poll/21814/Evolut ... esign.aspx

(seriously though, that took a minute at best on google which for something you "just can't believe" is a small cost)

[novium]

Why thank you. My comment on my skepticism on those polls *was* indicative of my never having seen them before, and not, you know, having the reaction as a result of having seen them. Thank you for spending valuable seconds on google for my edification.

[LonelyPilgrim]

As a result they are taken as the rule rather than the exception. The final outcome are the political elites partaking in a pseudo-religious stage-show so pathetic it can't help but be hillarious!

If only. The majority of Americans believe the universe is less than 10,000 years old. Almost half of the UK are creationists. These are not fringe minorities we can ignore.

Neither of which beliefs is worthy of inducing fear, since they are silly and harmless. Ergo, in an entirely different league from the self-flagellating, snake-handling, abortion clinic bombing, Middle East bombing sorts of wackos with which this conversation is concerned. Enough with the bait-and-switching, Haunted - we've had that conversation enough times for a life.

[Humphrey]

I don't agree that all this anti-evolution stuff is harmless. I suppose it would be if it was confined to a small minority (as it used to be before the 1960s and 70s) but the fact is that it is taking off around the world. And here I really sympathise with Dawkins, Coyne and Kevin Miller. It must be really frustrating doing all this groundbreaking work and revealing the complex mechanisms of biological systems (no suggestion of ID intended), only to be beaten in the PR stakes by a bunch of looneys in the Discovery Institute.

To this end they make a shield of their hypocritical zeal for religion. They go about invoking the Bible, which they would have minister to their deceitful purposes. Contrary to the sense of the Bible and the intention of the holy Fathers, if I am not mistaken, they would extend such authorities until even in purely physical matters - where faith is not involved - they would have us altogether abandon reason and the evidence of our senses in favor of some biblical passage, though under the surface meaning of its words this passage may contain a different sense...But I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with senses, reason and intellect has intended us to forego their use and by some other means to give us knowledge which we can attain by them. He would not require us to deny sense and reason in physical matters which are set before our eyes and minds by direct experience or necessary demonstrations. This must be especially true in those sciences of which but the faintest trace (and that consisting of conclusions) is to be found in the Bible.

Galileo Galilei - 1615

[Haunted]

Neither of which beliefs is worthy of inducing fear, since they are silly and harmless. Ergo, in an entirely different league from the self-flagellating, snake-handling, abortion clinic bombing, Middle East bombing sorts of wackos with which this conversation is concerned. Enough with the bait-and-switching, Haunted - we've had that conversation enough times for a life.

I disagree, it's the tip of the iceberg.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedge_strategy
http://www.antievolution.org/features/wedge.html