Road Warrior
Seeking the middle path..
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What will happen to organized religion in the next 50 years?
- Thread starter Gomeza
- Start date
Gjallarhorn
N'yog-Sothep
Obvious slippery slope.
Road Warrior
Seeking the middle path..
Truth is truth.
Another slippery slope is confusing spiritual growth with religious dogma. A common error among militant atheists.
Is a militant atheist someone who doesn't accept theistic arguments?
Road Warrior
Seeking the middle path..
Nope, just someone who is overly pushy about their beliefs like militant Christians, feminists or anti-government types.
work in progress
Well-Known Member
And this isn't the only time in history that multiculturalism has occurred and posed a challenge to existing national, cultural and religious beliefs. A couple of years ago I picked up "The Evolution of God" by Robert Wright, which overall is kind of a mess, because he tries to cover just about every aspect of the history of religion and religious belief in one book. But one interesting aspect of his coverage of Judaism notes that the Old Testament books vary from cosmopolitan and universalist to exclusive and extremely nationalist depending on what was happening at the time in Palestine. When life was good and trade with neighbours was important, the prophets like Jonah were concerned with gentiles; during times of oppressive occupation or war, the attitude was kill them all.
Today's multiculturalism isn't unique in history, but what is disturbing to consider is that when times get bad, people start noticing the differences, and multicultural communities start ripping apart in sectarian division...easily swayed by demagogues who target outside groups as the cause of the problems.
In a small community, where everyone is white, and everyone belongs to one of the accepted Christian branches, it's likely that they see no problem promoting some form of what they consider ecumenical christianity in the schools. But, like you said, it's easy to accept this as the norm in a community where everyone thinks alike. I would qualify "completely removing religion" though, with allowing personal expression of religious beliefs, like prayer. I just don't believe the moment of prayer should be forced on others. Also, would banning religion include eliminating the cultural expressions like those connected with Christmas or Easter, or whatever the other religions have? I can't see value in banning christmas carols or not allowing children to draw christmas-themed pictures.
work in progress
Well-Known Member
I believe that there is a basic divide between atheists and theists regarding how we understand the world and find meaning and purpose in life. Those of us who are content with having a lot of mystery and uncertainty are going to be more inclined to atheists, and avoid inserting God in to fill the gaps. And those who are going to go with their gut instincts that arise out of our expectations of cause and effect -- specifically that this world must have a maker, and we must play some special role in the creation of this world...well those people are going to find some reason to believe in sort of God that is looking down on them no matter what anyone else says. There has been a string of studies hinting at the connection between religious belief and subconscious or intuitive thinking. A few weeks ago, Tom Rees covered one of the latest such studies:
Instinctive thinkers more likely to believe in a personal god and less likely to be atheists
Late last year some fascinating research revealed that people who take a more deliberative approach to problem solving rather than just going with their instincts are also less religious. Now some independent research not only confirms those findings, but also extends them to show how there is a progressive link between thinking style and decreasing religious beliefs..........
Gomeza
Member
At the time I was thinking more along the lines of removing forced prayer and developing a social studies or history curriculum to educate and deal with the changes I felt were inevitable. The social traditions we have derived from religious beliefs are another matter in that all cultures, including our own, cannot be expected to implement wide scale changes to accommodate every group of newcomers.
There has to be a happy medium where all parties agree that their own beliefs are protected and given equal treatment, even if this means telling children to leave their articles of worship and other forms of religious expression at home.
So far the changes that have taken place have slowly followed that path. The only thing that I felt should have been dealt with differently was the dropping of the national anthem because it contained the word God. Re-write the damn song if necessary but dropping it was in my mind going too far.
work in progress
Well-Known Member
I guess this wouldn't be considered much of an issue for most school boards where there are virtually no kids from non-christian societies...even most who have left the churches, including most atheists, go along with most of the trappings surrounding Christmas and Easter. But, how does singing Christmas carols go over in some big city schools, where a significant minority of parents would see all the Christmas pageantry as an attempt to proselytize to their children?
I might need a clarification on this point. I would allow any articles of worship, unless they are clearly interfering with others. And what about religions that have very visible symbols that are supposed to be worn at all times -- like traditional Sikhs?
We should point out that we're talking about "O Canada," the Canadian anthem...and the English version of the song, not the original French song that doesn't mention God.
waitasec
Veteran Member
Gomeza
Member
Slight changes in demographics has prompted the schools in my area to begin considering these issues for the first time. I'm not involved any more as my children are older now but as far as I can tell there are no province wide policies (Ontario), at least that are being universally enforced. In the school my children used to attend, Christmas carols are still sung but only carefully selected generic ones.
This is potentially a huge problem and though I am the first to admit that my notion of removing religion from public schools entirely seems draconian to most people, I fear the day will come where attempts to accommodate all groups will be impractical and too costly.
The example you use poses a tough question which I do not have a good answer for other than to say that this is an example of where we run into problems attempting to accommodate all groups. Do we let these small groups determine policies for a much larger majority? The Sikhs may also not be the best example because there is more than a religious element to their ceremonial garb, there is also an historical element.
One scenario I fear that does not bode well for any country is the current trend towards home schooling, a trend motivated in part by these very issues.
Why should the ^above^ seem odd in the light of Matthew chapter 7
Didn't Jesus forewarn us that MANY would come 'in his name' but prove false?
Gomeza
Member
I'm not the one you need to convince, you are responding to my response to someone who had not heard this before.
waitasec
Veteran Member
but that really is no surprise considering he was representing something that caused a rift in the jewish tradition...jesus himself was considered a false messiah to many jews...
