Religious Devotion High in U.S.

[mopaul]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050606/ap_on_re_us/religion_ap_ipsos_poll;_ylt=AhKF.rqRZviBRnx26_lbt.Ws0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2MTQ3MTFjBHNlYwN0cw--

Nearly all U.S. respondents said faith is important to them and only 2 percent said they do not believe in God. Almost 40 percent said religious leaders should try to sway policymakers, notably higher than in other countries.

"Our nation was founded on Judeo-Christian policies and religious leaders have an obligation to speak out on public policy, otherwise they're wimps," said David Black, a retiree from Osborne, Pa., who agreed to be interviewed after he was polled.

In contrast, 85 percent of French object to clergy activism — the strongest opposition of any nation surveyed. France has strict curbs on public religious expression and, according to the poll, 19 percent are atheists. South Korea is the only other nation with that high a percentage of nonbelievers.

"Rightly or wrongly, Republicans tend to perceive religion as, quote-unquote, `on their side,'"

[dbt]

1. OPIATES get you HIGH.

[LynnTheDem]

2. God with Republicans. Hey, cool free-market idea for the rightwing;

make belt buckles that say God with Republicans. Every rightwinger would buy one.

[mopaul]

3. "Gott Mit Uns" belt buckles? nah, the nazis did that

we couldn't have any comparisons to 'them'

[Kolesar]

4. Once there were kittens who lost their mittens

I heard Bill Frist killed them.
I am sure there are more than 6 million atheists in this great land of ours. edit: link ok

[meow2u3]

7. ROTFL!

Three little kittens
have lost their mittens
and they began to cry
"Oh, Fristie Dear, we sadly fear
Our mittens we have lost."
You lost your mittens?
You naughty kittens
Then you shall surely die!

--Bill Frist, to the three little kittens

[leftchick]

10. The link works fine

since yahoo redesigned they look all funky.

Now here is a thought...

~snip~

Some say rejecting religion is a natural response to modernization and consider the United States a strange exception to the trend. Others say Europe is the anomaly; people in modernized countries inevitably return to religion because they yearn for tradition, according to the theory.

Some analysts, like Finke, use a business model. According to his theory, a long history of religious freedom in the United States created a greater supply of worship options than in other countries, and that proliferation inspired wider observance. Some European countries still subsidize churches, in effect regulating or limiting religious options, Finke said.

History also could be a factor.

Many countries other than the United States have been through bloody religious conflict that contributes to their suspicion of giving clergy any say in policy.

...Perhaps the USA needs its own "bloody religious conflict"?

[LynnTheDem]

9. Yes we can.

If the fascist fits...

[tavalon]

12. I think that's what she meant

The Republicans don't appear to be very up on their history. I bet droves of them would buy the damn belt buckles, never realizing they were copying the Nazis.

[BlueEyedSon]

5. Pew Research: U.S. Stands Alone in its Embrace of Religion

Among Wealthy Nations U.S. Stands Alone in its Embrace of Religion

Released: December 19, 2002

Religion is much more important to Americans than to people living in other wealthy nations. Six-in-ten (59%) people in the U.S. say religion plays a very important role in their lives. This is roughly twice the percentage of self-avowed religious people in Canada (30%), and an even higher proportion when compared with Japan and Western Europe. Americans� views are closer to people in developing nations than to the publics of developed nations.

The 44-nation survey of the Pew Global Attitudes Project shows stark global regional divides over the personal importance of religion.<1> In Africa, no fewer than eight-in-ten in any country see religion as very important personally. Majorities in every Latin American country also subscribe to that view, with the exception of Argentina. More than nine-in-ten respondents in the predominantly Muslim nations of Indonesia, Pakistan, Mali and Senegal rate religion as personally very important. In Turkey and Uzbekistan, however, people are more divided over religion�s importance.

Secularism is particularly prevalent throughout Europe. Even in heavily Catholic Italy fewer than three-in-ten (27%) people say religion is very important personally, a lack of intensity in belief that is consistent with opinion in other Western European nations. Attitudes are comparable in former Soviet bloc countries. In the Czech Republic, fully 71% say religion has little or no importance in their lives � more than any nation surveyed � while barely one-in-ten (11%) say it is very important. And in Poland, the birthplace of the Pope and where the Catholic Church played a pivotal role during the communist era, just 36% say religion is very important.



More: http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=167

In other words, the US is spiritually/emotionally a third world country. :(

[tavalon]

14. Wow, Canada seems like a much nicer place

OTOH, I live in Seattle. We are very secular. The Fundies hate that.

The new tourist slogan that my boyfriend thought up is seeming better and better. What's the new slogan?

Seattle, We're Almost Canada!

[goddess40]

6. You have to remember who is reporting that

and understand that most atheists in this country are reluctant to fess up because of the negative feed back they get from the holy roller crowd (and the not-so holy roller crowd looking for someone they can be "better than")
and once again this country is secular - the great Christan principle's this country was supposedly founded on are just common human decency not unique to Christianity. We also must remember that we have used those great Christan principles to support slavery.

[Kolesar]

8. John Dean said that US clergy spread the Iraq WMD & Al Qaida lies

"I saw it on cspan" yesterday. He noted that those who believed Bush's lies about WMDs and Al Qaida ties predominately voted for Bush. Only 23% of those who voted for Kerry believed that.

John Dean (the former Nixon aide) said that their clergy spread those lies for Bush. The only time I ever go to church is for a wedding or a funeral, so I could only speculate what goes on at some of those houses of worship.

[leftchick]

11. It goes on in National Evangelical TV shows every Sunday too!

Just for the hell of it I tuned into the "Ruby Rigde Hour" a couple of weeks ago. What were they talking about? Dr. Kennedy was talking of the evils of Social Security!

I can only imagine what these shows were like pre-war. I expect that shit from Pat Robertson and Falwell. It was quite another thing to see this person I had never seen before spouting off RW talking points. I imagine the guy at the Chrystal Cathedral does the same. I remember he had Arnie on the week before the CA selection.
:puke:

[Kolesar]

18. Imagine morphing a religious service into a policy session

Or even worse, morphing a religious service into a political session. As if the sermons were not dull enough :boring:

[Crankie Avalon]

13. Is it any coincidence, then, that the U.S. has the most...

...easily manipulated population of any wealthy nation? Our elites play our "average joes" like no other developed nation. Hell, take away the coasts and America almost isn't even a developed nation; it might have more in common with what we call "the Third World" (take away the taxes the coasts pay and don't get back out and America has to assume even more crushing debts from foreign nations, for starters).

[tavalon]

15. I love your user name

Being as my last name is Avalon, I wish I'd thought of that one!

BTW, the tourist bureau in Texas once had a tourist slogan that I thought was hilarious. Texas, It's Like a Whole Other Country! I like to add that it's a third world country.

[Crankie Avalon]

17. Thank you.

And I'm sure there are plenty of good folks like you interspersed throughout Texas. I've come across the posts of a lot of them here. Plus, I've heard great things about Austin.

[ken-in-seattle]

16. What the fundies refuse to realize..

Is that the separation of church and state in this country, is what allowed them to be so successful. Western europe especially has long and direct exparience with the effects of religious persecution based on sect and heresy. The catholics persecuted the protestants, the protestants persecuted the catholics and the puritains persecuted everyone in england until they were thrown out. They were forced to go to Massachusets and found their colony. Then they persecuted the quakers in Rhode island and the Catholics in maryland and the baptist in Conneticutt and were in turn persecuted by the others, right up until the constitutional congress unanimously agreed to allow no one sect to ascend over another.

[mopaul]

22. there's a long history of christian persecution

long, long history.

[DistressedAmerican]

19. 2 Percent Of Us Are Atheists, Yet I Still Read Threads On DU

About how atheists refuse to get along with Christians.

Oh, The Poor Oppressed Majority!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3777974

Where have I heard that song before?

[Kolesar]

21. The thesis of that thread is...How shall I say it?...thoroughly fucked

Fucking flamebait. I am glad somebody figured that out. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3777974#3792924

[jonnyblitz]

20. no wonder we are so fucked in this country

people will believe any fucking thing they are told to believe and no proof is required.