There was a time when one could discuss, even in the context of Mormonism, topics like self-negation versus self-actualization. Or the merits of the United Order. Or grace versus works.And on and on. But now those discussions seem outright quaint, as religion has devolved into a series of battlegrounds. Gay rights, abortion, guns: these have become the face of religion in 2022. The mods on this board are going crazy trying to tease out the distinctions. Can we ever go back?
I realize that the distinctions have never been clear cut. That's how we got the Crusades and burning heretics. But even at its worst, there was always a strand of religion that at least tried to prioritize actual, you know, religious stuff. Are those days gone forever? Thanks.
I'm currently feeling a sourness towards religion in general, that is not entirely deserved. After all, I have religious friends who are in favor of reproductive choice, etc. Yet my hostility remains.
2040 is the current estimate when white people are no longer a majority in America. It was first projected to be around 2050 -- but that date has been pushed forward several times.
White "christians" haven't been in the majority since the start of the 21st Century, and that's one of the main reasons for the situation you describe.
This all centers around forceable interference where I can force you to do as I say or I kill you!!!!! our nation is in great jepardy. We need to be aware and and actively persuing our freedoms!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/2022 04:48PM by thedesertrat1.
It is also very accurate. Most people vote based on their emotional beliefs, and one of the primary sources for those beliefs comes from religion. (Hands up, all of you who thought that most people voted based on their research in to problems and the available knowledge about those problems and the advantages and disadvantages of the various possible solutions. No, it doesn't work that way).
If you’re not religious, politics are still based on your values. Since leaving mormonism, I vowed to always play devils advocate and look at opposing views. With some things though I think I already understand and wish I didn’t.
I've written here many times that religion and politics are very difficult to disentwine. Both are faith-based systems of thought that seek to influence people's emotions; both are designed to change the shape of society.
There has always been an (inevitably porous) wall between the two in the United States, but that started to break down with Newt Gingrich in 1994, then crumbled more with the Tea Party, and collapsed in the 2016 presidential election.
That's when I became significantly more assertive on this board. Until then I'd been more measured, but when the separation of church and state fell and people started posting what was really populist religion under the rubric of discussing "Mormonism," that became impossible for me.
Possible? What I see is more on line with Hemingway's response as to how a person goes bankrupt: "Gradually and then suddenly".
We are at the end of gradually and careening toward the suddenly. And the waterfall ahead that is the Great American Bankruptcy isn't about money. We are bankrupt in so many, many ways.
You can tell from the Latin that it's an old 'doctrine': "War, just and pious". And certainly, the American response during WWII was one of our country's finer moments. The status of America's wars degrades morally before and after WWII.
But in many minds resorting to conflict can be justified, just ask any drunk outside a bar at 2:00 a.m. on a Saturday night/Sunday morning.
At the one extreme, we have complete pacifists... Pick whatever label you want for the other extreme... Leaving a middle ground full of an apparently easily stampeded human herd, eager to do the right thing for whatever reason sounds good at the moment.
Are there implied promises made by old generals and sergeants that make young men and women, thinking themselves invulnerable, risk their lives for 'the cause'? Would there be wars were it not for the optimism of youth?
I am pretty much anti religion...all of them. All exhibit cult behavior and all engender hatred for others in their most ardent and extreme followers. The root of all evil is my general comment on religion...and that gets some people very pissed off. So be it.
There are plenty of ways to discuss religion without politics. A lot of Quakers are very political but it's optional. The same with Universalists.
You can also go to meditation groups and retreats and stay a million miles from politics. I never joined the religions which ran them, but they allowed me a break when I needed it. The LDS missed a trick with retreat centers. They could have easily made the temples into something like this but you have to rush through them ans work all the time.
Religion is a part of our culture. Unfortunately, our culture no longer meets politics at Trilling’s “bloody crossroads”. Our culture now is thoroughly politicized. Our culture has been subsumed, alas.