Comments about ‘Religiosity down, atheism up, according to poll’

I wish we could get our politics to reflect this.

@Hutterite

You honestly think that American politics need LESS religion? Oh wow.

The vast majority of politicians (on both sides of the aisle) are corrupt, greedy, dishonest jokers whose only aspiration is to stay in power. These are not religious principles.

But you think that politics needs even less morality than it already has? Facepalm...

@Brave Sir Robin;

"The vast majority of politicians (on both sides of the aisle) are corrupt, greedy, dishonest jokers whose only aspiration is to stay in power."

You think religion will change that? Not likely - most of those corrupt, greedy, dishonest people you mention are RELIGIOUS (Senator Hatch comes to mind as an example).

If the choice comes down to Atheism or Organized Religion, I think I'll take the Atheism. Organized religion is more corrupt than politics.

@Brave Sir Robin
That's quite an insulting assertion you made, suggesting that non-religious = immoral. You know the three states with the highest percentage of atheists (New Hampshire Vermont and Maine) are also the three states with the least crime right? (Note: I'm not suggesting that atheists are more moral than religious people, really if you look at all 50 states there's no correlation with religion, I'm just trying to disprove the idea that religious = moral).

@brave sir robin
The vast majority of those politicians you are against proclaim a deep faith in religion so yes I think we need less Christian values in office.

The lessening of religiosity in America makes so much sense. It's not religion that's the problem. It's bad behavior committed in religion's name. When you have people who pervert religion for maniacal purposes like Glenn Beck or Michelle Bachmann or Rick Perry, of course people are going to look at it and scoff. What we need is sensible, logical religiosity, rather than the right wing insanity that exists today.

Part of the decline in religiosity is probably due an increase in skepticism. However, considering that historically (the last 4000 years) religion has been compelled, atheism has not been culturally acceptable. The tolerance of modern society for different points of view (ironically initiated by Christians who wanted to worship as they choose) its more socially acceptable to admit ones doubts and live according to their own desires rather than social pressures. Thus many people reporting were probably already skeptics even though they professed faith.

@ Tolstoy

Considering christian values promote honesty and treating everyone like we ourselves, the lack of them is not ideal. A christian isn't defined by mere profession of belief, it is by behavior. The hypocrisy of claiming to be christian and then defying its tenants by ones behavior is what needs to be purged from society.

@KD Lewis
I agree, I think the fact that religion has been used for political expediency is a large part of why the numbers have dropped so sharply. The numbers suggest that people have not so much given up on the idea of a high power but rather on the many religions that seem to have lost there way.

This trend will continue as facts continue to be spread on the internet. The Bible thumpers who continue to insist that man has existed for only 6,000 years will disappear into the rear view mirror.

At the risk of whipping a dead horse, I will repeat:

Religion poisons everything.