America's nonreligious are a growing, diverse phenomenon. They really don't like organized religion
America's nonreligious are a growing, diverse phenomenon. They really don't like organized religion
Ask Americans what their religion is, and nearly 1 in 3 say this -- none. That’s according to the U.S. adults surveyed by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Mike Dulak grew up Catholic in Southern California, but by his teen years, he began skipping Mass and driving straight to the shore to play guitar, watch the waves and enjoy the beauty of the morning. “And it felt more spiritual than any time I set foot in a church,” he recalled.
Nothing has changed that view in the ensuing decades.
“Most religions are there to control people and get money from them,” said Dulak, now 76, of Rocheport, Missouri. He also cited sex abuse scandals in Catholic and Southern Baptist churches. “I can’t buy into that,” he said.
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And at the same rate, politics and "science" are becoming disorganised religion. I see many similarities in behaviours. It's just swapping one form of religion for another at this point.
Politics, maybe, but how is science a religion?
It isn't.
Some believe in pseudoscience, but that isn't science (hence the "pseudo" in the name)
I'll take a stab at this one. A lot of educated people stop thinking the second they see a study that confirms what they believe. It is the anthesis of what science is supposed to be, examined constantly. But people intertwine their ideological framework with science and pick and choose which studies they believe and which they don't. For some people, their belief in science is indistinguishable from someone else's belief in religion, and often nearly as harmful to society. There's tons of common knowledge rooted in science that turns out not to be true, but because of people's faith in science instead of skepticism, people will believe anything backed by science, irrespective of whether it's true. Laypeople have a hard time interpreting what they learn from science and remaining intellectually curious.
Even scientists can often be incredibly dogmatic. When Ignaz Semmelweis showed a mountain of evidence that washing your hands prevented passing infections to others he was ostracized by the medical community, despite there being way too much information showing he was right, he was ignored non the less. People tied their ideology and ego into believing he was wrong. Had people listened to Semmelweis sooner it could have saved countless of lives, some speculate millions. Semmelweis died from infection because the doctor treating him didn't wash their hands...
A lot of educated people stop thinking the second they see a study that confirms what they believe. It is the anthesis of what science is supposed to be, examined constantly.
Sure, that happens. But since it's science, there's evidence, with which you can show people like that that they are wrong. That doesn't exists with religions.
When Ignaz Semmelweis showed a mountain of evidence that washing your hands prevented passing infections to others he was ostracized by the medical community
And since it's like a religion, his warnings were never heeded as you cannot question religious rules. And so, still today, doctors don't wash their hands.
Oh wait...
Since it's science, the rules can be questioned and changed if they are not correct.
I think you're reading more into my comment than I said. To be clear, I'm not a fan of religion and do believe science is the route to knowledge. But it took an entire generation of scientists dying out to have washing hands normalized. Our society places faith and belief in science in a way that still mirrors religion even if it is more flexible.
Perhaps you're younger, I can tell you I've seen a massive shift in how science is seemingly manipulated and misrepresented to push political or idealogical ideas. In my opinion it's primarily to do with money and power. It could mostly be the media highlighting the worst and least reputable, however, you'd be surprised how much our perceptions and impressions of things can influence how we behave and feel on some things.
I can tell you I’ve seen a massive shift in how science is seemingly manipulated and misrepresented to push political or idealogical ideas.
Which ideas would those be?