coming out…of Christianity
Daylight Atheism writes about the recent Barna survey supporting the book unChristian. DA’s introduction is great:
Over the last decade or so, the religious right has exercised virtually untrammeled power in America. They've commanded the allegiance of a majority of the population and have enjoyed tremendous influence and near-unchallenged power in popular culture, in the media, and especially in government. They have had abundant opportunity to make it clear to everyone what they most care about and what principles they advocate, and they have done so. And as their electoral fortunes waned, they have only become louder and more vehement.There have been times these past few years when it was frustrating to be an American. While the religious right loudly proclaimed their intent to dismantle the Constitution's safeguards and impose their rigid, antiquated views on the rest of us, the traditional media was somnolent, and the populace seemed apathetic. I believe the religious right became so bold, so brazen in announcing their desires, precisely because they assumed the lack of resistance meant no one was paying attention.
After reviewing the study, DA concludes:
Though the demographic trends are now solidly against them, in all likelihood the religious conservatives will remain set in their bigoted ways right up until they fade out of history. Whether a new, more progressive Christianity will rise in their place remains to be seen. But in either case, this is tremendous news for secular and nonreligious Americans, confirming that a change is in the air, and that it may come sooner than we think.
To the Religious Right: We have seen your creed in action and found it wanting; we have watched your involvement in politics and found it disturbing. We are repulsed by your hypocritical moralizing, your distortions and misrepresentations, and your unreasonable demand that your beliefs be exempt from challenge and criticism. What evangelicals in this study perceive as Americans “becoming more hostile and negative toward Christianity” is a warning that your lies will no longer go uncorrected, your scandals unexposed, and your bigotry unanswered.
The public square’s playing field is being leveled, and your previous position of privilege will soon no longer exist.
Get used to it.
P.S. On a lighter note, I’d like to wish a happy National Coming Out Day to everyone in the LGBT family!