The article below from the Dallas News reveals some very sad & fast growing trends in America today
1. That no religion has a monopoly on “spirituality” or access to God
2. That all religions are inherently good but they just all have a small minority of fundamentalist Radicals who have “hijacked” the religion for their own selfish and divisive purposes.
These two trends are the hallmarks of the growing “religious Babylon”, the worldwide false religion that stresses unity over differences. That says we all can, no matter our religious background, gather round the table of religious and world unity and decide as a group who and what god is and how we will worship him.
The Unitarian “pastor’s” words were very telling. People do not want to hold to historical doctrines and creeds, but they still crave after the spiritual, what does this tell you? That when people let go of Biblical Truth, they do not cease to believe in anything but they will believe in anything as long as it gives them a “spiritual” experience.
The number of Americans who don’t identify with any religion is growing. A new study by Trinity College suggests that more than one in five Americans will identify themselves as “Nones” in religious terms in 20 years (up from 15 percent now). Most would not consider themselves atheists. But they are increasingly skeptical of organized religion and clerics. They are, said one researcher, a stew of agnostics, deists and rationalists – and their numbers appear to be increasing.
Clearly, interest in religion is high. News magazines run cover stories. Megachurches are booming. Political campaigns target churchgoers as a valuable metric to win elections.
So why are fewer Americans identifying with a religion, denomination or particular faith group? Why are a growing number of people becoming faith-free? And if the trend continues, is it a matter of alarm? . . . . . . .
KATIE SHERROD, Independent writer and producer, Fort Worth
I think many Americans are not identifying with any particular religion because the “religions” depicted in the news and on the Internet on a daily basis aren’t anything with which any rational person would want to be identified. . . . . . .
In the news media “Christians” are routinely depicted as narrow-minded bigots bent on keeping out anyone who is the slightest bit different. They are defined by what they are against, not by what they stand for. . . . . . .
And while Christianity has been used historically as an excuse for pogroms, wars, crusades, Inquisitions and others terrible things, these days Muslims suffer the most from the hijacking of their religion by extremists. . . . . . .
DANIEL KANTER, Pastor, First Unitarian Church of Dallas
In 1899, the first minister of our church in Dallas preached a sermon in which he said, “Many souls are hungering and thirsting for religious knowledge, truth, and righteousness. To them the old dogmas, doctrines, and creeds appear outgrown. These persons are at sea without a chart or compass….” Indeed, people still come to our doors rejecting old dogmas but wanting some spiritual grounding. . . . . . .
GEORGE MASON, Senior Pastor, Wilshire Baptist Church, Dallas
The source of authority in matters of truth has shifted from religion to science on the one hand, accounting for those who are moving away from faith altogether. On the other hand it has moved for the faithful from organized religion to the autonomous individual.
In the first case, religion has done a poor job generally of answering the difficult questions about the mysteries of human existence and the meaning or purpose of life in the face of a world that has lost its imagination. . . . . .
