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How the Internet Is Taking Away America’s Religion

technologyreview.com

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Re: How the Internet Is Taking Away America’s Religion

#41

Post by baldfat »

Myth: Less people go to church now then in the past.

Really weak since more people go to church now then they did in 1994! :) The numbers show that more people attend church percentage wise then ever in history of America. Don't even look at World Wide church attendance because it might make your mind explode on how much Christianity has grown.

It is always shocking how people report the death of religion without the numbers. I think people who are religious are the origins of this myth.

Look at this one look at USA http://hirr.hartsem.edu/research/fastfacts/fast_facts.html

Worldwide (Based on CIA world facts and few others http://fastestgrowingreligion.com/numbers.html

Re: How the Internet Is Taking Away America’s Religion

#42

Post by danbruc »

afhdshufdufdo wrote: post #34
mullingitover wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also the greatest tool that has ever been created for destroying superstition and myth. We're in the golden age of critical thinking, something that is very destructive to religious belief.

I'm critical of atheism, because it is itself a religious belief and those that believe and evangelize it refuse to recognize it as a religion in and of itself. I live in the U.S. where the country was built by those that wanted freedom of religion.

Atheism is a belief but not a religious belief.

Re: How the Internet Is Taking Away America’s Religion

#43

Post by Retric »

baldfat wrote: post #41

Myth: Less people go to church now then in the past. Really weak since more people go to church now then they did in 1994! :) The numbers show that more people attend church percentage wise then ever in history of America. Don't even look at World Wide church attendance because it might make your mind explode on how much Christianity has grown. It is always shocking how people report the death of religion without the…

Your ignoring population growth. As there is around 50 million more people in the us now than there was in 1994.

"In 1990, 20.4% of the population attended an Orthodox Christian church on any given weekend. In 2000, that percentage dropped to 18.7% and to 17.7% by 2004. Olson explains that while church attendance numbers have stayed about the same from 1990 to 2004, the U.S. population has grown by 18.1% — more than 48 million people. "So even though the number of attendees is the same, our churches are not keeping up with population growth," he says." http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/139575-...

http://fastestgrowingreligion.com/numbers.html. Global Christian growth rate 1.36% is below the population groth rate of 1.41 %. Which is a sign of a slow death, Islam at 2.13% on the other hand is well above that.

Re: How the Internet Is Taking Away America’s Religion

#44

Post by baldfat »

mullingitover wrote: post #21
Alex3917 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, though I wouldn't be surprised if it were true right now. The Internet is undoubtedly the greatest tool that has ever been created for spreading religion, but in the short term it probably just magnifies whatever the larger social/religious fads are, e.g. new atheism.

It's also the greatest tool that has ever been created for destroying superstition and myth. We're in the golden age of critical thinking, something that is very destructive to religious belief.

> something that is very destructive to religious belief

I think history's greatest logical thinkers would beg to differ with you. The history books are always trying to be rewritten by someone BUT religious thought has driven this critical thinking and logic for millennial. Also explain why more people are Christians now then ever? Percentage and Numbers???

Re: How the Internet Is Taking Away America’s Religion

#46

Post by austinz »

mullingitover wrote: post #21
Alex3917 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, though I wouldn't be surprised if it were true right now. The Internet is undoubtedly the greatest tool that has ever been created for spreading religion, but in the short term it probably just magnifies whatever the larger social/religious fads are, e.g. new atheism.

It's also the greatest tool that has ever been created for destroying superstition and myth. We're in the golden age of critical thinking, something that is very destructive to religious belief.

I disagree. Ease of retrieval of information is one thing, signal to noise ratio is also important. For every 'superstition' being destroyed on the Internet there are (e.g.) a plethora of people reposting the discredited "NASA space pen" meme, smugly ending discussions with "correlation does not imply causation, so you're wrong" and other thought-terminating cliches, and enthusiastically engaging in echo-chamber communities that only seek to reinforce existing biases.

Good information has always taken work to obtain. The Internet cannot compensate for intellectual laziness, it can only magnify the effectiveness of the efforts of those willing to exercise discernment and look at things with a critical eye.

Re: How the Internet Is Taking Away America’s Religion

#47

Post by mullingitover »

afhdshufdufdo wrote: post #34
mullingitover wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also the greatest tool that has ever been created for destroying superstition and myth. We're in the golden age of critical thinking, something that is very destructive to religious belief.

I'm critical of atheism, because it is itself a religious belief and those that believe and evangelize it refuse to recognize it as a religion in and of itself. I live in the U.S. where the country was built by those that wanted freedom of religion.

> I live in the U.S. where the country was built by those that wanted freedom of religion.

That's a bit of a stretch. In Puritan New England, worshipping anything other than the Christian God was a capital offence.

Re: How the Internet Is Taking Away America’s Religion

#48

Post by captainmojo »

austinz wrote: post #46
mullingitover wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also the greatest tool that has ever been created for destroying superstition and myth. We're in the golden age of critical thinking, something that is very destructive to religious belief.

I disagree. Ease of retrieval of information is one thing, signal to noise ratio is also important. For every 'superstition' being destroyed on the Internet there are (e.g.) a plethora of people reposting the discredited "NASA space pen" meme, smugly ending discussions with "correlation does not imply causation, so you're wrong" and other thought-terminating cliches, and enthusiastically engaging in echo-chamber comm…

Yep. I'd add delusion to your list of echo-chamber-friendly conditions. Faith/Religion are one case people like to yell about, but you have plenty of nibiru/reptilian/fema-camp/bill-gates-is-a-eugenicist people who are ready to believe whatever the internet tells them, all the while believing everyone else is guilty of intellectual laziness.

Re: How the Internet Is Taking Away America’s Religion

#49

Post by jamesaguilar »

baldfat wrote: post #44
mullingitover wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also the greatest tool that has ever been created for destroying superstition and myth. We're in the golden age of critical thinking, something that is very destructive to religious belief.

> something that is very destructive to religious belief I think history's greatest logical thinkers would beg to differ with you. The history books are always trying to be rewritten by someone BUT religious thought has driven this critical thinking and logic for millennial. Also explain why more people are Christians now then ever? Percentage and Numbers???

Because there are more people now than ever. Are you trying to make a parody?

Re: How the Internet Is Taking Away America’s Religion

#50

Post by jamesaguilar »

austinz wrote: post #46
mullingitover wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also the greatest tool that has ever been created for destroying superstition and myth. We're in the golden age of critical thinking, something that is very destructive to religious belief.

I disagree. Ease of retrieval of information is one thing, signal to noise ratio is also important. For every 'superstition' being destroyed on the Internet there are (e.g.) a plethora of people reposting the discredited "NASA space pen" meme, smugly ending discussions with "correlation does not imply causation, so you're wrong" and other thought-terminating cliches, and enthusiastically engaging in echo-chamber comm…

I can agree that there are some cases of misinformation that have been propagated by the internet, but to claim it is a simple wash is pretty far-fetched.
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