I think Americans are smarter than many have given them credit for, it's just that people think it's all hopeless and that no one else thinks like them. But this seems to be changing (I'd like to think that some of the "New Atheist" authors are having an impact in this regard). The latest Pew study on religious belief in America seems to show a remarkable fluidity in faith in the United States; many people drop out of the faith they were initiated into (though many turn to other faiths), which at least gives some hope that religion's ability to brainwash is weakening. However, I don't think there will be fundamental change until America's social conditions are overhauled; religion still holds the high ground in many people's minds, and until secular institutions are made to serve the needs and interests of the population, instead of feeding into an apparatus of keeping people docile, this will likely continue to be the case. Maybe that's a reason religion is pushed so much in the first place in the United States, to drug the population so that it won't resist the state and its machinations? What's your impression?
1 comment:
I think Americans are smarter than many have given them credit for, it's just that people think it's all hopeless and that no one else thinks like them. But this seems to be changing (I'd like to think that some of the "New Atheist" authors are having an impact in this regard). The latest Pew study on religious belief in America seems to show a remarkable fluidity in faith in the United States; many people drop out of the faith they were initiated into (though many turn to other faiths), which at least gives some hope that religion's ability to brainwash is weakening. However, I don't think there will be fundamental change until America's social conditions are overhauled; religion still holds the high ground in many people's minds, and until secular institutions are made to serve the needs and interests of the population, instead of feeding into an apparatus of keeping people docile, this will likely continue to be the case. Maybe that's a reason religion is pushed so much in the first place in the United States, to drug the population so that it won't resist the state and its machinations? What's your impression?
Post a Comment