Published by A great astronomer (a man today known as “the father of science”), was persecuted by his own religion and declared a heretic. He was sentenced to imprisonment for life (though, that was later converted to house arrest), and the book he had written that declared the universe as heliocentric (A model of the Universe that shows the Sun as the center and the Earth and other planets rotate around it) was banned and the copies that were already printed were burned and destroyed. This was all due to an ancient writing written nearly 5,000 years ago. The writing is known as “The Holy Bible”. The man was Galileo Galilei.
The American Religious Identification Survey stated that in 2008 the number of Deists was 12% of the American adult population. The ARIS also recorded that Deism is the fasted growing American religion with a growth rate of 717% in 11 years. While Christianity is losing followers by 10.2% between 1990 and 2008 and Judaism has shrunk by 0.6%, Eastern Religions (Religions who believe in the sacredness of nature, rather than focus on special revelation) has grown by 0.5% and Atheism as grown by 0.9% both from 1990 to 2008. But why are these changes happening? And more importantly, will they continue?
These demographics show a curious, yet exciting, trend. What the “Moral Majority” and the Christian Right call a Godly and Christian nation, seems to becoming less Christian and less focused on the gods of revealed religion. But what causes these trends? I asked this question to a friend of mine who works with Computer sciences. His answer surprised me, but it was very well thought out and had good points I had missed. He said, simply at first, “The Internet.” When I asked him to explain, he replied, “Before the Internet, you wouldn’t get all these opposing viewpoints, proof for this and lack of proof for that. Basically the Western religions were so big because people didn’t really have enough information on anything else and weren’t aware that there were that many atheists/deists.” And he finished with a smile and said, “That’s just my two cents.” But i knew he was on to something. So I asked him why thought Eastern Religions were so popular (Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, etc) and not just the naturalistic western religions and philosophies. He replied, “The reason there’s an influx in eastern religions is, in my opinion, due to much of it is about making you better rather than follow this rule and follow that rule”. Another good answer, I thought. While I do believe that both of these are true, I think there is more.
Revealed Religions like Christianity, Judaism and Islam are called revealed religions for a reason. They accept special revelations (Holy Scripture, prophets, messiahs, etc.) as 100% inspired by God and without error. This has caused a lot of misunderstandings about humanity, nature and the relationship between them. For centuries humans believed that we lived in a geocentric universe, that is, a universe that revolves around the earth, simply because of sacred writings like these:
Tremble before him, all the earth!
The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.
(1 Corinthians 16:30)
The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty;
the LORD is robed in majesty
and is armed with strength.
The world is firmly established;
it cannot be moved.
(Psalms 93:1)
My own hand laid the foundations of the earth,
and my right hand spread out the heavens;
when I summon them,
they all stand up together.
(Isaiah 48:13)
After being forced to recant his claims, Galileo died under house arrest, ignored and belittled. And, fortunate as we are today, the modern scientific community ignores the ancient ramblings of a delusional religion, and has made the heliocentric model the official model of the universe. And though, the majority of mankind accepts the facts that point toward a heliocentric model, few people still claim that it is wrong. Few people still believe in the geocentric model of the universe based on the writings of ancient men who had no background in mathematics, physics, astronomy or any other science.
Image via Wikipedia (The earliest found telescope, attributed to Galileo)
History shows humans the mistakes we have made, and how not to make those same mistakes over again. And yet, like with politics, government, economics and war, we continue to ignore History’s warnings when it comes to religion. The same mistake that revealed religions have made 400+ years ago is being made today. Thanks to two chapters in a book written 5,000+ years ago (Geneses, also known as The First Book of Moses) gallop polls done from 1982 to 2004 show that Adults believing in Creationism (The earth was created in 6 special acts of God 5,000-10,000 years ago) has gone up from 44% to 45% while Theistic Evolution (Evolution with a personal God thrown in) has stayed at 38% and Naturalistic Evolution (Evolution with no help from a God or very little help, includes Deism, pan-deism and pantheism) has only gone up from 9% to 12%. Museums have been created to teach kids and adults alike that humans once rode dinosaurs like people might ride horses. This kind of bull is even being taught in public schools around the country.
These Gallup polls show a continuous rejection and denial of a scientific theory with 200 years of evidence behind it. I think that in an era where evolution is all but a scientific law, people are starting to wake up to the unchanging anti-intellectual irrationality of revealed religions. I, personally, have witness firsthand the irrationality of these revealed religions. For twenty years of my life, I was a Christian. For about four of those twenty years I accept Theistic Evolution as the best theory of how the universe came to be. When I entered a Christian college, I was belittled for my views. These Christians who preached about a loving God could not love me the same as if I were a delusional creationist. It was this bigotry and intolerance that led me to rethink Christianity as a whole. And I am glad I did. The only regret that I have was that it took me so long to rethink what I believed.
I believe that the same anti-science bigotry and intolerance that led me away from Christianity and to Deism is the same thing that is leading the majority of people in America away from revealed religions. People are beginning to wake up to these lies and see the true face of revealed religion.
And It is about time. People, for too long, have suffered under the tyranny of the religious absolutes that are all too often completely and utterly wrong. As Galileo once said, “I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.”
First off, it looks like you have succumbed to the Galileo Myth. What actually went on is here -
http://scienceray.com/astronomy/the-galileo-myth/
Asserting that Scripture is unique on this planet among books is neither anti-science, nor anti-intellectual. The evidence is clear. Were Scripture given the same treatment as other works of antiquity it would be considered reliable and authoritative without comparison.
Next, I really don’t understand people who go to a particular school, or join a particular church, and then cry foul when their beliefs clash with the beliefs of that school or church. They disagreed with your beliefs, did you expect different? A university is not kindergarten where there is a teacher enforcing the place nice rule. And would that not make your current beliefs a case of intolerance against them? After all what is good for the goose…
For the rest you seem to want to lay the foundation of your argument on the logical fallacy Argumentum ad Populum, the argument from the numbers. It is a fallacy and means nothing.
First off, that article is full of misinformation. You are trying to make it look as if Galileo was at fault. It is also filled with flat out lies. Galileo was found “vehemently suspect of heresy,” namely of having held the opinions that the Sun lies motionless at the center of the universe, that the Earth is not at its center and moves, and that one may hold and defend an opinion as probable after it has been declared contrary to Holy Scripture. So, you are either ignorant of the topic or you are trying to actually mislead people, which is what Christians are good at.
I am not using numbers as an argument. I am explaining why these numbers are so high. I am not saying Christianity is wrong because deism has grown 171% in 11 years. I am trying to explain why these numbers have grown. That is because people are getting fed up with the bull in revealed religions…that part is my argument.
I didn’t cry foul that they believed different then me. Believing different then me is fine. I have no problem with that. I disagree with deists on a number of important topics like prayer. I was only pointing out the case of complete intolerance and hatefulness on their side. How can a loving God spawn such hateful creatures? So, no, my views that differ with them is not intolerance because I do not condemn them to an eternity of fire and hell for them. I accept what people believe, though I may differ.
Your criticism is noted, but irrelevant to what I was actually talking about.
You are an excellent debator, and have written a good article. Your views are colored by your experience, as are so many others. How sad the people are so short-sighted, so sure they know what God intended, that they miss what He actually says! You are right; history shows it again and again.
I would cite your own quote back to you: As Galileo once said, “I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.”
I think a lot of the problems humans cause in the name of Christianity stem from the fact that they misread or misinterpret God’s word. The organized churches are as guilty as individuals in this. True science, as expressed by many early masters, was the search for understanding of the world that God created. Galileo felt just that way. He was persecuted for it by narrow-minded bigots whose influence continues to be felt today in folks like you who give up their faith in the face of it.
I challenge you, if you were ever a Christian, to go back and read again. Read from the viewpoint of what God says; not what people say. Christianity is not a viewpoint. It is a life in search of perfection. And we are all students.
Really a well written article, and a fantastic topic for thought and discussion. I have had similar experiences with the church as a whole. It is saddening that a religion based on the principals of unconditional love has created so many conditions on which to be judged upon.
@Maranatha. Thank you for your comments. I do continuously study the bible in the same non-biased way I study the Koran. Not for spiritual guidance, but to learn as much about it so I can be all I can be in a debate. I ahve tried to read it for spiritual sake, but can’t. It was not the intolerance alone that pushed me from that particular faith, but a multitude of things including a lack of evidence of the historical accuracy for the bible.
@Denise. Thank you too for your comment. I agree. It is extremely sad that the God of the New Testament can breed such ignorance and intolerance. As Gandhi once said “I love your Christ, but not your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ”.
Very good article. I have never heard of Deism before.
@Stephan: I have also never heard of the Galileo Myth. Unfortunately, I cannot trust the information in your article. There are no sources cited. One of your lines, “Atheists would have had to invent Galileo if he hadn’t existed.”, appears to have been lifted from this site.
http://www.catholicleague.org/research/galileo.html
Thank you Natels. Stephen mentioned two sites that I had never been too and told me to quit copying them. I am sure, though, that is coming from a man who gets most of his “information” from sites like answers in genesis. His contradiction to known facts is astounding.
Christianity, no matter how well stated, is still a mutually exclusive belief system. The power structure (e.g., of christianity, islam, judaism, and others) firmly believes that if you do not accept the core of their dogma, you will go straight to hell! Please don’t tell me that FEAR is not used as one of their tools to keep people “in line”. When one group says that only THEY are RIGHT (especially about metaphysical and unprovable dogma) and EVERYONE else is WRONG, each one of us needs to be very careful to believe or even accept this as being absolutely true! Can the “chosen” (for paradise or heaven) only be those under the “abrahamic umbrella”? In my mind, I am not so sure!
I am not an atheist. I am a classical deist, and this works much better for me. Yes, it does take faith, even to be a deist! I love the Creator and His creation. It is just that simple for me. Because I believe this is a philosophy and a much more simplified way of thinking (verus the systematic theology of revealed religions) I do not consider Deism primarily as a religion. For me, I have died to ALL of the revealed religions of the world, and I will never join any of them again! Sometimes, I wonder, what would this world be like if people could put “religion” off to the side?
Many in the revealed religions are very quick to judge, and in reality, I believe a lot of them may be in error about their proclamations about the eternal destiny of others, especially if an afterlife exists for some of mankind.
This article was very refreshing for me. Peace!
Surely religious beliefs breed only disagreements and war!
“Tremble before him, all the earth!
The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.”
This refers to the consistency and stability of the earth, it does not mean it stands still.
I’ll explain, It is the same as saying
“I will not be moved” we know that means I will remain consistent,steadfast,and unwaivering, not that I will be stationary.
Your confusion comes from a misunderstanding of terms, you want to understand scripture as it was MEANT to be understood? Look into the original languages.
I came across your article via a post in the forum, if you are still a seeker, I agree with Maranatha that the scripture should be read as God intended, ask Him for the proper interpretation.
To the two that didn’t comment with their names:
1) I would like to see your reasoning for not taking that as a literal statement, when the words used (according to strong) can be used as either figurative or literal. Yet, you will deny science in order to take a literal reading of Gen. Seems to me like you pick and choose what you want to take literally, and that is anti-intellectual.
2) Sure. I will ask God for interpretation as soon as you prove prayer works, otherwise it would be a waste of time.
Nobody is “picking and choosing” Dean, we are going by the nature of the text.
Psalms,for example is poetic, and is clearly written as such. In fact the term Psalm itself is “a lyrical poem or prayer”
Genesis however, is a document of History, and again is clearly written as such.
But you are. How to you decide which is written as fact and which is not? A lot of Christian scholars would disagree with you on your statement that Genesis is written as fact. The bible, as with any works of antiquity, needs to be read in context: Historical Context, Language context, geographical context. Genesis was written to explain the world in a supernatural way. How the earth came to be. Why the sky is blue. We can now explain it in a natural way. The big bang, abiogenesis, macro evolution: Those things are provable explanations of the origins of the universe and the planet that we see before us now. Ancients thought the sky was blue because it was another body of water, so they wrote it down like it was fact. It’s not. In fact, water isn’t even blue. It is a reflection of the sky. Genesis is in no way historical.
Dean you say “2) Sure. I will ask God for interpretation as soon as you prove prayer works, otherwise it would be a waste of time.”
No offense, but I’d say that’s a cop out, giving up before you even give prayer a chance? or waiting for others to prove its validity to you? This is ironic since I hear so often from agnostics/atheists
“subjective personal experience is not proof”
Do you do that in other areas of life or is that attitude restricted to things of faith?
I have given prayer a chance. Remember, I was once a Christian. And in all that time I have never seen prayer really work. So you assumption is wrong. The way a debate/argument works is like this: Someone makes an argument- that is at least one premise and a conclusion. Saying prayer works is only a conclusion, I am still waiting for the premise…ie. evidence for your claim. I am not trying to get someone to validate their own claim FOR ME….I am trying to get them to validate their own claim as a normal part of a basic argument. Please, though, try again anytime.