Atheism in decline worldwide

[Apple Seed]

Originally Posted by Duncan Ferguson

I can't speak for the US but here in the UK our government is attempting to place religious values above all others, and that I can't agree with.

I think you have two major powers the church and the government. If the government has all of the power it might become more of a dictatorship. They want to put cameras everywhere give you a number and follow everything you do.

Garza
I was trying to say is maybe these people came to the village and were trying to help. Trying to make it more modern. The best things that they had were books in the schools and the bible in the church.

They tried to bring values such as marriage. Like maybe in Africa. If they had a stronger belief in marriage maybe AIDS would not be as big of a problem. Modernism isn’t always good. Like when they over farm the land.

I think after a while things get less turbulent. Like the temples and different churches we have in the US. I would try to keep your traditional church also instead of being atheist and getting rid of them all.

Why not just leave us alone? Because they wanted to help the civilization along and that is the best way we know how. And people will always fight and not leave each other alone.

[garza]

Apple Seed - The people who come here come with the best of intentions. They leave here believing they have done good. Most of the time they never see some of the results of what they have done.

Some come and stay for a very long time. They get to understand the many-sided culture of the country and usually shift from preaching a narrow, dogmatic religion to working for the wellfare of the community. I don't mean they lose their faith, I mean they recognise how what they teach must fit into what is really here.

Helping civilisation along is all well and good, but what do you mean by civilisation? I want to see everyone working together for the good of the nation.

Your intentions, I believe, are good. Perhaps you need to spend a couple of years in a developing country and you will understand better what I am trying to say. Peace Corps people from the U-S and Volunteer Services Overseas people from the U-K come here with one kind of attitude, and after a couple of years of service leave with a whole different outlook on life.

In the words of that great philosopher Rodney King, why can't we all just get along?

[Duncan Ferguson]

Originally Posted by Apple Seed

I think you have two major powers the church and the government. If the government has all of the power it might become more of a dictatorship. They want to put cameras everywhere give you a number and follow everything you do.

I don't dispute that we should be wary of governments but with regard to the church's role you've completely misread my intention in the post.

The British Government is actively promoting the role of religion and the church in society, especially in the field of education, which I sincerely believe to be a huge and dangerous mistake. Not being in the US, I'm not as qualified to comment obviously, but the reports we get over here strongly indicate that the influence of Christianity within government is getting steadily deeper and more influential. So I would say that your analysis of competing power centres is anomalous. If we wish to avoid a dictatorship, our secular democratic institutions provide a much more robust and reliable defence.


Besides, a cursory glance, and a read-through of the Fighting Forum, would tell you that "the church" is not a single entity.

[garza]

All you have to do is go back and study the history of the Roman Empire and its role in the development and eventual hegemony of the christian church. While history never exactly repeats itself, there are patterns that tend to be followed over and over. The state first fostering the church, then the state becoming subservient to the church is one of those repetitive patterns.