God is Dead

[andrewducker]

And 2/3 of people just don't care.

Two-thirds of those polled had not been to church in the last year, except for baptisms, weddings or funerals - but 53% identified themselves as Christian...compared with almost three-quarters who had in the last census in 2001. Regular churchgoing was also three times higher among adults from black ethnic groups than white.

Comments

[andrewducker]

If I'd told you that at an early age my children would be educated in Seamus Heaney's Beowulf, Edith Hamilton's Mythology, and the epic of Gilgamesh, you might see me as cruel and unusual, but would you think it pointless?

Nope. But I'd see it as pointless if you sent them to classes run by people who thought that Beowulf was true every Thursday :->

I think lack of respect for religion is a huge mistake in a society where it holds so much power.
I think that being disrespectful to power is a very important part of being human and free. And being disrespectful to lies and control even more so, especially when there's nothing behind them that deserves respect. Also, I don't see religion having all that much power any more - certainly nothing like what it used to have. Most of the churches in the UK came out against the Iraq war, for instance, to absolutely no effect.

(And yes, I'm happy to admit that there are religious organisations and people that have done good things.)

[marrog.livejournal.com]

I think the US is a pretty good indication of the sway that religion today can still hold. And by 'respect' I suppose I just mean an understanding and appreciation of the huge influence religion can have on society - the UK, in the grand scheme, is very secular - at least in terms of organised relision - in comparison to (I'd hazard to suggest) most countries of the world.