Is internet killing religion?

[Chowder Head]

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2014/04/0 ... ?hpt=hp_t2

:think:

[Joan of Snarc]

Is Free Jinger contributing to the decline?

:think:

[ladyamylynn]

Is Free Jinger contributing to the decline?

:think:

Or could it be... Satan???!!?!1

[terranova]

Have YOU ever seen Satan and Free Jinger in the same place at the same time?

:o

[doggie]

education overall causes religion to go the way of the carrier pigeon. violent death is at the lowest its ever been in recorded history and it is not religion that caused it. but as it dies we will see more and more desperate despots trying to change it back to the status quo.

[tralala]

Have YOU ever seen Satan and Free Jinger in the same place at the same time?

:o

I saw them holding hands and kissing behind Pop's Soda Shoppe last weekend. They begged me to keep quiet but the Lord has laid it heavy on my heart to come forward with the truth! :angelic-green:

[nomoxian]

Polkaroo and the Polka Dot Door host were never seen in the same place at the same time either....

I've read that the internet has made more people who were Mormon / LDS aware of certain facts which drove them to leave. I'm sure it would be similar for other religions as well. Many times the chapels focus on God's Love and don't mention doctrine like the Mark of Cain, which is basically that people who are black are cursed for being bad in the pre-existence. :cray-cray:

[Trynn]

For me, the Internet reinforced the doubts that had already been created, but it did not create them.

I first started leaving seventh day Adventist when an Adventist pastor told me what they REALLY believed about the mark of the beast. I was totally floored, and felt a bit angry that no one had told me this before Otto baptized into the church. I felt... Lied to.

[docmom]

It's blogs like Ken and Lori's, the stinking lousewife and SSM that really turned me off religion not FJ. Although the doubts started long before the internet...

[salex]

Christian Radio is what has killed a lot of my religion for me. (I may still have a mustard seed's worth of faith.... but it wouldn't fit any of the current/pop belief systems)

First, Popular Christianity in the USA got way too publically involved in politics--don't like that.

But in my state, it is becoming ever more common--

When Jesus walked on this earth He interacted with politicians almost everyday. The lawmakers were the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin and they determined not only religious laws, but legislative, executive, judicial, civil and criminal laws. “Jesus was among other things was a lobbyist a personal staff of 12 aides†(Neil Mammen, Jesus Was Involved In Politics!)

blog.cultureshield.com/

The author of the book that this was taken from has been on an evangelical speaking tour that also features my state's current governor... (with more appearances scheduled.... :angry-banghead: (Since it is on weekends, my governor believes he's "off the clock"so it is not a problem.)

Second, while none of my churches have been, the general tone of Pop Christianity has moved more toward patriarchy and barefoot and pregnant.

Third, the "name it claim" it prosperity gospel wears on my last nerve. I even kind of believe that you can change your world by how you paint it, in word and deed, but there are places where the Secret and the Name it Claim it people end up blaming the victim...(tell me again about everyone killed by the Tsunami bringing that on themselves?)

Fourth, The radio preachers (again....) The more they explain the bible--the less sense they make. The more they try to make everything literal, the less I can believe. The more they explain unexplainable things, the more unbelieveable it is. Calling it all a great mystery, that today we see through a glass darkly would work better for me than any of the circular logic that people use to try to prove things.

The internet just lets me find like minded people. I have been on Christian and Atheist/agnostic sites for over a decade. I am not sure I feel comfortable on either, really... but both make me think.

[Marian the Librarian]

Is the Internet killing religion? I dunno - I think people like Bill Gothard and Doug Phillips and whoever is the latest one to have stepped down as a result of his roving eye are doing a fine job, all on their own.

[nokidsmom]

Is the Internet killing religion? I dunno - I think people like Bill Gothard and Doug Phillips and whoever is the latest one to have stepped down as a result of his roving eye are doing a fine job, all on their own.

This. Plus add to that the ongoing stuff in the Catholic church.

I do think that the internet makes it a lot easier to find out about the bad stuff that was there all along. It just had a better chance of not seeing the light of day or getting swept under the rug before.

[Ariel]

I really think religion is just the nurture part of Nature vs. Nurture. If you're nurtured from a young age to believe in religion you will-until you reach that critical thinking stage. At which point, you come to your own conclusions based on personal experience (more nurturing).

I think the internet, and the explosion of easily accessible information, allows for more critical thinking and exploration of different religions than in the past.

[MissA]

Possibly. I think certainly the atheist *movement* owes a lot of its success to the internet. I don't think it generated the atheist feelings... I think a lot of people have historically kept quiet about their lack of belief in God because they don't think expressing those feelings will be welcome. I think the childfree movement (which I was also part of, until I changed my mind just like everybody said I would, groan) did much the same thing. The internet lets people form communities that aren't conveniently available in their actual physical surroundings.

But because of its nature it's also provided a platform for forms of religious expression that weren't nearly so widespread (see: the existence of this forum). Growing up mellow Catholic I certainly had some idea that there were some loonies who espoused bizarre restrictive lifestyles because GOD SAYS SO. But I had no opportunity to personally encounter whatever stuff they were spouting unless they actually shoved a tract under our door. The fundies can and have formed communities that are independent of geography that anyone can reach with one click, just as the atheists have.

TL;DR- My hypothesis is that the internet acts to polarize people rather than espouse one given view. Just look at the comments on Yahoo news.

[DuggarsTheEndIsNear]

I think the way in which the internet "kills religion" is that people have a place to find answer that isn't religious in origin. It used to be that if you wanted to know how the earth was created, you went to religion. Eventually, the rich could receive education. Then anyone could receive education but it was not necessarily a quality that would answer your questions. Now we can all access the information as long as we have access to the internet. So those people who had lingering questions aren't forced into the arms of religion.

Additionally, with the internet, it's a lot easier to see how different and yet how similar religions are. Before, you maybe had 2 or 3 religious institutions in a town (if you had more than one), so it was only those in the city who had much of a resource when it came to learning about world religions. Now, the internet allows you to access the beliefs of any religion with a simple search.

I know, from my own experiences, that studying world religions made me question religion and it's purpose.

[Talitha Cumi]

For me, the Internet reinforced the doubts that had already been created, but it did not create them.

I first started leaving seventh day Adventist when an Adventist pastor told me what they REALLY believed about the mark of the beast. I was totally floored, and felt a bit angry that no one had told me this before Otto baptized into the church. I felt... Lied to.

Tell tell! Social Security number? National ID card that's coming Any Day Now?

[LogansMama]

I really think religion is just the nurture part of Nature vs. Nurture. If you're nurtured from a young age to believe in religion you will-until you reach that critical thinking stage. At which point, you come to your own conclusions based on personal experience (more nurturing).

I think the internet, and the explosion of easily accessible information, allows for more critical thinking and exploration of different religions than in the past.

100% this. George Carlin said it best, "I was a catholic until I reached the age of reason." And, like Ariel said, I think the interwebs allows for more research and therefore opens up the world to critical thinking.

[Trynn]

Tell tell! Social Security number? National ID card that's coming Any Day Now?

No no, my friend, the truth is much more insidious. See, this isn't the mark of the beast YET, but it will be, when the president signs into law a rule that requires...

Going to church on Sunday.

I wish I was making that shit up.

[itsthatonegirl]

Have YOU ever seen Satan and Free Jinger in the same place at the same time?

:o