United States Becoming More Secular
A just-published study by the American Religious Identification Survey found that 14.1% of Americans or 29,481,000 people identify as atheist, humanist, agnostic or non-religious (see pages 12-13, SO sorry about the PDF).
Additionally, nearly 40% of those who identified as Christian stated that neither they themselves nor members of their families belonged to or attended a church or religious institution. The difference between “identification as” and “affiliation with” [a religious institution] is very pronounced: people call themselves Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim… but don’t attend Church/Temple/Mosque. The association is more a state of mind than actual state of being.
READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRYAT LEFT COAST’S LIBRULS WEBLOG
Prostitution or Capitalism? Virginity on the Auction Block
This week, a 22 year old student in San Diego is auctioning her virginity. Predictably, it has sparked a firestorm on teh intarweb regarding morality.
“Maybe this is the conservative in me coming out, but this seems so wrong,” wrote one blogger, Mike. “Isn’t this prostitution?”
“I must say I feel sad for the future of our society,” said Mike from Montclair State University in New Jersey.
Is it prostitution? Yes. Yes, it is. Rather predictably, it doesn’t bother me. Here’s the thing: prostitution should never have been a crime. Women (and men) are offering services for money. Some people are willing to pay for those services. The fact of the matter is….it’s their bodies. They’re the only ones who should have a say as to whether they sell it or not. I do wonder if there would be quite the black market trade for sex slaves were prostitution legal.
Frog on a cross! Or: The pope has no sense of humor
Pope Benedict XVI may not know art, but he knows what he likes. And he doesn’t like this frog. For obvious reasons.
A reasonable person might just look at it, chuckle and roll their eyes. A reasonable person might see the whimsy and the message the artist was trying to convey. No one has ever accused Pope Benedict XVI of being a reasonable person.
The persecution of Christianity.
So, I recently responded to a post in my blog (here) in which a Christian stated that they are being stripped of their rights because of a vocal minority, and that Christians have been a “silent” majority. I answered rather quickly and not especially thoughtfully. I think I’d like to take the time to respond a bit more in depth, because while I’m sure many atheists and people of other religions have heard more than enough on the subject, it seems most Christians don’t think we’ve gotten the message. We’ve gotten it. Really. But I’ll go ahead and address the concerns, since so many of you seem to feel an infringement upon your rights.
But what about the atheists?…..is another argument.
What about them? Nobody is asking them to be baptized. We’re not going to pass the collection plate. Just humor us for 30 seconds. If that’s asking too much, bring a Walkman or a pair of ear plugs. Go to the bathroom. Visit the concession stand. Call your lawyer!
But I don’t WANT to worship the Constitution.
Today is Giggle-at-the-absurdities-inherent-in-your-philosophy Day. Apparently. I’m not sure how else to interpret the argument I had earlier with a question begging troll. And yet, I kept going back. Entirely my fault for feeding the blasted thing. Assertion: The Constitution is my god, because atheists have to worship something whether they acknowledge it or not and if I follow the law then I worship the Constitution and it’s my god.
Yes, I see your eyebrow raise in much the same way mine did. But he was serious. I think. It was difficult to tell exactly, as his grammar and sentence structure were so horrid
Read the rest of this entry at the Left Coast Librul’s Weblog.
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