Diversity and God
I usually post on something at least lightly related to spirituality on Sundays but I awoke today with little to say and little time to say it. So I Googled Americans and God, and found a remarkable assortment of headlines. Here are a few of them:
More Than 9 in 10 Americans Continue to Believe in God – www.gallup.com, 2011
74% of U.S. adults believe in God, 72% believe in miracles – Harris Interactive Poll, 2013
Half of Americans Say God Plays a Role in Super Bowl Winner – Huffington Post
38% of Americans say that they have done something because God told them to – www.yougov.com
God a “psychotic mass murderer,” America stupid for believing Bible – Bill Maher
Young people are giving up on religion because of: (1) Being turned off by fundamentalists; (2) Atheist and agnostic role models are getting more vocal; (3) Liberal attacks on religion – the week.com
Republicans believe it but most Americans know God did not Create America – beforeitsnews.com
Americans’ views of God shape attitudes on key issues – USA Today
Americans Have Forgotten That God Wrote the Constitution – Tom Delay
A Full One-Third of Americans Believe in Creationism – The Economist
Americans Still Oppose “Playing God” with Genetics – Psychology Today
Americans Worship Things and People But Not God – Mychal Massie
We … and our media … seem obsessed with knowing what our brothers and sisters believe. Elected officials drag their concept of God into political discussions. Media types like Bill Mayer compare our intelligence to his based on what we believe and political types like Tom Delay presume to speak for us regarding God. Everyone seems to be keeping score regarding God’s popularity, rejoicing in or bemoaning the score based on their own political and religious standpoint. I was raised by a devout Catholic who taught me that religion was a personal matter … I am no longer religious but count myself as one of the 74% after years as an agnostic. Spirituality, too, is a personal matter. We talk and talk about Diversity in a racial and ethnic context until it becomes a hollow slogan for businesses and politicians. Here’s what it really means: The concept of diversity encompasses acceptance and respect. It means understanding that each individual is unique, and recognizing our individual differences. What ever happened to religious Diversity as a cause?
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Older Eyes 
March 16, 2014 at 5:24 pm
Interesting quotes, Bud. I agree that religion or being non-religious should be everyone’s choice. I try to accept that and respect everyone’s choice whatever it is…but then someone says something like the Bill Maher quote which I deem insulting or Tom Delay’s comment which I deem idiotic…and I find myself being less accepting…perhaps a tad annoyed. Not because those men don’t agree with my version of God…but they are so disrespectful for how others might think.
March 18, 2014 at 10:23 am
A cousin of mine and I have had numerous discussions on the topic of religion and The Bible, God, etc., and finally pretty much agreed to disagree on some of this. We were both raised in the Lutheran church. I still belong to that church and he has gone over to a church that is of the Baptist/Assembly of God type (not sure exactly which or what there.) Anyway, I tend to be fairly liberal and he is extremely conservative. No big surprise there with respect to the type of church he belongs to now but there are a lot of conservatives in the Lutheran church too so can’t really count that, can I? But our main disagreement centered on his belief that God wrote the Bible. And I say that the majority of the problems that crop up with religion often tend to be from the fact that God DID NOT physically write the Bible but rather scholars and rabbis and such over the years wrote and re-wrote this and many things, in my mind, got translated from one language to another and things were then often read not in the proper context then over the years. That, plus the fact that society has changed, mostly for the better, but look how long it too for people to stop slavery which is advocated in the Old Testament as being the norm. Plus science has advanced so much just in the past 50 years to say nothing of over thousands of years. Our knowledge base is better and thus, our understanding should follow along that same vein too of many things that have become conservative vs liberal based arguments. He would probably see nothing erroneous in Tom Delay’s statements! And I would be saying “Give me a break!” Bottom line for each of us though is that we both do still believe in religion! He would announce that he is a Christian and I am too, but don’t voice it but rather try to show evidence to my beliefs by my actions. (Some of which at times fail miserably though.)
April 4, 2014 at 1:02 pm
I like your approach to diversity, most folks seem to think diversity and acceptance mean I HAVE to accept their “Politically Correct” point of view. Acceptance, Tolerance, Acceptance and Diversity to me mean that I get to Tolerate other points of view without Agreeing with them, Accepting them as my own, and can like wise express my point of view without being shouted down, being called intolerant etc. ….It’s disagreeing without being disagreeable.. as my Day used to say.