Losing My Religion

The television series Sex and the City was well known for tackling a wealth of taboo topics, the kind that make us uncomfortable to talk about, but in one episode they tackled the ultimate conversational taboo. No not some obscure sexual technique, but religion.

The show's lead protagonist Carrie Bradshaw discovered that unbeknownst to her, her boyfriend the perennially elusive Mr. Big had a secret: He was a closeted churchgoer. Of course this revelation leads to others, then hilarity ensues, there's a dramatic emotional climax and credits then roll -- you know pretty much like every other episode. But this episode did tap into a fundamental truth, namely that while religious practice and spiritual faith is something extremely personal and private to most of us, it remains a tool that others use to judge us by. I was reminded of this of course while watching the recent forum on faith featuring presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama.

By many accounts the forum was John McCain's to lose. After all for years the GOP has allegedly had a lock on the faith based vote. But that appears to be changing. Though for years the religious right has successfully characterized progressives as caricatures of sin-reveling refugees from Sodom and Gomorah, younger white evangelicals are increasingly moving away from the Republican Party. According to a study released by Pew last year, "In 2001, 55% of younger white evangelicals identified as Republicans - nearly three-and-a-half times the number who identified as Democrats, and more than double the number of Americans overall in this age group who identified as Republicans. Throughout Bush's first term, party identification among younger white evangelicals remained relatively stable, but since 2005 the group's Republican affiliation has dropped significantly -- by 15 percentage points."

The study goes on to note that these numbers have not resulted in automatic gains for Democrats, with many young evangelicals now identifying as Independents. But this presidential election that small shift could be enough to put a Democrat in the White House.

The declaration of independence that has begun to take place among young evangelicals has been years in the making. Many of them grew up in a political climate that was paralyzed by partisanship, divisiveness and name-calling -- all in the name of good Christian values. As someone who is from the largely conservative suburbs of Houston, Texas (specifically Tom Delay's former district), it never ceased to amaze me how the parents of some of my classmates could tell their kids that they could never vote for Bill Clinton because of his travails within his marriage, but could sing the praises of Newt Gingrich for leading a moral crusade of sorts with his Contract with America -- all the while enjoying a colorful personal life of his own. It never ceased to amaze me how those who claimed to be people of faith (and even attended anti-abortion protests wearing shirts that said "God gave woman a womb not a tomb" as proof) could then use some of the most hateful, non-Christian rhetoric in the English language to discuss the Democratic president and frankly any Democrat period. But most of all, it never ceased to amaze me how people who claimed to have the lock on family values could also be anti-sexual education, anti-abortion rights and anti-welfare. In essence, anti-family.

As we watched the legions of young people, many of them young people of faith, help rebuild in New Orleans after the Katrina disaster, some of them had to have looked around at the mess that resulted from that shameless response and must have thought to themselves, "I don't think this is what the Bible meant when it said 'Love thy neighbor as thy self.'" The irony is that the aforementioned directive, about neighborly love shows up in the Bible multiple times unlike the multitude of conservative cause celebres that garner the spotlight each election year, from abstinence only education, to gay marriage. Yet over the last several years that directive doesn't appear to have gotten nearly as much conservative commitment, at least not on the political front.

So maybe after years of watching the seemingly endless hypocrisy of those who claimed to be legislating in God's name, younger evangelicals are ready to take matters into their own hands, and as such have begun to reevaluate which party their politics and pews should be colliding in.

www.keligoff.com

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Comments

[mcthfg]

Of course I'm going to make fun of people who believe in things that aren't there. If I told you I believed that Zeus lived on Mount Olympus with the other Greek gods, you'd laugh. Now imagine - you're the one who believes in Zeus.

The religious make this world a far more dangerous place - atheists don't start wars, fly planes into buildings, dream up the crusades, or kill people while claiming we believe in love. We are an oppressed minority (unlike christians in America), and we're tired of making excuses for people who can't deal with the real world.

And on a final note - if the religious weren't so woefully ignorant of their own religion, I might give them a break. But few know ANYTHING about the historical context of their religion.

[DarkWitch]

Please leave Zeus out of this, He's one of my favorite godforms.

[Altalena]

I think you neglected to mention Hitler, Stalin, and Mao. Not exactly the most religious types. Of course the closest thing to them today are radical Islamic types.

[research]

Looks like you are wrong:

Hitler was a Christian.
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/john_murphy/religionofhitler.html

[exhale09]

Not only do they not know the historical context, many do not even actually read the Bible for themselves. They instead allow their preacher to pick and choose what he wants them to believe and leaves out the rest.

A personal objective, yes critical, reading of Isaiah, Duteronomy, Numbers...word for word is quite enlightening, and says things about "God's" personality that most people do not even realize is in the Bible.
I strongly reccomend it. When I did, I was astounded at the actual violent angry revengeful nature of the God of Israel. The ruthless slaughtering behavior he commanded of the Israelites towards other human beings they didn't even know personally, and I am not just talking "soldiers in armys during war" but families in their own homes. This is in the BIBLE...not my imagination. There was no way I could, in good conscious, reconcile the personality of that God, with my idea of love, spirituality and GOODNESS....and he certainly was NOTHING like Jesus....who according to many Christians is one and the same with God.

That is when I began THINKING for myself.

[research]

These Fake Christians piss me off. They don't live by the Gospels, The words of Christ, but they can quote the old testament and revelations forever.

The Scandinavians Bible is just the Gospels. It's about time the worlds religions removed the hate speech from their holy books.

[exhale09]

Religions are mere interpretation of words written a couple thousand years ago. Within the "Christian religion" as in other religions, there are different interpretations depending on WHAT kind of Christian church you believe in.
Many Christians, interpret the first chapter of Genesis, which is the account of the creation of man...differently then Evangelicals do.

First God molded man's form/body out of the dust of the earth...(our body's are made up of the ELIMENTS of earth)...
AFTER God finished molding the body...(the developing FETUS during pregnancy)...God BREATHED the BREATH of life into it.
When a baby is born it has to take it's FIRST breath BEFORE it is pronounced LIVE. If it doesn't, it is pronounced DEAD or STILL BORN.
When we die...we STOP BREATHING. THEN WE ARE DEAD. NO LIFE.

Pro-life'ers CONCEPTION theroy interpretation is their own business and RIGHT in our Religious Freedom Democracy. But to force one religious belief on others by legislating it or changing our constitution to force a PARTICULAR religious belief, on all, is NOT what our country is about.

[research]

Agreed.

It's perfectly valid to question the sanity of anyone who takes the words of an old book literally. It's a perfectly good reason to not vote for them.

[TRYKER]

Since religion wants to intrude on politics, they should lose their tax exemption as they are now part of the "state."
Every tax exempt cent they make should have to be channeled into service to the poor and suffering...or turned over to the US treasury for those purposes. Audit them.

[Retrofuturistic]

The trick is to learn how to think for yourself, without all the religious and social conditioning.

[Retrofuturistic]

"So maybe after years of watching the seemingly endless hypocrisy of those who claimed to be legislating in God's name, younger evangelicals are ready to take matters into their own hands, and as such have begun to reevaluate which party their politics and pews should be colliding in."

That doesn't go far enough. They need to go further and ask themselves WHY someone wants them to believe in a talking snake, a virgin birth, a resurrection, or the ability of a human to survive inside of a whale. Or WHY someone wants to take decisions about premarital sex, contraception, or abortion away from them.

The answer is that the goals of religion are not loving thy ethnically different or impoverished neighbor but rather power, control, and profit. Religion supports the state and the patriarchy. Period.

[mh01]

Thanks. I'm glad someone decided the issue for us once and for all. Period.

[BADEN]

"As someone who is from the largely conservative suburbs of Houston, Texas (specifically Tom Delay's former district), it never ceased to amaze me how the parents of some of my classmates could tell their kids that they could never vote for Bill Clinton because of his travails within his marriage, but could sing the praises of Newt Gingrich for leading a moral crusade of sorts with his Contract with America -- all the while enjoying a colorful personal life of his own. It never ceased to amaze me how those who claimed to be people of faith (and even attended anti-abortion protests wearing shirts that said "God gave woman a womb not a tomb" as proof) could then use some of the most hateful, non-Christian rhetoric in the English language to discuss the Democratic president and frankly any Democrat period. But most of all, it never ceased to amaze me how people who claimed to have the lock on family values could also be anti-sexual education, anti-abortion rights and anti-welfare. In essence, anti-family."

As a traditional witch, I am VERY happy to see this type of intelligent 'questioning of the elders.'

It gives me hope.

Change is inevitable.
Growth is optional.

Thank you so much for your commentary.

[DarkWitch]

The events of the last few years does make one wonder how much hypocracy and downright slimy behavior Christians can swallow before their sense of honor and decency finally kicks in. Personally I'd be ashamed to admit I support such dishonorable people and their anti-American agendas. However, there still seems to be plenty of people who will support self-righteous hypocrites as long as they pay lip service to knee-jerk issues such as abortion and gay marriage.

I guess with this coming election we will see if enough people are up for growth. Like you said, no matter what they do the change is coming.

[luziannagirl]

Young evangelicals might have finally noticed the discrepancy in which pols get their sins forgiven, and which are held accountable.

It's a huge double standard that amounts to an unconstitutional "religious test" for public office.

[Whinger]

Stay away from churches, stay away from religion, paddle your own canoe!

If you want to embrace Christianity live your life according to the eleven commandments!

[BADEN]

That includes that "golden rule" in that count - right?

[truth345]

well to tell all the truth, GOD SAY'S NOT TO DESTROY YOUR CHILD OF THE WOMB, because he is the provider of all!! but you have so many christ-ans who forget GOD and look to government as their god. when will christ-ans start teaching one another of GOD"S truth at home first then follow it up in church on sunday's by an true abiding christian leader(preacher)of GOD!!! there are very few of those in the church today! most are only for political gain and money, that's why they have these arena's for churches now !!
Jesus would be ashamed of the preacher's who concern themselves with wether or not Obama, or McCain can solve the issue of abortion!!!neither is GOD and futher is your preacher a follower of GOD or Jesus thinking either can !! WATCH WHO YOU FOLLOW TO HELL THESE DAY'S !!!

[minerva117]

Wow!!! Dude, cut back on the coffee!!! The invisible, bearded, white man in the sky also called shellfish an abomination, so, we should what, burn Red Lobster? Long John Silver's?

[clevelandchick]

I think what those young evangelicals who stood behind their faith by helping to rebuild New Orleans realize the one truth that their elders does not....politicizing your religion sucks all of the soul out of it. One sure way to ruin religion is to involve it in politics. Religion should concern itself with social justice not just concern itself with trampling the rights of women and homosexuals.

When Reverend Warren called the question 'when does life begin' the most important question of our time I just about spit. What about global warming/climate change? It would seem to me that a question about reversing this trend (if it is impossible) would be the most important question of our time. Saving the planet isn't about saving the planet literally....it's about saving life on this planet, especially our own.

What about war? What happened to 'thou shalt not kill' being applied to post-fetal humans? Why wouldn't the most important question be 'How can we avoid starting or being involved in more wars?

Saving the planet and the humanity that occupies is an important moral imperative. Preventing more wars which bring nothing but death and destruction is an important moral imperative. Reverend Warren has lost his religion and his mind if the thinks a debate about conception is the most important one of our time.

[exhale09]

The "Conception" debate is a great republican political tool because it CAN'T be answered. Just like the Bush use of the word Time "Horizon" instead of Time "Line"
A horizon is a place or point you can NEVER REACH.
The Bible say's LIFE began when God breathed the BREATH of life into man's body. Many people believe that clearly means AT BIRTH when the BORN takes FIRST BREATH. Other's insist that LIFE begins at conception, although the BIBLE does NOT say that.
Different people have different beliefs on this issue. ALL are valid within a RELIGIOUS context.
If there is a God...only God has the answer. NOT MAN. It is an unanswerable question. it is merely a BELIEF based on interpreta­tion...bei­ng used as a political tool.

[Rockerbabe]

Nicely said. Food for thought for those of us who have watched the Republicans take hatefullness to a new level. Hopefully, the younger set will start of think for themselves and act more in accordance with their beliefs.

[Dave24]

Instead of talking to one's self (praying), people should place their energy into more productive outlets and action. God didn't create evil: Nature just doesn't give a sh*t.

And many religious folk have been hell-bent on imposing their oft absurd ideologies upon the masses.

This country and the world is riding along a downward spiral that sucks everyone in, including those who don't believe in all this nonsense. We need a global community of rational people who understand that it's ok to disagree and to leave decisions to the individual, rather than legislate who a person can marry, blocking funding for potentially life-saving stem-cell research, and thumping the bible instead of the Constitution.

God is just an idea. Is it possible? Sure. But until there's evidence other than written accounts produced by uneducated men, there's no reason to believe it. It's possible we're surrounded by invisible smurfs, but without evidence, no one seems to fret.

God is just an idea. Christ almighty.

[Whinger]

With respect Dave, there is evidence, but evidence is not given to everyone!

Had you seen the things I have seen in my life you wouldn't need faith, you would know, as I know!
I don't go about insisting my point of view is the only way to embrace the issue, everyone has the right to do as they deem appropriate. I can tell you for a fact, there are things upon this earth that are not seen by science or the majority of people, and already you'll be thinking I'm a nutter, but to each his or her own. A lot of people don't embrace the word of God because a lot of it is not what mankind wants to do with their life, but you and everyone have free will to do as you wish.
A lot of politicians verbally embrace Christianity but their hearts and actions are far from God, I see them as the modern equivalent of the scribes and pharisees, nothing much has changed in over two thousand years, has it? Christ did not involve himself in the politics of the situation, but today we see many so called apostles getting involved in politics. It seems to me that the name of their god is Gaius Julius Caesar and not Yahweh. Don't dismiss the exsistance of God so easily, you will never find him, but if he wants you, he will find you!

[ga4ry]

I would love to see the thing you have seen, why not tell us and of course back them up, when you tell us of the dead you saw risen from thier graves support the story with documentation, when you tell us of the terminal cancer patient who prayed to jesus and awoke cancer free include the medical journal report and when you tell us of jesus coming down to breakfast with you for a cup of coffee and a cig, include a pic, you know, blowing smoke rings through the holes and the like........a nutter? you?

[exhale09]

"Which" Words of God, exactly, are you referring to? The ones where he says to stone adulterers to death or the ones where he said wearing Linen and Wool together is a sin? How about all his commands to the Israelites to SLAY the men in Cannan and take the CLEAN young women for themselves as servants and other choice behaviors?
How about embracing God's decision to Kill all the FIRST BORN SONS of Egypt...(the innocent?)....or telling Abraham to KILL/Sacrifice his son on an alter to prove his loyality to GOD?! EXCUSE ME?

People pick and choose the WORDS of GOD they want to embrace for their own convienient narrative....and then decide on reasons why the REST no longer apply. In AMERICA that is their RIGHT.
BUT in AMERICA it is also the RIGHT of others to NOT believe the same way, and to be LEFT ALONE in their OWN pursuit of happiness and TRUTH, FREE from political religious agendas and religion by dictatorship.

[Veratruth]

I'm a Democratic Christian. If political flyers start falling from my church bulletin like Bush sent out in 2004 and if politics is preached from the pulpit, I will stay home and read my Bible. Perhaps if enough money stops flowing in, things will change.

[dctackett]

why not turn them in?... it's not just immoral, but illegal... I agree, don't give them money, but don't let the BS stand... otherwise, it will continue and the no-response will be seen as acceptance and the others who don't agree will think it must be ok too...

[JimReed]

I think you are framing the traditional religion politics debate, but in the 21st century the bigger question is about pre-emptive war. If younger evangelicals are showing more maturity than their elders that is great, and you have to appreciate their accomplishments, but they must still be asked the question. How much responsibility does Christianity have for putting Bush in power? What does it show when they voted for Bush in even higher percentages the second time after the torture revelations? They seem to have built up layer upon layer of contradiction to avoid seeing what has happened. We went to war against an enemy not a threat to us, and we did it because some of our rich saw opportunities to profit, and most of our religion did not oppose it because they saw potential fulfillment of prophecy. This is frustrating because the harder you work to find clarity, the more you end up fighting more layers.

[dctackett]

Christians that voted for Bush, especially after torture and warmongering, are not really contradicting anything... the bible is full of that stuff, yahweh is a totally blood thirsty, spoiled brat, who orders his followers to commit genocide against those who don't believe in him...
The only problem with these Christians, is that they read the bible and believed it.
The so-called Christians who complain about this, just haven't read the bible, and I mean read it straight through, without skipping the uncomfortable, inconvenient parts...

[minerva117]

i believe that man created god in his own image,to endorse his wars and his oppression of women.

[exhale09]

Here's a point...there are many different kinds of "Christians" with different beliefs. The Evangelical Fundalmentalist Right believes "They have ALREADY been SAVED, just because they "say" they accept and believe in the Crucifiction, Resurection if Jesus.
That's all it takes for them. That act of belief. Bingo...they are SAVED.
The point being...everything else they do is forgiven, because they ARE ALREADY SAVED.
So lying, cheating etc...is a sin, but they believe since they are already saved, all is easily forgiven if they just apologize to God.
Kind of makes taking responsibility for ones actions obsolete, doesn't it?

I remember when I was a kid, Catholics believed it was a sin to eat fish on Friday...but all my friends did it anyway, because all they had to do was go to confession and all would be forgiven.

This kind of mentality removes personal responsibility for your actions that you know or believe to be wrong or immoral, because a God somewhere up in the sky will make it alright for you, and this in my opinion, is what is wrong with most of the religions. The purpose is for a FUTURE REWARD in paradise...and NOT because you care about HUMAN KIND and LOVE the EARTH we live on here and now.
The Religion idea of a FUTURE PARADISE makes THIS earth and this existence "disposable" as far as most religions are concerned.

[MeanGreenMachine]

Keli Goff, I adore you.