"Although a majority of the members of the new, 111th Congress, which will be sworn in on Jan. 6, are Protestants, Congress - like the nation as a whole - is much more religiously diverse than it was 50 years ago."What do you think? Are we more religiously diverse than we used to be?
Is being religiously diverse a good thing? All religions can't be true, so why would religious diversity be something desirable? Would we want mathematic diversity with people giving the wrong answers to math questions? Tolerance is one thing, but actually hoping that people get it wrong is another. Anyway, I don't see how you can call us diverse when 75% of the American population identifies with the Christian religion.
ReplyDeleteGood point Casey! Guess I should have asked if you think that we are more religiously diverse than we used to be.. I'll change the post to reflect that.
ReplyDeleteSo what do you think the alternative to religious diversity would be? It seems that where this kind of diversity doesn't exist you get religious oppression.
I think the population is more diverse.
ReplyDeleteI also think we're more religiously TOLERANT than we used to be. That is a good thing because that doesn't happen in lots of other countries, does it? But the fact is we started as a country with a belief in God; that should be respected especially as the majority is theistic(isn't there a scramble because someone decided to take our motto, "In God We Trust" off the Visitor's Center in Washington in the name of "tolerance?").
I think the tide has turned and a minority is untolerant, disrespectful, and angry-and getting away with it--while the rest of us are scolded constantly about being tolerant about diversity.
Sorry about the rant.
Yeah, we're more diverse.
I like this Karen:
ReplyDelete"a minority is untolerant, disrespectful, and angry"
I have heard it said that the only thing that folks who preach tolerance will not tolerate is intolerance.. too bad that this minority isn't a bit more tolerant.
What does it mean to be "Baptist." This breakdown really oversimplifies things, and assumes that various denominations of Christianity represent different religions, which seems very odd...
ReplyDeleteGotta agree Matt.. all Baptists (and all Christians) are not the same.. John McCain is probably not your stereotypical Baptist.. or maybe he is? Probably better to delineate politicians by their positions than their denominations.. I guess..
ReplyDeleteSeems like 90% of Congress and 80%+ of Americans have put their faith in Christ Jesus. But I think we are obsessed with labels and division and stats.
ReplyDeleteAs the great philosopher Batman once said, "It's not who you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you."
Good one Ed.. of course if Batman were a theologian he might say that what we do reveals who we are on the inside :)
ReplyDeleteIs untolerant a word? You'd never know I minored in English......
ReplyDeleteIt is a word here Karen.. even though my spellchecker says it is not :)
ReplyDeleteLOL on me!
ReplyDelete