That is still nearly one in five though.
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It’s much closer to one in six, and it’s getting lower.
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Well, where I grew up it was about 95%, so it’s a huge improvement for me!
I have a feeling that 20% represents a segment of the population that will always live in fear, bigotry and impotent outrage regardless of affiliation, if not more. That’s why trump’s approval rating hovers around 35-40%. That’s just how many assholes there are.
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I really did a double take at some of the shit evangelical pastors said about why they back Trump:
Actually… That’s really now how Christianity works. Seriously, go back and read about Jesus.
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This makes no sense, as how even if one thinks we should take care of Americans before people in other countries (which we do, by in large), how does that excuse ignoring the needs of other Americans?
I’d also be interested in how, specifically, he feels he is protecting the Nation’s well-being. The soft power he has shredded alone says the opposite is happening. Even Mathius knows and understand the value of soft power.
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Any time you hear someone who believes in “every literal word of the Bible”, you’re hearing someone who: doesn’t know how the Bible was compiled, doesn’t know the Bible is a translation of a translation, hasn’t read every literal word of the Bible s/he claims to believe in. And the “crazy things” aren’t just in the last book of the NT.
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Agreed – honestly, I think “I believe in the literal word of the Bible” is something fervently religious people like to say to mean “I’m a fan of old-time religion and not the newfangled mega-church stuff”, but they rarely mean that they know the book cover-to-cover and think it’s all literally true.
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How do they deal with how, if you take the Bible literally, the author of Luke and Acts (almost certainly the same person) is clearly an early anarcho-communist?
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Those are the parts you take “seriously, but not literally”, to use some Trumpian parlance.
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I really
really
REALLY
want to know if evangelical churches are having their sermons coordinated, after the fashion of Sinclair Broadcasting.
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I’ve asked the only evangelical christian I know about this one, and his response was that the bible is a “living document”. My lack of understanding clearly puzzled him, so he went on to explain that God has guided the hand of man through each and every translation, compilation, and modification. It is in his mind the literal fucking word of God, and every single word is the absolute truth.
When questioned about some of the parts that seem contradictory or outdated, there were a lot of muddle mouthed statements about reading what wasn’t there etc…
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Right wing White American Evangelical Christianity began as a White supremacist movement. Abortion was a later addition, and faith was always an excuse.
OTOH, it’s important to remember that they are not representative of all Christians. Dr King etc.
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Please don’t do that. It just gives more ammo to the idiots who every year try to claim there is a “War on Christmas” because places put up/sell “Merry Xmas” stuff instead of “Merry Christmas”.
The X means Christ. Xtianist = Christianist.
If you want to say you don’t consider them to be Christians, just say so.
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Yes. They like St. Paul. Zealot. Tax gatherer. Women not supposed to speak in churches, sort of thing. He sounds like one of them.
Oh, you mean that hippie dude that cured people without payment, turned water into wine, hated on bankers and stuff? Nope - nail 'em up: that’s the only language they understand.
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No.
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There are white evangelical Christians who don’t fall into this mold – check out Fred Clark’s Slacktivist blog (http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/) for a white evangelical Christian who’s very much against the evangelical mainstream, and who provides some helpful insights into the pathology of current mainstream American Evangelism.
From Clark’s PoV, most of US evangelism, which was founded to defend slavery, then changed to defend segregation, is now based entirely on being anti-abortion and anti-lgbt. Everything else is negotiable – but say one word supporting choice or LGBT rights, and you’re apostate.
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“Xmas” is a commercial abbreviation for “Christmas” in the U.S. and has been for at least 50 years. Most of the “War on Christmas” types here don’t have a problem with that (because it serves the free market, blessed be Its name), they object to the use of “happy holidays” or “season’s greetings” (because they imply that other religions matter).
There are a small handful of American Christians who currently object to the term “Xmas”, but they’re more concerned with the holiday’s commercialisation or with proper grammar and usage – low priorities for most Xtianists.
Correct. Adding the “ist” and replacing “Christ” with the American commercial “X” emphasises what they are in large part: “free” market ideologues rather than devotees of that bearded hippie who loved the poor.
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