Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Big_Bird]

Why God is back

[RufusW]

Of course modernity reduces religious sentiment in a population. "The world is as furiously religious as it ever was" Ridiculous. I don't think we're quite as religious as the Middle Ages, or in fact, 100 years ago.

This is of the same idiotic school as 'the clash of civilizations'.

[BS.Dos.]

Anyone know of US church attendence numbers, over say, the last 20-years or so? I'm guesing that they're pretty stable, with maybe a spike sometime after 9/11.

[ubermenzch]

[Manner of Speaking]

Again, we have to be careful not to overgeneralize...this "global rise of religious belief" may be prevalent in places like the US, Russia, Iran or sub-saharan Africa...I don't know about the UK or Australia, but in Canada there is no such trend, and I would venture to say the same for Korea, Japan, and most of mainland Europe.

[ED209]

Fairly stable remaining in the 40's for the US.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/rel_rate.htm

In the UK it continues to fall. Though I wouldn't connect this to a growth in science or rational thinking. One thing to think about is what service does church offer society in the US that it doesn't in the UK.

[Sergio Stefanuto]

Here's another view:

[Ya-ta Boy]

I'm not at all convinced the assertions in the OP are correct. For one thing:

"A recent Newsweek cover�in a bid to (finally) match the celebrated 1966 �Is God Dead?� cover of Time�read, in the shape of a cross: �The Decline and Fall of Christian America.� Editor Jon Meacham�s story highlights Newsweek�s latest poll results showing that 10% fewer Americans identify as Christian today than twenty years ago. But more importantly, and mentioned only in passing, is the growth among atheists and secularists of all stripes.

According to the latest American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) of more than 54,000 adults, between 2001 and 2008 the number willing to identify themselves as atheist and agnostic has gone from under 2 million to 3.6 million. Small numbers compared to the whole, of course, but most notably it�s a rise of 85% of those willing to describe themselves as living without God during the years of our most overtly religious presidency!

Even more newsworthy, when the widely-scorned labels �atheist� and �agnostic� are replaced with specifics about beliefs (�There is no such thing� as God, �There is no way to know,� or �I�m not sure,� and added to those who refused to answer) it turns out that over eighteen percent of Americans do not profess belief in a God or a higher power.

According to ARIS, then,

[Manner of Speaking]

[Ya-ta Boy]

[Pluto]

I honestly have got to disagree with the OP. If anything, I see religion on the decline in the US. Particularly for those under 30, and even 40. I just turned 29 y/o last month and I know of no one who regularly goes to church save for weddings and first communions. Honestly, if Barack Obama came out today and declared himself an atheist, it would probably be met with a shrug. Is anyone having similar experiences in the US?

That being said, here is a really good article from Reason Magazine:

The New Age of Reason
Is the Fourth Great Awakening finally coming to a close?


A good history of religion in America from a bit of a different perspective. Yata was right to say that religion inserting itself into the political arena is a relatively recent phenomonon. In fact, that is what the author says seperates the 3rd and 4th great awakenings because the two seem to mesh together. Also, during the first 40 years of the republic only between 5 to 10% of the population identified themselves as religious. Most were agnostic, although the majority of the population could be considered Diest.

[Kuros]

[ED209]

[Kuros]

[Ya-ta Boy]

The popularity of religion ebbs and flows. Don't make the mistake of thinking that what is happening at any one moment is the (permanent) wave of the future. It's the mistake newbies make here in Korea. Give things some time and the changes become more visible.