Polarization of Relgion

[Gray]

It will be interesting to observe how this plays out in the next decade or so.

[clarkgoble]

14 hours ago, Atheist Mormon said:

They don't make a small group, they are the quitest group....Very few advertises as atheist...

Weird. My response to this last night somehow dissipated into the aether. I'll not try and repost it all. I'd just note that there are many religious identity surveys that track this. Atheists, while they've definitely been increasing in numbers of late are still at the Mormon or Jew level of numbers (up to around 3% in recent studies from 1.6% in 2007). If you include agnostics into the atheist camp then they're much bigger but still only around 7%.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/06/01/10-facts-about-atheists/

I'd also not say they're the quietest. The New Atheists are anything but quiet even though I suspect only a small minority of atheists associate with the New Atheist camp. Most of my atheist friends are rather disgusted by New Atheist evangelicalism.

Edited December 18, 2017 by clarkgoble

[Atheist Mormon]

1 hour ago, clarkgoble said:

Weird. My response to this last night somehow dissipated into the aether. I'll not try and repost it all. I'd just note that there are many religious identity surveys that track this. Atheists, while they've definitely been increasing in numbers of late are still at the Mormon or Jew level of numbers (up to around 3% in recent studies from 1.6% in 2007). If you include agnostics into the atheist camp then they're much bigger but still only around 7%.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/06/01/10-facts-about-atheists/

I'd also not say they're the quietest. The New Atheists are anything but quiet even though I suspect only a small minority of atheists associate with the New Atheist camp. Most of my atheist friends are rather disgusted by New Atheist evangelicalism.

What is exactly atheist evangelicalism? People are tired of taking up to chin every time Religious right tears into individual freedom.

[clarkgoble]

1 hour ago, Atheist Mormon said:

What is exactly atheist evangelicalism? People are tired of taking up to chin every time Religious right tears into individual freedom.

NYT: Atheists Decide How Pushy To Be

Friendly Atheist: How Pushy Should Atheists Be
It's a fairly big divide among some atheists. (As with anything of that sort, I suspect the regular lay person isn't even aware there is a debate) I've no idea on your position on all this. But it objectively is an issue out there.

Edited December 18, 2017 by clarkgoble

[Hamba Tuhan]

On 17/12/2017 at 9:20 AM, Atheist Mormon said:

"For many, this is a daily occurrence" , I didn't buy it. implying; "It is called "coincidence" or "Law of averages"... Pray, believe.....or not believe stuff happens to everyone equally.

So essentially you are prepared to dismiss other people's personal experiences even when you don't know what they are because you've already decided they can't be valid. Got it.

By the way, if 'stuff happens to everyone equally',  what was your earlier fuss about people waiting in vain to see the promised blessings? According to you now, everyone is seeing them. Which is it? Are people waiting, or aren't they?

Edited December 19, 2017 by Hamba Tuhan

[Hamba Tuhan]

On 18/12/2017 at 6:22 AM, Exiled said:

How do you quantify this "going from strength to strength?" Is it merely the stories they tell you? It seems to me that it is nearly impossible to tell who is strong and who is weak as outward signs can be faked.

Part of it is what people say. It's kind of a Luke 10:17 thing. Those who are doing keep returning 'with joy' and sharing what they've witnessed. But more importantly, it's what people are doing. They're spiritually alive and loving the work. One of the brothers in our ward, for example, has set aside every Wednesday evening as his own personal ministering night. I arrange for him to have a full-time Elder with him each week, and off they go to build and rescue. When we meet back together again, the reporting is always joyful.

Maybe he's faking all of this for some reason, but I suspect if he were into faking things, he might stop at just being active and fulfilling his regular calling? 

[Atheist Mormon]

11 hours ago, Hamba Tuhan said:

So essentially you are prepared to dismiss other people's personal experiences even when you don't know what they are because you've already decided they can't be valid. Got it.

By the way, if 'stuff happens to everyone equally',  what was your earlier fuss about people waiting in vain to see the promised blessings? According to you now, everyone is seeing them. Which is it? Are people waiting, or aren't they?

#1-Yes, I do it all the time, (no offense intended), I dismiss the many claims cannot be proven one way the other,,,,They have to be tested...That's how I run my life.

#2 You lost me on the 2nd paragraph,,, Yea...some people who has limitless patience waiting, so what? And some people are tired of waiting, taking the affairs of their life in their own hands.

[Atheist Mormon]

11 hours ago, Hamba Tuhan said:

Part of it is what people say. It's kind of a Luke 10:17 thing. Those who are doing keep returning 'with joy' and sharing what they've witnessed. But more importantly, it's what people are doing. They're spiritually alive and loving the work. One of the brothers in our ward, for example, has set aside every Wednesday evening as his own personal ministering night. I arrange for him to have a full-time Elder with him each week, and off they go to build and rescue. When we meet back together again, the reporting is always joyful.

Maybe he's faking all of this for some reason, but I suspect if he were into faking things, he might stop at just being active and fulfilling his regular calling? 

I don't believe he is faking here...There's nothing wrong with the stuff....If it brings him a personal and rewarding joy