-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Rik says; > I have this impression, rightly or wrongly, that the US is full > of Christians, and right-wing ones at that. Plus it looks from > here like they have a lot of power and that the US is getting > progressively less liberal and more conservative. As far as I know, Christians do make up a majority of the U.S. population. Conservative Christians are a minority, but are a very loud one. By such token, the silent majority gives them a great deal of power. Why they seem to be gaining power when we, as a society, have more tools than ever to educate and inform ourselves, is a puzzle to me. Some places I look to for clues: * We have women and minority groups that seem to revel in perpetuating their own negative stereotypes (the astounding popularity of the "Jerry Springer Show," "Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionare," gangsta-rap, the list goes on). * We have an astounding amount of apathy in this nation; people unwilling to educate and inform themselves and who don't believe that they can make a difference ... so they don't even try. * In an increasingly complex and chaotic society, some people might tend to seek religion as a source of order. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but while Christianity overall is not growing in membership, I believe conservative Christianity is. * As someone else mentioned in an earlier post, Church doctrine was created 1700 years ago, based on writings even older than that. This doctrine was designed to control the Roman population of 300-400 CE, not 2000 CE (the same outdatedness applies to parts of the U.S. constitution). Despite laws of religious freedom in this country, Church doctrine and the Bible are still used as guides for law and leadership. In short, in order for a society to progress, so must it's doctrine. Again, I'm just throwing out ideas as clues. In the end, I'm at a loss to explain why we seem to be regressing, not progressing. - - Mary; fearing for humanity - -- "The dream dreams the dreamer" - Talaxian proverb -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGPfreeware 6.5.1 for non-commercial use <http://www.pgp.com> Comment: Thumb your nose at Echelon ... use PGP. iQA/AwUBOLdriRCClC0vfawSEQLCBACgy7//GH62+IFMVa8GS82MDSNms9wAoKDu zm37dhfXxAn5O0rzHHBaQZHy =pbjc -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ************ [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.linuxchix.org
