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Religion in America - 6/23/2008 11:36:53 PM
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rhippie
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The Pew foundation issued U.S. Religious landscape Survey and I was wondering what your take on it is.
For example, according to the survey: " A strong majority of those who are affiliated with a religion, including majorities of nearly every religious tradition, do not believe their religion is the only way to salvation. And almost the same number believes that there is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of their religion"
Personally I am of the opinion that if either one of these comments apply to you then you have no religious beliefs at all. As an example they are saying that approx 70% of the people they surveyed believe that there is more than one way to get to heaven!! Based on that statement alone I would submit that this is NOT a Christian country since that statement alone denies the very essence of Christianity and Scripture.
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RE: Religion in America - 6/24/2008 1:16:23 AM
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OneJohn410
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quote:
ORIGINAL: rhippie
The Pew foundation issued U.S. Religious landscape Survey and I was wondering what your take on it is.
For example, according to the survey: " A strong majority of those who are affiliated with a religion, including majorities of nearly every religious tradition, do not believe their religion is the only way to salvation. And almost the same number believes that there is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of their religion"
Personally I am of the opinion that if either one of these comments apply to you then you have no religious beliefs at all. As an example they are saying that approx 70% of the people they surveyed believe that there is more than one way to get to heaven!! Based on that statement alone I would submit that this is NOT a Christian country since that statement alone denies the very essence of Christianity and Scripture.
I have not read the entire report. It said just over 35,000 people were surveyed. That's a small number of people to apply to the whole country, don't you think?
If you told me your beliefs were not absolute, I would not try to quash what you did believe. I'd prayerfully be in consideration about talking to you about firming your beliefs up (if you were a Christian). To convert your beliefs from one to another- that would be a whole lot more challenging.
Again, I didn't read the report to learn if there was any self-disclosure as to what faith the respondents claimed.
A Christian country- that's a big thing to claim to be. How a country can be measured as to its religiosity, I don't know. To take this extrememly literally, dirt can't have faith, it's the country's citizenship that can. The last time I thought back on it, the United States of America was not founded to be an exclusively Christian nation.
Thanks for the link to the study. That is a lot of replies to report on.
OneJohn410
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RE: Religion in America - 6/24/2008 2:29:36 AM
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fiat_lux
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quote:
I have not read the entire report. It said just over 35,000 people were surveyed. That's a small number of people to apply to the whole country, don't you think?
It's a fair number for survey work. Statistically that should make it accurate to within just a few percent, the vast majority of the time (95% or so, I think).
I agree though about the difficulty of calling a country a Christian nation. Scripturally I'm not sure there can be such a thing as a Christian nation. The kingdom of Christ is not a kingdom of this world.
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RE: Religion in America - 6/24/2008 2:50:03 AM
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Dragonnie
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quote:
ORIGINAL: OneJohn410
The last time I thought back on it, the United States of America was not founded to be an exclusively Christian nation.
OneJohn410
it was founded so that everyone could worship or not worship, according to their own conscience --News Flash to some.
quote:
ORIGINAL: fiat_lux
I agree though about the difficulty of calling a country a Christian nation. Scripturally I'm not sure there can be such a thing as a Christian nation. The kingdom of Christ is not a kingdom of this world.
Jesus saves individuals, not nations.
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RE: Religion in America - 6/24/2008 8:24:46 AM
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SonInMe1
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Do you think 70% or our nation are saved?
I would question if 70% of christians are saved.
The gate is narrow.
_____________________________
You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
James 4:4
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RE: Religion in America - 6/24/2008 8:29:34 AM
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rnershigh
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quote:
ORIGINAL: SonInMe1
Do you think 70% or our nation are saved?
I would question if 70% of christians are saved.
The gate is narrow.
I agree with that.
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O Grave! where is thy Victory?
O Death! where is thy Sting?
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RE: Religion in America - 6/24/2008 8:45:43 AM
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earthless
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Here is Fox News take on the piece: HERE
Goes to show many sitting in the pews are dead in their sins - and or severely confused as to what they claim to believe in.
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RE: Religion in America - 6/24/2008 8:48:43 AM
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SteveSund
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The Pew Foundation is pretty conservative, so I doubt they are trying to make religions look bad, but I wonder how the questions were asked?
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RE: Religion in America - 6/24/2008 9:35:33 AM
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rnershigh
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quote:
ORIGINAL: earthless
Here is Fox News take on the piece: HERE
Goes to show many sitting in the pews are dead in their sins - and or severely confused as to what they claim to believe in.
My impression too.
Everyone is clueless as to what to believe.
_____________________________
O Grave! where is thy Victory?
O Death! where is thy Sting?
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RE: Religion in America - 6/24/2008 9:47:37 AM
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redeemedsaint
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I saw this on the news last night. Sad to hear that some people say that there are many ways to heaven, when there is only one way. People are being deceived daily.
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Get off the track cause the freight train is coming - Coach Bobby Lee Duke from Facing the Giants
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RE: Religion in America - 6/24/2008 9:54:35 AM
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Sophie11
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Well, first of all 35,000 people is not that many in comparison to the 300 million or so in this country. And without knowing who thy called, it is hard to say these results do truly reflect the beliefs of our country. I don't know what everyone else thinks, but I tend to basically ignore surveys and studies anymore, as they can be easily skewed.
But the problem nowadays is the idea of "tolerance". It has been taken to the extreme, and has made criticism nearly criminal. Everything has to be PC. It's been going on so long that I think some people start to lose sight of the truth, which is that everything is not relative to your interpretation, that there is right and there is wrong. Everything is not some muddled shade of gray. But don't try telling that to some, or you're intolerant.
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RE: Religion in America - 6/24/2008 11:16:28 AM
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bgwill3
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I was surprised at the study as well. Well, I was and I wasn't. It's no secret that a great many people in this nation consider themselves to be moral, and even many believe in God (though what exactly it means to "believe in God" is different for many).
I was surprised that even the evangelical Christian respondents said that there is "more than one way" (or something like that).
I was also surprised that two in 10 of respondents (presumably Charismatic Christians) said that they spoke in tongues with some frequency.
I was not surprised that a great many people--including Jews, Muslims, and others--believe that their prayers were answered.
I think that the more common attitude of many Americans is the following: "I deeply believe what I believe, and am religiously observant and generally moral. But who am I to tell someone else that he is bound for destruction, simply because he doesn't believe exactly what I believe?"
And whether this nation is a Christian nation, I don't think was in the purview of this study, since its respondents included Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and self-professed atheists and agnostics. The fact that the phrase "belief in God" means different things to different people, is evinced by the 20 percent or so of atheists who expressed "a belief in God or in a universal spirit." Of course, that is antithetical to the very definition of "atheism".
I agree with others; there are very many confused individuals among us.
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RE: Religion in America - 6/24/2008 11:43:01 AM
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jbow
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quote:
ORIGINAL: SonInMe1
Do you think 70% or our nation are saved?
I would question if 70% of christians are saved.
The gate is narrow.
Yes, the gate is narrow but also the way is narrow.
Being raised in a "religious" home, traditional SBC, heavy on grace and light on repentance has, in my life at least, been a huge hinderance in my finding and walking in the narrow way. I managed to find the narrow gate but finding the narrow way of a life of repentance has been really hard for me. (There is a difference between 'sinning and asking for forgivness' and 'walking in repentance'). God is faithful however and He has not given up on me.
I am finally beginning to find the narrow way. For many years I have sinned, asked for forgivness, and asked for deliverance... over and over, never hearing God's answer to the prayer for deliverance... God's answer to that prayer is, "No... repent". It is still hard for me but His grace will be enough for me. I reckon He would not be trying to teach me if I were incapable of learning. I can testify to this... a gospel heavy on grace and light on repentance makes for a miserable Christian. I guess those who are not really saved are happy with it because they get to live like the world and think they are going to heaven.
I think the reason the American church is in the state that it is in is because hardly anyone preaches repentance as a condition for salvation any more and that is because so many of the preachers are worldly too. A man usually will not stand up and tell others to do something that he is not doing for by so doing he condemns himself... so here we are with 70% of Americans believing that they are saved not knowing that they must not only enter at the narrow gate but that they must walk in the narrow way, no one much wants to hear that, they call it legalism... they call it narrow-minded and I guess it is narrow-minded for the way is narrow.
Romans 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
"The flesh always dies a screaming death" Winston Baker
J
< Message edited by jbow -- 6/24/2008 12:33:22 PM >
_____________________________
"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."
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RE: Religion in America - 6/24/2008 12:16:51 PM
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stellaluna
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Sophie11
Well, first of all 35,000 people is not that many in comparison to the 300 million or so in this country. And without knowing who thy called, it is hard to say these results do truly reflect the beliefs of our country. I don't know what everyone else thinks, but I tend to basically ignore surveys and studies anymore, as they can be easily skewed.
Statistically, that's plenty of people. I don't that doesn't make sense, but it's true.
I'm not surprised at the findings, no matter who they talked to or what they asked. Most people I know claiming Christianity don't have a clue what it means.
_____________________________
CW Underground
"In one century, we went from teaching Greek and Latin in lower schools to teaching remedial English in colleges."
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RE: Religion in America - 6/24/2008 12:29:17 PM
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tracydolls
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quote:
Here is Fox News take on the piece: HERE
Goes to show many sitting in the pews are dead in their sins - and or severely confused as to what they claim to believe in.
Thank you earthless! I always enjoy your links and videos! Ok, back to being a silent cheerleader.
By many measures, Americans are strongly religious: 92 percent believe in God, 74 percent believe in life after death and 63 percent say their respective scriptures are the word of God.
92 %! That's what I heard before. 
We are growing tolerant of everything, so our sins don't look so bad.
_____________________________
Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
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RE: Religion in America - 6/24/2008 12:32:41 PM
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Sophie11
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quote:
ORIGINAL: stellaluna
quote:
ORIGINAL: Sophie11
Well, first of all 35,000 people is not that many in comparison to the 300 million or so in this country. And without knowing who thy called, it is hard to say these results do truly reflect the beliefs of our country. I don't know what everyone else thinks, but I tend to basically ignore surveys and studies anymore, as they can be easily skewed.
Statistically, that's plenty of people. I don't that doesn't make sense, but it's true.
I'm not surprised at the findings, no matter who they talked to or what they asked. Most people I know claiming Christianity don't have a clue what it means.
Yes, I understand statistically it would be, but it's hard to say if you don't know who they contacted, that's all I'm saying. I just don't trust polls in general though. I'm not arguing the results of this one I'm arguing the general idea that a poll of one out of every ten thousand people in the country can truly represent the ideals of the country. It depends on who you choose to be the one in each ten thousand.
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RE: Religion in America - 6/24/2008 12:56:17 PM
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rhippie
Posts: 574
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From: Rich The Hippie
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quote:
ORIGINAL: redeemedsaint
I saw this on the news last night. Sad to hear that some people say that there are many ways to heaven, when there is only one way. People are being deceived daily.
What troubled me about it was that a lot of the folks saying this claim to be Christians and attend church regulalry. What kind of namby-pamby gobbledygook are they getting fed from the pulpit each week? Do they even understand what Scripture has to say about getting to heaven?
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Stand up for what's right....even if you're standing alone
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RE: Religion in America - 6/24/2008 1:07:36 PM
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colliefan
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quote:
What kind of namby-pamby gobbledygook are they getting fed from the pulpit each week? Do they even understand what Scripture has to say about getting to heaven?
They hear a self-improvement, feel-good gospel that is no gospel at all. Some years ago I heard a sad statistic that the majority of converts to Mormonism come from a SB church.
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RE: Religion in America - 6/24/2008 9:02:34 PM
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Dragonnie
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yes people, many scriptures say to give attention to correct doctrine.
"Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but RATHER DIVISION." Jesus, Lk 12:51
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Mark of the Beast. How to go to Heaven.
http://www.youtube.com/laRazadeJesus
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RE: Religion in America - 6/24/2008 9:32:07 PM
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SonInMe1
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There are two ways to heaven.
Live a perfect sinless life.
Trust in Christ Jesus.
The first is impossible. The second is impossible...without God.
God saves.
_____________________________
You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
James 4:4
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RE: Religion in America - 6/24/2008 9:37:46 PM
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Jeff_from_Kentucky
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quote:
ORIGINAL: SonInMe1
Do you think 70% or our nation are saved?
I would question if 70% of christians are saved.
The gate is narrow.
According to a report from the North American Mission Board last year, only 1 in 4 Americans are born again Christians. That equals 75 million out of 300 million people, meaning there are 225 million non-saved here. That is why there is such a push right now to establish more missions right here in the USA. We are the 4th largest mission field nation in the world behind China, India, and Russia.
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<< Frank Seamans and my son Jeffrey - September, 2007
"For me to live is Christ and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21
Dispatchers tell cops where to go!
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RE: Religion in America - 6/25/2008 12:30:24 AM
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HisFish
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Jeff_from_Kentucky
quote:
ORIGINAL: SonInMe1
Do you think 70% or our nation are saved?
I would question if 70% of christians are saved.
The gate is narrow.
According to a report from the North American Mission Board last year, only 1 in 4 Americans are born again Christians. That equals 75 million out of 300 million people, meaning there are 225 million non-saved here. That is why there is such a push right now to establish more missions right here in the USA. We are the 4th largest mission field nation in the world behind China, India, and Russia.
As a matter of fact Jeff i have heard that there are Christian churches in China that actually pray for for the American church. It is humbling to know those who's faith can cost them their lives hold us up in prayer. According to a Voice of the martyrs issue i read in the past year, some of the prayers ask that we come into persecution, not out of any animosity , but actually for the health of the church in America. I dont relish the idea, but there is wisdom in their thinking.
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The theology of the present aims at the deification of man, but the truth of all time
magnifies God . C. H. Spurgeon
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RE: Religion in America - 6/25/2008 12:37:14 AM
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Norny
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the small sample size of this as compared to the 270 million people living in the united states makes this information almost completely useless. It also depends where in america this survey was done. In cities like Los Angeles or New York to name a few the cultural adversity is greater meaning more religions and a wider range of beliefs. To me this survey would need to survey at least 10 million people and include every type of area from small towns to cities to suberbs to begin to have credibility
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