Is America Losing Its Religious Faith?

The ignorance, the propaganda and the politics of religion today

Are you a follower of ignorance?

Recently, while flipping YouTube channels, I stopped and watched 5 minutes of the ever-misinformed standup comic turned armchair political commentator who for our purposes, we shall just refer to as “Host X”. I listened while he made it a point to support a growing percentage of atheists in the USA (which he referred to as “The Nones” since they don’t advocate for any religious faith). As his diatribe progressed, I pondered for a moment as to why he would actually be glad over a decline in Christianity or any religious faith. But then I realized that Host X and many others in “The Uninformed” pseudo-party, only vee for an atheist worldview since it supports their incomplete and often fabricated understanding of religion, history and civilization.

Let’s first deal with ignorance. Host X and numerous others hold an absolutely false view that religious believers are less intelligent, and that Christianity and all religions undermine education.

The Bible has had a tremendous impact on U.S. literacy levels.

Nothing has had the positive impact on literacy in America as what The Bible and Christian-based school systems had since the 17th century. To provide some perspective, illiteracy in the pre-revolutionary United States was rampant since colonization until literacy improved significantly with the passage of the Puritan’s “Old Deluder Satan Act (ODSA)” of 1647 in the state of Massachusetts. It is well-known among believers that Satan is often referred to as “The Deceiver” or one who keeps the truth within the scriptures from man. However, notwithstanding its rather strange name, this legal act was intended to create a structured educational system for Bible teaching at the time.

However, even prior to the ODSA, it should be noted that the first Catholic school founded in St. Augustine, FL came on the scene in 1606. Later, during the post-revolutionary mid-18th century, with larger migrations of Irish settlers into America, Catholic-based parochial schools entered into the picture with the creation of the very large, self-sacrificing yet self-sustaining school system designed to promote both Catholic and secular subjects to children. Today, despite rising levels of secularism after WWII, there are still approximately 2 million school children enrolled in Catholic schools across the USA and enrollment is increasing as of this writing.

Priests, Ministers and Rabbis Educational Qualifications

If Host X and his cohorts had ever looked at the educational dossiers of priests, ordained ministers and rabbis in the USA, they might be surprised to learn of the extensive studies in philosophy, theology, history, psychology, sociology and languages required to complete clergy education. All Abrahamic religions revere and promote education extensively.

There are many references in the Bible to the reverence & benefits of education. Here are but a couple:

Ecclesiastes 7:19

Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city

2 Chronicles 1:11

God answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king, 12 wisdom and knowledge are granted to you.

Does Islam Support Reading and Education?

It is important and timely to note that despite all the extremism and tragic horrors that have been reported in recent days between islamic terrorists and non-muslims, one of the core tenets of Islam is to read. In the Quran chapter 96, it clearly states:

Read, in the name of your Lord who created, created man from a clot of blood. Read, for your Lord is the Most Bountiful, the One who taught by the pen, taught man what he did not know.

Another verse states:

“My Lord, increase me in knowledge”. (Quran, 20:114)

Sadly and ironically, these and other such noble Islamic principles are often absent from extremist ideologies and are also not well known by non-muslims.

Some great Intellectuals who were also believers in God

When we consider what religion actually is, even if we take away any acknowledgement of a supreme God, when we peel back the layers of any sacred text, we find well thought out philosophy and specifically, principles of metaphysics (the nature of reality and existence) and others of morality. Thus, such texts have and still do inspire great thoughts by some of the greatest minds of our time from Aquinas, to Descartes, to Kant, to undoubtedly, one of the greatest minds and certainly, the greatest mathematician of all time, Sir Issac Newton.

Yes. Issac Newton…The one who discovered and documented the same principles of Calculus that we’ve been learning since 1687 from his famous The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (translated from the Latin title Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica) was a non-trinitarian staunch advocate of biblical doctrine. While Newton aligned himself with the Arian (Non-Trinitarian) version of the faith, he nevertheless was a staunch believer in the God of Abraham and of God’s role in creation.

Are you a follower of propaganda, “This year’s false prophet”?

I then turn to the next YouTube channel which we can just call “We religion here -Members only“. It reads like a 30 minute teleplay on a loop. It always begins the same way. Some overzealous political candidate figures out that the key to getting votes from the “Bible belt” is to advocate for a small selection of Christian interests. Some select “spin” words are spoken on the campaign trail and “voila”, this year’s “flavor of the day” candidate is born.

I used to ask myself why any Christian would vote for such decadent and biblically illiterate candidates. Why, after all, would anyone vote for obviously vain, greedy, egotistical candidates who have never actually lived under the tenets of the Christian faith?

Per the latest “spin”, there are two reasons.

Their supporters are not really well-informed Christians or are exploited Christians.
Their supporters associate such candidates with the many flawed biblical characters and so the propaganda “wart” keeps growing.

Here is the contradiction that is not well-understood. The flawed characters within the Bible (many of whom were major prophets), ended up atoning and finding their souls redeemed. To put it more plainly, their renewed faith in God caused them to change their behavior to be more aligned with atonement and charity.

Now…Take a look at the latest political candidates. They forever ramble in their broker-like, weak rhetorical mantra. And like the proper “card-carrying” ministers of propaganda they are, they stand on a pulpit and run down their laundry list of “If you vote for me, you get (input 5 false promises here to win the crowd)”. For them, it’s always “Let’s make a deal” or “The Art of a Deal” isn’t it? Let’s see…Who else in the scriptures was famous or infamous for making deals? Dare we ask?

Let’s stop here. Ask yourself a few questions about these candidates?

Do they actually go to church and reflect on the experience?
Have they ever read the Bible and learned anything from it?
In fact, have they ever lived as Christians?

Click below to watch “Reruns are Boring”, one of my visual poems which illustrates the effects of false prophets who gain too much power.

Isn’t Ignorance Really The Problem?

Any text, whether sacred or secular, can be used to undermine and exploit others. How? Great knowledge always requires responsibility. It’s no different for the sacred texts. Such content can thus be used to both teach and to exploit. Our global history surrounding the advocacy and the exploitation of the Bible to commit acts of war and genocide remains a tragic testament to our collective reality and to our faith.

Words whether written in a sacred text or in a political treatise or document such as the Declaration of Independence can rally great political support from a population of varied levels of education and intelligence. Thus, such documents, in the hands of terrorists and tyrants, can sway people to commit heinous acts of violence under the guise of a false nobility.

In the case of the terrorism we experience today, Islam and its sacred text have just been the tools that Hamas and Isis have likewise used to exploit and move the hands and minds of men to commit acts of evil.

Here’s the real problem that Host X and his like really need to think about. The USA and other countries across the globe are at a fork in the road with regards to religious and secular ideologies which in some cases, are simply not reconcilable. However, much of these ideological conflicts relate to the boundaries of state, sacraments, philosophy and rituals in a world already drowning within its own ill-fated march towards post-modernity while ignoring its reconciliation of the past with the present. This leaves open the gates of chaos and dissension. This clears the playing field for a never-ending barrage of secular “saviors” carrying mediocre political promises in their briefcases and in their boasting. As a result, the USA and the very world at large remains sowing perpetual seeds of humanitarian dissonance & insurrection the likes of which will continue as long as greater efforts to educate the population on our shared religious history and experience are not in place. Religion is after all, a part of human history and civilization. It continues to be. It is thus simply not in the best interests of peace to abolish its understanding or its existence.