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posted by CoolHand on Thursday May 14 2015, @02:05AM   Printer-friendly
from the touched-by-his-noodly-appendage dept.

Washington's Blog reports

The Pew Research Center on Religion & Public Life is reporting, in their poll of 35,000 Americans, that during the seven years from 2007 to 2014, the numbers of religiously "Unaffiliated" were soaring, the numbers of Christians were plunging, and the numbers of adherents to non-Christian faiths were rising substantially but not nearly as much as were the numbers of "Unaffiliated".

This report, issued on May 12th, is headlined, "America's Changing Religious Landscape: Christians Decline Sharply as Share of Population; Unaffiliated and Other Faiths Continue to Grow".

It shows that: the percentage of Americans who are unaffiliated rose from 16.1% in 2007 up to 22.8% today.

[...][The USA] is becoming a less [religious], and a more religiously diverse, country.

 
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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by maxwell demon on Thursday May 14 2015, @05:05PM

    by maxwell demon (1608) on Thursday May 14 2015, @05:05PM (#182998) Journal

    to us, there are no supernatural forces, agents, or influences(thus no dieties to be concerned with) to have to account for.

    Well, as far as I know Buddhism believes in some form of reincarnation. This clearly is something supernatural.

    Also, Karma means there has to be something that distinguishes between "good" and "bad" actions in a moral sense. But moral is not a concept found in nature, therefore anything that is based on it can only be either human-made (but Karma isn't human-made, is it?) or supernatural.

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    The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by rts008 on Thursday May 14 2015, @07:53PM

    by rts008 (3001) on Thursday May 14 2015, @07:53PM (#183087)

    Karma is man made, just as is Buddhism. It is nothing more than a philosophy on how to live a 'right/correct' life. Buddhism is not a religion as Western Cultures view religion. Not all Buddhist sects incorporate reincarnation, and not all Buddhists accept it, even if it is part of their sects philosophy.

    Just consider 'you reap what you sow' as a good defination/translation for Karma. It is a human-made concept and describing word. There is nothing devine or sacred about Karma. It is in essence, just a flowery wording of one aspect of cause and effect as it applies to human interactions in society.

    I question your statement: "But moral is not a concept found in nature,..."
    Coincidently, I just watched an interesting youtube vid(still loaded in another tab) of a talk given by Dr. Andy Thomson titled "Why We Believe in Gods" at the 2009 American Atheist in Atlanta, GA. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iMmvu9eMrg/ [youtube.com]-link to vid)

    He addresses that far better than I can, so instead of trying to argue/debate with me, I will refer you to his interesting talk. Also, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chris Hutchins(RIP), and MANY others have all addressed this in lectures and debates...ad nauseum.

    Not only am I an atheist, I don't even think religion has had a legitimate place in the modern world, and has not for at least 150 years. Religion is a harmful, self-imposed crutch, that should be immediately tossed aside, IMO.
    I only make a claim to Buddhism as a placeholder/answer for the 'Religion?:_________' question on documents for the few times 'No Thanks!' would not be accepted. The only reason I use Buddhist for that 'answer' is that I was heavily exposed to the quirky Zen Buddhism, and it is about the only 'religion' that I can half-assed claim as a possible answer for that blank without gagging. I don't claim to be an actual Buddist, but that is the only answer that won't get me lynched/attacked in the 'Bible Belt' where I live.

    Buddhism is not a religion, but a philosophy on self-improvement, and how to treat those around you, and how to treat the world around you. A set of instructions for a happier life, if you will. It's focus is on self, not external to self.