10-08-2010, 11:06
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#1
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: NorCal
Posts: 15,370
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Americans' Views Of God Shape Attitudes On Key Issues
I read this article yesterday and found it to be an interesting perspective to ponder.
Richard 
Americans' Views Of God Shape Attitudes On Key Issues
USAToday, 7 Oct 2010
If you pray to God, to whom — or what — are you praying?
When you sing God Bless America, whose blessing are you seeking?
In the USA, God — or the idea of a God — permeates daily life. Our views of God have been fundamental to the nation's past, help explain many of the conflicts in our society and worldwide, and could offer a hint of what the future holds. Is God by our side, or beyond the stars? Wrathful or forgiving? Judging us every moment, someday or never?
Surveys say about nine out of 10 Americans believe in God, but the way we picture that God reveals our attitudes on economics, justice, social morality, war, natural disasters, science, politics, love and more, say Paul Froese and Christopher Bader, sociologists at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
Their new book, America's Four Gods: What We Say About God — And What That Says About Us, examines our diverse visions of the Almighty and why they matter.
(cont'd)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religio...god07_CV_N.htm
__________________
“Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whisky bottle in the hand of (another)… There are just some kind of men who – who’re so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results.” - To Kill A Mockingbird (Atticus Finch)
“Almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.” - Robert Heinlein
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Richard is offline
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10-08-2010, 16:30
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#2
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Eastern Panhandle, WV
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Quote:
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Their new book, America's Four Gods: What We Say About God — And What That Says About Us, examines our diverse visions of the Almighty and why they matter.
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Very interesting. But there's two places where I'd differ:
In the article, they're mixing God (the being) with religion (the institutions). Second, I'd say they're using "vision" where they should say "version."
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"If we lose freedom here, there's no place to escape to. This is the last stand on earth."
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"If it neither breaks my leg nor picks my pocket, what difference does it make to me?"
TJ
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Green Light is offline
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10-08-2010, 18:04
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#3
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Sep 2006
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Personally, I think they broke it down too far. There are times when God can be any of the four they listed. It is not that easy.
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"Solitude is strength; to depend on the presence of the crowd is weakness. The man who needs a mob to nerve him is much more alone than he imagines."
~ Paul Brunton (1898-1981)
R.D. Winters
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rdret1 is offline
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10-11-2010, 09:09
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#4
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Guerrilla Chief
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: The Nam
Posts: 777
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I agree with rd. God is all of those and so much more (imo). One cannot put a label on God so easily. Why do we have to have a label for Him?
My vision of God encompasses a little of each of those categories; however, it is my FAITH that gives me my relationship with Him.
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A tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny ~ Aesops Fables; The Lamb and the Wolf
Am fear nach gleidh na h-airm san t-sith, cha bhi iad aige 'n am a' chogaidh
"He that keeps not his arms in time of peace will have none in time of war" Old Gaelic
Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property... Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them. Thomas Paine
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Saoirse is offline
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10-11-2010, 15:10
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#5
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Area Commander
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Northeast Utah
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Saoirse
One cannot put a label on God so easily. Why do we have to have a label for Him?
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I find this statement ironic. Referring to God as "him" also labels God. I've always been of the "God is" mindset; that is, God is neither male nor female, but neither and both at the same time.
MOO, YMMV.
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"The dignity of man is not shattered in a single blow, but slowly softened, bent, and eventually neutered. Men are seldom forced to act, but are constantly restrained from acting. Such power does not destroy outright, but prevents genuine existence. It does not tyrannize immediately, but it dampens, weakens, and ultimately suffocates, until the entire population is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid, uninspired animals, of which the government is shepherd." - Alexis de Tocqueville
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PedOncoDoc is offline
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10-11-2010, 16:15
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#6
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Quiet Professional
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Tricky, ain't it? 
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"...But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive."
Shakespeare - Henry V
Lazy Bob Ranch
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Utah Bob is offline
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10-12-2010, 12:21
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#7
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Wilson,NC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PedOncoDoc
I find this statement ironic. Referring to God as "him" also labels God. I've always been of the "God is" mindset; that is, God is neither male nor female, but neither and both at the same time.
MOO, YMMV.
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Considering that is how He is referred to in the Bible, I see nothing ironic at all.
__________________
"Solitude is strength; to depend on the presence of the crowd is weakness. The man who needs a mob to nerve him is much more alone than he imagines."
~ Paul Brunton (1898-1981)
R.D. Winters
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rdret1 is offline
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