Findings in a
Beliefnet/Newsweek poll (of more than 1,000 adults 18 years of age and older) are crushing to the bible-beaters -- because there's
a rejection among a growing number of Evangelicals that Jesus is the only way of salvation. All the fire and brimstone in the world cannot scare the message into the majority of the most conservative sheeple.
The question in the poll read: "Can a good person who isn't of your religious faith go to heaven or attain salvation, or not?"
- 68 percent of evangelical Christians believe "good" people of other faiths can also go to heaven
- Nationally,79 percent said the same thing
- 91 percent of Catholics also agree.
Beliefnet spokesman Steven Waldman calls the results "pretty amazing."
"Evangelicals are among the most churchgoing and religiously attentive people in the United States," Waldman writes, "and one of the ideas they're most likely to hear from the minister at church on a given Sunday is that the path to salvation is through Jesus."
In light of that, how -- he asks -- could so many Americans toss aside such a central element of theology?
Waldman believes the best explanation is found in the Newsweek cover story that grew out of the survey. The conclusion it draws is that Americans have become so focused on a very personal style of worship -- that is, forging a direct relationship with God -- that spiritual experience has begun to supplant dogma, or teaching based on the authority of the Bible.
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On the other hand, it looks like the Kool-Aid the AmTaliban is serving in the pews is still quite strong.
A new poll suggests that the more often Americans go to church, the more supportive they are of U.S. foreign policy, including the war in Iraq. The poll by Public Agenda finds that people who frequently attend worship services are far more likely to support the war on terror and believe that the U.S. is achieving its objectives in Iraq. Americans who never attend worship services are much more likely to believe that the war is damaging international relations and is costing too much in money and casualties. Public Agenda's Michael Remaley says the poll reflects evangelical Christians' greater tendency to view the world in terms of good and evil, and their support for President Bush. The survey results are published in the September/October issue of Foreign Affairs.
Look for the usual suspects -- Falwell, Robertson, et. al. -- to continue to turn up the heat, lest they lose complete control of the flock.
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But, back on the former hand, I love the latest in attacks on feminism by the Right - careers destroy families -- men also get a kick in the pants for good measure. Look at this unhinged drivel from a shill at the Beverly "I have a queer son" LaHaye Institute.
While single-parent households have now become the most common type of American household, cohabiting continues to rise and to pressure the two-parent household for second place. Dr. Janice Crouse of the Beverly LaHaye Institute is concerned that American culture has promoted "careerism" above all things -- and now, she says, the country is reaping the consequences. "We have said to our young women for years, 'You want a career. You've got to focus on your career.' [And] we've said that to men as well: 'You don't want to get married until you're settled in your career; until you've established yourself and gotten enough money to buy a house and buy a good car and those kinds of things.'" The result? "We have downgraded marriage in the minds of young people," Crouse says. The Institute spokeswoman says that is one of the factors that has led to cohabiting and that has helped to create the single-parent household, of which there are now 27 million on the U.S. alone
Well, then, it cannot be the homos that are destroying marriage, now, hmmmm?
Cross-posted at Pam's House Blend.