Christianity in America

[Saint Marcus]

According to a recent poll...

36% of Americans believe that the Bible is the word of God and is to be taken literally.

59% believe the prophecies in the Book of Revelation will come true.



I knew Christianity was a bit larger in the US than in Europe, but this is extreme. Why is this, and what are your toughts on it?

[chequita guevara]

It's because of the Great Revival that swept the country in the early 19th Century. Bascially, you get funny ideas when you're out on the fronteer.

[SlowwHand]

More to the point; American's came here, for the most part, for religious freedom.

[Ethelred]

Part of it was the year 2000. Lots and lots of people had in their tiny little minds that the world was going to end in the year 2000. Now many of them are trying to convince themselves that the year 2000 was the start of the end of the world. It will take a while for Milenium Brain Fever to go away.

We even had one of those idiots for Secretary of the Interior during the Reagan Administration.

It's because of the Great Revival that swept the country in the early 19th Century.

I think part of that was a reaction to Darwin and the Scopes Monkey trial. People were being disturbed by having to think. Rather than change their minds they got even more hidebound.

[Saint Marcus]

Part of it was the year 2000. Lots and lots of people had in their tiny little minds that the world was going to end in the year 2000. Now many of them are trying to convince themselves that the year 2000 was the start of the end of the world. It will take a while for Milenium Brain Fever to go away.

So why didn't the same happen in Europe?

[Ethelred]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
More to the point; American's came here, for the most part, for religious freedom.

I don't think so. Some of the early immigrants did that. Some came here not for religious freedom but to avoid it. The Puritans came here to have religious law not to have freedom of religion.

Look at the numbers for differents groups and why they came.

Eleven percent of Americans ancestors came here because they were kiddnapped and shoved in hellholes in the belly of slave ships.

Most of the Irish came here because they were starving in Ireland.

The Italians came here for a economic opportunity as they sure weren't having any trouble being Catholics in Italy.

Poles did it for the same reasons plus because they were tired of the rest of Europe holding their wars in Poland.

Germans. Same thing plus I know that some came to avoid the universal draft.

I think if you take a close look you will find that most people came here for economic reasons including many of the early immigrants.

[Ethelred]

Originally posted by Saint Marcus


So why didn't the same happen in Europe?

Guessing here:

More Catholics for one thing. At least in the US Catholics aren't into Revelations.

Poor education in the South where Fundamentalism is very strong.

Europe allready had its Apocolypse and noticed that the world is still there. Both in 1000 AD and in the horror that was World War II.

[Sprayber]

Originally posted by Ethelred
Part of it was the year 2000. Lots and lots of people had in their tiny little minds that the world was going to end in the year 2000. Now many of them are trying to convince themselves that the year 2000 was the start of the end of the world. It will take a while for Milenium Brain Fever to go away.

Do you mean the computer geeks and Y2K?

[Robert]

Part of it was the year 2000. Lots and lots of people had in their tiny little minds that the world was going to end in the year 2000.

yeah, sure
I bet lots did, but not the christians, since the bible literary and clearly says that we will not know when the end of times will come, and since it seems that much americans take the bible literarly, your theories are in conflict.

We even had one of those idiots

wow, your first reply is already filled with the "I know everything and everyone who disagrees is an idiot and I'm omniscient and ooooh all bow for me since I'm really amazing with all my knowledge of the truth" thing you usually drop in after about 20 replies......why so fast?

People were being disturbed by having to think.

And there comes the always easy to use "We are the only ones who thinks" kind of arguments. That's right, we hate thinking. In fact I never think. Oh yeah, that's right, I hate thinking in fact. Fortunately there are people like you, oh holy ehtelred, who want to think for us! Thanks again!

thanks.
thanks.

someobody tell me to stop saying thanks, I can't think about stopping since I can't think! That's because I hate it.

thanks again ethelred.

*gasp*

[Ethelred]

I wish.

It would be so nice if Pat Robertson had been a computer geek instead of a Televangelist. Then he wouldn't have run for President anyway.

[SlowwHand]

All of you foreigners know so much about America.
Amazing.
Actually, the Puritans had no intentions of breaking from the Anglican church.

But please, continue with your education of us on our country.

[Capt Dizle]

Re: Christianity in America

Originally posted by Saint Marcus
According to a recent poll...

36% of Americans believe that the Bible is the word of God and is to be taken literally.

59% believe the prophecies in the Book of Revelation will come true.



I knew Christianity was a bit larger in the US than in Europe, but this is extreme. Why is this, and what are your toughts on it?

I know this is terrible. Things are going to pot in America. Most of the new generation do not believe in the Bible.

When I was a child that 36% figure was probably double. In that time if a family did not belong to a church it was a scandal.

But so much has changed. Many Americans are no better than foreigners now.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
More to the point; American's came here, for the most part, for religious freedom.

While that's true, during the colonial period, we were becoming less and less religious. Note the rise of deism and Freemasonry, especially among our leadership. By the early 19th Century, Freemasonry was huge in the US. Then it all collapsed (because of a murder) at precisely the moment that revival movement began.

[Robert]

Europe allready had its Apocolypse and noticed that the world is still there. Both in 1000 AD and in the horror that was World War II.

and you really think you're "well educated" and "smart" yourself? This argument is really laughable.

[chequita guevara]

Re: Re: Christianity in America

Originally posted by jimmytrick
Many Americans are no better than foreigners now.

No American is better than a foreigner.