Politics replacing religion in the United States?

[Hammster]

Laws require specificity. There are easily 20 translations of the books of the Bible, not counting the Catholic. Which one will be codified?

Why would one need to be?

 

[Ken-1122]

Awhile back, my dad mentioned that Franklin Graham got considerably more likes and comments on his political Facebook posts than the ones he made about the Bible, and that's when he realized politics was overtaking religion in the minds of most Americans. On large conservative-leaning forums like City Data, I also notice the political sub-forum has considerably more posts in the politics section than the religion one. Even among professed Christians I sometimes read or speak to on the Internet, I find it's often easier to find out what they believe about guns, the vaccines/masks, various conspiracy theories (check out how Jordan Niednagel of CREC now just makes vague appeals to 'heaven' on his web site and places primary emphasis instead on conspiracy theories rather than pointing specifically to Jesus Christ: TrueAuthority.com - All Science News - environment, health, electronics, dinosaurs, cryptozoology ) , and capitalism/socialism than whether or not they believe in the trinity, their views on church attendance, or what they believe about the Lord's Supper, baptism, etc.

A couple of good articles on this subject include:

How politics has replaced religion in America

Social justice isn’t really a new religion. It still hasn’t figured out forgiveness.

I particularly like the first one, although I'm not convinced we can do much "persuading" these days, especially in a more public sphere. I tend to think all we can possibly influence are our families, and maybe friends/co-workers. As a mother, I think all I can do is try to persuade my child the truth about Jesus and the Bible, and warn him about how bad the political climate has gotten in my lifetime. I don't want him to be swayed by the general godlessness of the left (forcing children to overrule parents on matters like sex/gender, etc.), yet I also want to warn him of the likes of Lauren Boebert and the conservative "Christian" nationalism where women like her either firmly believe, or else make blasphemous jokes about, that Jesus "needed" an AR-15 to stop His crucifixion (not to mention the severe error of thinking they should "force" Christ's kingdom on Earth when He plainly said His kingdom isn't of this world, or them trying to overthrow government when Paul told Christians to respect the government even when Nero was putting Christians to death, etc.).

Sadly, I definitely agree that politics has largely overtaken religion in this country, and I want to warn my son against it in all its forms, whether it's the unforgiving godless social justice left cancel culture, or the Boeberts of the right who either don't understand -- or else make light of -- Christ's crucifixion, and make idols of things that don't matter in the scheme of eternity, like our subjective opinions on firearms.

I think the reason politics is being taken more seriously than religion (as it should) is because religion is based on faith, but politics is based on reality.

 

[kdm1984]

Good point. That is why so many secular 'fringe' groups and ideologies suddenly seem to have taken over the world.

Yep! One of the things I've had to be careful with is to see which of these Internet ideologies actually has real-world leverage.

I live in Springfield, MO. If you went to the Springfield, MO Internet Reddit, you'd think my city was super leftist, because most of the people who post on Reddit tend to be leftist. But Springfield, MO votes 2/3 Republican consistently, and the headquarters of Assemblies of God (AoG) is located here. The average Springfieldian is a Republican Pentecostal. I don't represent my city well, statistically; I'm an American Solidarity Party Lutheran.

 

[timothyu]

One of the things I've had to be careful with is to see which of these Internet ideologies actually has real-world leverage.

I agree but the trend today is to believe the internet is the real world.

 

[cow451]

Why would one need to be?

This exchange is becoming a soup sandwich. Good night and have a pleasant tomorrow.

 

[rturner76]

This exchange is becoming a soup sandwich. Good night and have a pleasant tomorrow.

Who was the guy that used to say that? It's driving me nutz. Even a Google search has mixed search results. Chevy Chase?

 

[timothyu]

Who was the guy that used to say that? It's driving me nutz. Even a Google search has mixed search results. Chevy Chase?

Perhaps he became a victim of the cancel culture

 

[rturner76]

Perhaps he became a victim of the cancel culture

Saturday Night Live was around before that whole movement I think.

 

[timothyu]

Saturday Night Live was around before that whole movement I think.

Back in the days when the left was today's right and the focus was on others rather than self interest.

 

[cow451]

Who was the guy that used to say that? It's driving me nutz. Even a Google search has mixed search results. Chevy Chase?

Heard it from a veteran.

 

[cow451]

Perhaps he became a victim of the cancel culture

Given the way Veterans are treated, you may be right.

 

[Pommer]

Back in the days when the left was today's right and the focus was on others rather than self interest.

The 1970’s were literally referred to as “The Me Decade”, but I’m old.

 

[timothyu]

The 1970’s were literally referred to as “The Me Decade”, but I’m old.

So am I but being previous to that we saw the Me decade as one of cocaine and disco, compliments of those with no identity in the 60s and early 70's who felt left out and spread their own wings. A rebellion against the previous movement. It is their kids that are the online fringe movement today.