I agree with Kinnaman’s unbiased assessment of Christianity and I find his research extremely helpful, because it provides us with a clear idea and an approximation of the precise degree of disdain and distrust others have towards the Christian faith. Furthermore, his research permits us to stand apart and examine ourselves as Christians. Kinnaman’s research results uncovered the most common points of skepticism and objections raised by outsiders towards the church and Christianity (Kinnaman, 2007). According to Kinnaman, the six issues or themes outsiders have against believers are the following:
Christians today are perceived much differently now than they were in past generations. In his book UnChristian, David Kinnaman reveals what the current standings of young outsiders, or those that do not identify with Christianity, are about Christians in comparison to past generations (referred to in the book as “Mosaics” or “Busters” depending on the year of their birth). Though unfortunate, this faith is seen more as club or a social circle of the elite rather than a group of people faithful to their beliefs.
Many people have given their lives to further the growth of the Church throughout the world and indeed many have admitted that even if God Himself were to visit them and suggest Joseph Smith was not really His messenger, they would not believe him, but would rather believe in Joseph Smith. This type of fanatical belief is indicative of how this belief has grown and perhaps that it may well be considered in the realm of “cultism” as well as simple religion?
Bill McKibben in his essay “The Christian Paradox. How a faithful nation gets Jesus wrong.” unmasks the paradox underlying Americans' Christianity. The ambiguity lies in the fact that the US is the most allegedly Christian among all developed nations and yet Americans remain the least Christian in their behavior. The author exposes American Christians for who they genuinely are providing numerous examples to validate his thesis, which states that the notion of being a good and dutiful Christian perceived by most Americans has in fact little to do with Jesus' teachings. McKibben manages to avoid harsh judgment or criticism, choosing to simply discuss the degradation of faith, allowing himself to be at times slightly sarcastic or ironic.
“Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life” (Buddha). Throughout different time periods religion has impacted the society in which people live. Religion has and continues to dictate the rules citizens have to follow in all areas, especially social, educational, and political. Religion influences morals, values, and people’s identities. Many people turn to religion for not just spiritual answers, but for guidance and help in everyday life. Religion also affects the inner workings of a society. However, religion has evolved with time. In earlier societies, only one religion was usually allowed and accepted. In Salem Massachusetts during the Witch Trials, every citizen had to be seen as a good Christian. In this case, religion determined whether or not a person was good and trustworthy. Currently, all religions are accepted and many do not judge others based upon it. For
Through out history evil has been best depicted as the absence of goodness and goodness as the absence of evil. With goodness being comprehended as the direct opposite of evil. It is under speculation that maybe there can 't exist only one general meaning of good vs. evil. I trust this, in light of the fact that any one individual 's perception of good or evil is without a doubt directed by one 's social comprehension of certain qualities and ethics within their culture, i.e. the power of social conformity (Muncaster-Social Psychology Lecture, 2016). Yes, there can be cases of evil that is seen as malevolent all over the world but due to the ethnocentric component of the perception of cultural morals and values, one is unable to categorize another individual as evil or good based upon their own cultural understanding of this notion. As they have been socially and culturally influenced to believe contrary to the fact.
Ever since its creation, religion has been a major form of human culture, expression and faith. However, this principle has also created numerous differences between people. Although variation increases diversity, a multitude of negative impacts have also occurred. These repercussions include the creation of religious stereotypes and spirituality-based social classes. Therefore, religion is a precept embedded in historical and current culture that drives the creation of social statuses and stereotypes. These classes and assumptions define an individual’s opinion and power over others, which influences the process of distinguishing the innocent from the guilty.
From 1990 to 2010, religious affiliation in America has dropped significantly, raising the question as to why American citizens are becoming less religious. Researcher Allen Dowey from the Olin College of Engineering has analyzed the data, and claims that there are several factors that contribute to this occurrence. However, the contributing factor is the rise of the internet and social networking. Deriving his data from the General Social Survey, Dowey discovers that religious upbringing is highly influential to religious affiliation later on in life. Nevertheless the number of people in this category has dropped since 1990. Another factor is the increase of college education, which also correlates with the drop. However, it’s important
The 20th century human carnage occurred based on a prescribed script of political ideologies replacing the Bible and trying to create an artificial utopia. From Stain and Hitler to Obama and the European Union Commissioner 's, the names, faces and eras alter, but the utopic beliefs remain static. Moreover, the underlying similarities behind all these attempts to socially engineer societies meant the removal of Christ as a higher authority. Not without coincidence, the same people that staffed the concentration camps and Gulags of yesteryear and many of the social justice warriors of today (Femen and the secular humanists) replicate and share the same characteristics of atheism. Additionally, the identity politics of today mirrors that of the
Furseth, I & Repstad, P 2013, An Introduction to the Sociology of Religion: Classical and Contemporary Perspectives, Ashgate Publishing Limited, England.
Do you think it’s ethical to use your religion as a way to dominate and control others or instead use it to unshackle and help the oppressed? The latter describes liberation theology and the primary describes how mainstream Christianity used their religion. In this essay I’m going to explain how Jesus as liberator and Kairos time shows that liberation theology and mainstream Christianity are on the opposite ends of the theological spectrum. Liberation theology believes in equality and socialism and mainstream Christianity believes in domination and capitalism. I am also going to bring up how the new method shows how liberation theology is a better alternative to mainstream Christianity, as it shows how by following liberation theology mindsets on many
Preliminary Thesis Statement: Religion is an essential constituent of any civilization with a unique spiritual pathway.
The first ethnographic example presented is the case of the Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn. He cites Ayala Fader and her book, Mitzvah girls: Bringing up the next generation of Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn. Here, he explains how Hasidic Monism is “ a monism that does not fail to recognize values other than its paramount one, nor to assign them levels of their own, but that appears wholly to subordinate all these other values and their levels under a single paramount one” (Robbins, 2013:106). The meaning of monism in this case presents a distinct contrast between the super value and its lesser values or in this case, the sacred and secular world. There are no levels within the lesser values in Hasidic monism. The values are simply subordinated to the
Extremism is a tendency to go to extremes or an instance of going to extremes, esp. in politics (The Free Dictionary, 2015). There can be many ways to describe extremism, but it is not strange for people all around the world. The word extremism is strange for some people, but it certainly isn’t that common. For example, terrorism, it happened just recently.
There are many different religions practiced all over the world today. With the help of modern advancements and technology, these religions are able to spread and be communicated to parts of the world that would have had access to them in the past. This sharing of cultures, ideas, and religious beliefs appears to be a very positive notion on the surface, however, this also means that there is an easy access to misinformation surrounding religious practices and religions themselves. One of the most heavily misconstrued religions in our society today is also the fastest growing religion in the world, Islam (Fisher 417). Islam often regarded as an oppressive and violent religion in the eyes of the Christian West today, but these misconceptions