Are Evangelicals hastening the end of organized religion?

[Cyrano]

Bill Clinton -- blow job -- evil -- impeach!

Donald Trump -- pussy grabber -- Stormy Daniels -- happened long ago -- busy making America great again!

There's really no need to explain the total hypocrisy and corruption of religious wingnuts. The larger question is, "Are they hastening the end of organized religion?"

All presidents end their speeches with, "God Bless America," because they have to. How many of them really believe in god? Who knows? But anyone who publicly states they don't believe in god isn't getting elected to anything. Are we coming into an era in which that is about to change?

Is public "religion" coming to an end? Have religious fanatics finally crossed the line by defending unto the death their current "orange god?" -- the disease named Trump? Has the use of religion as a bludgeon to keep out the "THEMS," (Muslims, brown people, the "other," -- you know who "THEY" are) finally made the vast majority of people aware of the lies and hatred peddled under the banner of religion?

People are free to believe whatever they want to believe -- as long as it doesn't harm others. But there have always been those who believe that some god should "rule" America. And, of course, it's a god that puts HIS believers into positions of power.

Full disclosure -- I'm a devout agnostic.

I believe many people are sick and tired of politicians using some god to justify their greed, their corruption, and their ugly cruelty towards others.

So again I ask, "Are evangelicals hastening the end of organized religion?"

Regarding the intrusion of religion into our government and public life, I certainly hope so.

[smirkymonkey]

1. Let's hope so.

You know how they say that the flame burns the brightest before it finally goes out? I hope that applies here.

[Downtown Hound]

2. As sucky as things are right now, yes, I genuinely believe that they are

Right wing Christianity was on the way out already, and thy're going to have a hard time living this down in the coming years.

[S.E. TN Liberal]

3. Religion and government can only end in theocracy when allowed to combine.

The Evil-gelicals/Fundamentalists/conservatives want their religious views to be the law of the nation, with taxpayers paying to enforce church doctrine on everybody.

They want taxpayers to pay for spying on people, arresting them, prosecuting and jailing anyone who steps out of line with church doctrine.

Voters need to be wise when they vote to do all we can to keep the separation of church and State.

[Cyrano]

5. Ahh, for another Inquisition. The good old days.

Not to mention the Salem Witch Trials that took place right here in the colonies before we were the good 'ole US of A.

[Guilded Lilly]

4. I hope they are hastening an end of the public power of organized religion. Faith is a supremely...

personal strength that emanates from individual souls.

The judgment, the persecution, the discrimination, the manipulation, the wide-spread hate down to the petty snobbery and meanness of spirit of elitist and enabled evangelicals do nothing but tear down a society and create fear.

[Cyrano]

6. Eloquent truth, dear Guilded Lilly

[Martin Eden]

7. Evangelicals are their own worst enemies

People capable of critical thought see the rank hypocrisy of these self proclaimed Christians and decide they want no part of it.

[FiveGoodMen]

8. Until the Southern Baptists lose their hold on the South, I don't see much hope

[mountain grammy]

9. I think that's sad but true.

and that hold has spread, I think, and that's sad too.

I attend a public meeting this morning for our publicly owned electric co-op and had the prayer to Jesus before we could start the meeting.

[dawg]

10. Yes, but they started years ago. It isn't a recent thing.

And I say that as an evangelical myself. (Southern Baptist counts, right?)

When I was a child, every church had a few families of harsh, judgmental people who tried to boss everyone else around. We called them "religious fanatics" and ignored them whenever we could.

Now, those people are pulling all the strings in most churches, and those who don't toe their line have either been driven away or have voluntarily left the congregations.

If their goal was to take over the churches and use them to magnify their own personal influence, they have succeeded.

If their goal was to promote the teachings of Jesus Christ and to offer a message of redemption and forgiveness to the world, they are the most self-defeating bunch of assholes to ever breathe the air.

[dalton99a]

11. They should charter an Aeroflot and rapture themselves to Moscow

preferably an Ilyushin Il-62

[NightWatcher]

12. Evangelical Christianity is a death cult. Their ultimate end is the destruction of the planet.

I believe they should be subject to the same criticism as such other well known death cults as Jonestown, the Solar Temple, or Heavens Gate.

They desire an end to the world as their deity returns to suck them up to the hereafter.

[FiveGoodMen]

14. You can say that again!

Right at the outset, god is mad at Cain for not killing any animals.

[Poiuyt]

18. They are looking forward to the end of times

Then they can be with Jesus while the rest of us will burn in hell for all eternity.

[NightWatcher]

19. The Heavens Gate people at least had the guts to facilitate their own rapture without bothering us.

I'll buy a ton of Koolaid from Costco if they'd like.

I am a Helper.


If you want to see your god, knock YOURSELF out. Notice I said as long as they want to roll the dice and hope they chose wisely, go for it. Just don't burn my planet because they think my death helps their cause.

Like I said, Death Cult

[Initech]

13. Oh no quite the opposite - they're just getting started.

We're figuring out their evil schemes right now but they will regroup and come back stronger. Their ultimate goal is to turn the US into a totalitarian theocracy. They're Trump's base. They knew damn well what they were doing when they voted for the Orange Douchebag - he speaks their language. Which is they are so determined to get their way, and why he's so careful not to piss them off.

The thing is while we're nitpicking candidates over party purity they're getting organized. The GOP knows that they could run Darth Vader and he'd get 100% of the republican vote. If they overturn the Johnson Amendment - the one thing that is keeping our democracy together - there's no telling what kind of damage they could do.

[ProfessorPlum]

15. I pray to Cthulhu they are

[Takket]

16. evangelicalism hardly even counts as a religion

it is more of a political ideology than a religion. The cloak their intentions behind the Bible and Jesus yet shun the teachings of Christianity in practice.

They are hastening the end of religion "as we know it" and remaking the extremist right wing into the new Gods of their "religion".

[GoCubsGo]

17. Partly. They've had plenty of other help.

The Catholic Church and all of its scandals comes to mind. People have been fleeing it in droves for years. Myself, included, although I fled religion altogether, long before the scandals came to light.

[Xolodno]

20. Short answer is...Yes. And there was a warning about it since the 70's

Evangelicals...ARE NOT EVANGELICAL! They only prosthelytize, but call themselves evangelicals. In Biblical times, the Apostles, didn't preach and run, they stayed, set up churches, trained leadership, dealt with real life problems, government obstacles, etc. before they left. Today, the "Evangelicals" call it a "mission"...guess how many sign up for that? The "Evangelicals" today measure their success on how many tracts they gave out, points of contact and gloat how they "think" they showed up an atheist or "heretic"...when they actually lost the argument and lost everyone around them. The "evangelical" term is only a marketing ploy for...less than knowledgeable people about the Bible....and history outside of the Bible.

Back to my "70's" argument, when this movement was first growing, one of the main complaints by ministers of a Protestant Church was, the new converts were short term. The Evangelicals response; "We shepherd the flock to you, it's up to you to keep them"..in other words... that's your problem. If a statistical correlation was done on the growth of atheism and agnosticism and the activity of evangelicals...long story short, it wouldn't surprise me.

Add to that, in the past, Protestant churches donated or set up hospitals, job training, etc. Now they build multi-million dollar "churches", "retreats", "camps", etc. Why? because it aids the "evangelical movement"....and the vast majority of the Protestant churches have capitulated to the "evangelical movement". Why? Let me set this up for you. A Minister in the past would live a life of poverty... today, everything is set up to guarantee him middle class... and if he is "effective", live even better for working a whole lot less than the average joe...and give bad advice in the mean time.