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RE: Why is America so religious?
December 16, 2011 at 2:09 am
Let's not forget the vast and unforgiving expanse of land that the earliest settlers were staring at, where they came from, and how they formed the basis of our culture and what it means to be "American".
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: Why is America so religious?
December 16, 2011 at 8:24 am
(December 16, 2011 at 2:09 am)Rhythm Wrote: Let's not forget the vast and unforgiving expanse of land that the earliest settlers were staring at, where they came from, and how they formed the basis of our culture and what it means to be "American".
That was 150 to 500 years ago.
So apparently Americans, on the whole, have not progressed one iota since then. Which literally means that they are a backward people... Precisely what they attribute to other peoples (notably Muslims). 
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RE: Why is America so religious?
December 16, 2011 at 12:29 pm
(This post was last modified: December 16, 2011 at 12:31 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
We do lean heavily on tradition. Kids still play cowboys and indians (kind of macabre when you think about it). Everyone retatins some part of their history, or how they've interpreted it. 200 years really isn't that long when you consider the amount of time that old world cultures have managed to cling to their past's. The "cowboy era" , just for one example, was roughly 20 years from start to finish. Even so we have tons of westerns, and country music is a huge money maker to this very day. Cashing in on one of the myths that formed the basis of our culture.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: Why is America so religious?
December 16, 2011 at 1:19 pm
Quote:So apparently Americans, on the whole, have not progressed one iota since then.
Truth be told we've actually gone backwards. While some colonies were religious-based most were commercial enterprises. There is a reason that the Salem Witch Trials happened in New England and not in Virginia or New York. In New England you had nutty protestant assholes running things while Virginia was CoE and New York was fucking Dutch!
It is only in the aftermath of the Revolutionary War that we start to see fundamentalist-type psychos coming together ( Millerites, Mormons, etc). There can be no doubt that Darwin's Origin of Species (1860) prompted a strong reaction by the mentally challenged to re-assert their fairy tales into a world which seemed ready to cast them aside.
The shrieking of religious fucktards about godless commies can only last so long as we are starting to see a growth in atheist - or at least non church based religions - in the general population. The lunacy of John Nelson Darby is fading but it won't go quietly.
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RE: Why is America so religious?
December 16, 2011 at 5:43 pm
(This post was last modified: December 16, 2011 at 6:45 pm by Rokcet Scientist.)
(December 16, 2011 at 1:19 pm)Minimalist Wrote: It is only in the aftermath of the Revolutionary War that we start to see fundamentalist-type psychos coming together ( Millerites, Mormons, etc).
Ermm... the Brownists, Mennonites, and Amish, to name only a few of dozens of 'fundamentalist-type psycho' groups, had all been established for well over a century before the revolution! I don't think it gets more established than the Pilgrims, does it?
And it's all a matter of perspective: to the imperial British the American revolutionaries were "fundamentalist-type psychos" too...
"Fundamentalist-type psychos" aren't fazed by one revolution more or less. Look at the mother church! Grandmother church, more like. Two millennia and dozens of revolutions on and still rearing its head today! It's safe to say that you'll see "fundamentalist-type psychos" before, during, and after revolutions. Despite those revolutions. "Fundamentalist-type psychos" are a constant.
Like warts.
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RE: Why is America so religious?
December 22, 2011 at 10:21 pm
America is religious because of a multitude of factors:
Puritan origins
The use of the Bible to justify American slavery, Manifest Destiny, and the American work ethic
The use of the Bible to console freed slaves
The descendants of the Great Awakening
The myth of America - A Christian Nation
I'm sure there are more influences.
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RE: Why is America so religious?
December 22, 2011 at 10:30 pm
(December 22, 2011 at 10:21 pm)Freedom Wrote: America is religious because of a multitude of factors:
Puritan origins
The use of the Bible to justify American slavery, Manifest Destiny, and the American work ethic
The use of the Bible to console freed slaves
The descendants of the Great Awakening
The myth of America - A Christian Nation
I'm sure there are more influences.
The Soviet Union was our adversary after WWII. Communism and atheism became synonymous with the people who could at any minute annihilate us in nuclear fire. Christianity, meanwhile, became synonymous with patriotism.
Maybe things will change now that the scary people who are going to kill us any minute are religious fanatics.
Atheist Forums Hall of Shame:
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... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
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