Something to Think About

'Theological Implosion' Among Christian Teens?

Here's an interesting article: "Christian Teens? Not Very" by Dale Buss, writing in The Wall Street Journal.

He makes the point that while many American teenagers "may profess the faith and indeed love Jesus, the vast majority of Christian teenagers in this country actually hold beliefs fundamentally antithetical to the creed." See the article at Pseudo-faith?

Equally interesting are commentaries about Dale Buss's article, to be found at Comments...

Atheist or Apatheist?

"In a world torn by religious zealotry, not caring much about other people's beliefs (or even your own) can be a virtue."

"Apatheism—a disinclination to care all that much about one's own religion, and an even stronger disinclination to care about other people's—may or may not be something new in the world, but its modern flowering, particularly in ostensibly pious America, is worth getting excited about."

To learn more, here's an article by Jonathan Rauch in The Atlantic Monthly... Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn!

In a similar (albeit more lighthearted vein), the following website divides the issue of God into four main positions: "Simply put, theists don't deny, agnostics don't know, atheists don't believe, and apatheists don't care about the existence of gods." The sects of Apatheism: all based on unconcern <

A Working Theocracy

From the BBC's 'In Depth': Iran. Who Holds the Power?

Have you ever wondered how a real life theocracy functions? Well, the Iranian people live under a system which is purportedly a working Republic. Unfortunately the decisions of their elected representatives have to go through one more level of approval before they are 'ok' -- the theological level. (This involves quite a bit more than just invoking the Diety, and then looking for 'signs') Here's how it all works.... You might ask those friendly folks who would like to see America become a Christian theocracy: "Hey, do you think Iran should be the model?" The Iranian Model

Note the instructions on the linked page: "Click on the chart below to unravel Iran's complex political system."

While Elites Wage Culture Wars, Is the Public Fraternizing?

"[Political] elites unquestionably have polarized. But it is a mistake to assume that such elite polarization is equally present in the broader public. It is not. However much they may claim that they are responding to the public, political elites do not take extreme positions because voters make them. Rather, by presenting them with polarizing alternatives, elites make voters appear polarized, but the reality shows through clearly when voters have a choice of more moderate alternatives..."

In an interesting article, Morris P. Fiorina makes an interesting case that while culture wars rage among the elites, the rest of us are just 'getting along' (to paraphrase Rodney King's now much parodied words). See... Culture Wars?

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