The Great Trickling Away

Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

2 Thessalonians 2:3,4

I'm not qualified to interpret these findings with any authority. But, I am entitled to an opinion.

And so are you.

So, check out these Gallup Poll findings regarding how much Americans think religion is a influence in our country. Another set of findings show an approximation of how many Americans believe in God, or a "Universal Spirit", or in neither (Atheism).

The implications of these findings are interesting to me. After reading over this, I'm of the opinion that a slight dip in religious influence is starting to happen along with a slight rise in skepticism. Nothing major -- but I think these numbers express a very slight decline in literal, fundamentalist religious belief. But, see for yourself and you decide. I could very well be off base in my opinion.

But if this is true, I would not be surprised if the religious right start to vigorously campaign against this trend away from strict faith. I'm also of the opinion that this cycle of belief and non-belief could simply be a natural occurrence that will continue to rise and fall in or society.

So maybe these number are only meaningful in our generation.

Here are the links below:

Americans Believe Religion is Losing Clout

Belief in God Far Lower in Western U.S

The Lucifer Effect

Does morality have to come from god? What if religious people are susceptible to cruelty just as secular people are? The following study shows that people tend to obey authority figures even when the requests solicit immoral and cruel behavior. And in a series of requests which demand ever increasing immorality, people remain surprisingly obedient. Yes -- even when each subsequent request demands more and more cruelty, people still tend to comply.

People have a harder and harder time refusing subsequent requests once they have committed to the first request. And if the requests become gradually more demanding, people's tendency to continue to comply to cruel requests remain. And to make things even worse, people tend to trust and obey someone who appears to be an authority figure -- usually with little or no question.

If both religious and secular people are susceptible to these human faults, what does this imply about morality?

Read about the study: The Lucifer Effect

I also mention morality issues in these previous blog posts:

So, Now I can be an axe murderer, right?

A Little Perspective

Martin the Mean

On a side note, confidence schemes and cult leaders often use the tactic of gradually raising the steaks of their requests to their own advantage. Keep an eye out next time you run across some smooth talking scoundrel. Such people also like to paint themselves as authority figures, too. Victims don't question their predator's motives as often. Pushing victims outside of their comfort zone in small increments causes them to commit acts which they would hardly ever do under normal circumstances.

Two Thousand Years too Late

Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven. And everyone will see him--even those who pierced him. And all the nations of the earth will weep because of him. Yes! Amen!

Revelations 1:7

In a recent blog post, I wondered what would people start to say when another whole millennium passes and Jesus still hasn't returned.

After some reflection, I think I might know what would happen now.

Nothin'. Christianity will still be going strong.

Here's why I think this:

The first Century Christians seemed to believe that Jesus was to return within their lifetime. But, Jesus never returned as expected. Yet, Christianity still rolls on. After Jesus' failed promise to return, one would think the church would have died out.

I won't try to defend the argument that first century Christians expected Jesus to return within their lifetime in this post. Rather, read this article by Dave E. Matson. Edward Babinski posted the article on his website.

So if the over due return of Christ is well founded, how can Christianity still survive with this glaring failed prophesy?

Robert Cialdini cites an eye opening study in his book Influence: Science and Practice. Cialdini cites how a group of social psychologists infiltrated a cult that believed a UFO would come and carry them away from earth just before the "great cataclysm". The study was done by Leon Festinger, Henry Riecken, and Stanley Schachter.

This team also produced a book entitled When Prophecy Fails as a followup to their experiment.

This group of social psychologists predicted that the exclusive UFO cult would change their habits and proselytize others once their cult leader's prophecy failed. The psychologists based their prediction on the principle of cognitive dissonance.

Keep in mind, the cult was exclusive before the UFO was expected to arrive. This cult grudgingly accepted new members, did not actively proselytize and shunned interviews from the news media in their town. That's another point which makes this study interesting. The three psychologists had to make personal sacrifices to "join" (infiltrate) this cult and get reliable data for their study.

The UFO cult waited in eager expectation to be exported away to another world. But, nothing happened! The group had to do something to deal with their disappointment because of the large amount of personal sacrifice each cult member had made -- particularly their leaders. While some members left in disgust, many members still stayed and hoped for answers. Soon, the leaders "rationalized" that the earth was spared for now; therefore, they should spread the message to the world and actively take new disciples into their cult.

Sound familiar?

I found the results of that study quite chilling when the implications finally dawned on me.

Perhaps since Jesus never came back from the dead, the disciples had nothing left to do but spread the gospel in order to deal with their disappointment. And, since he never came back for his growing church -- nothing was left to do except spread the faith even more.

And since the return of Jesus is constantly delayed, nothing is left to do but spread the Christian belief perpetually. Surely this could apply to any belief system where people make great personal investments and sacrifices.

Such a cycle just goes on and on -- far into the future.

Nonetheless, the fact still remains; Jesus is still 2000 years too late.

I Can't Find My Soul

I can't find my soul.

Do you know where it is?

Is the soul the seat of personality?

Or is that just the brain?

Genesis says that man became a living soul. But, people often speak of the soul as a thing we have in addition to our lives.

What does it really mean to say that my soul will be lost?

Or saved, even?

Consider this: if you're depressed and you start taking medication. You slowly lift out of your depression. No, life won't be perfect and you'll still have some tough days. Yet, life will get remarkably better -- assuming you find a medication that is a good match for your unique physiology.

If you stop taking your anti-depressant suddenly, you tend to rebound. That spells serious trouble! Many people commit suicide after abruptly stopping an anti-depressant. Discontinuing an anti-depressant is dangerous even under a doctor's watchful care.

Now, consider this: if you're happy as can be and take some experimental drug, you're mood could go south really, really quick. You can become depressed and suicidal. Angry and bitter for no good reason. You be just like any other person with depression. You'll sleep all day. You'll want to be alone. You'll snap at everyone whenever you do come out of your dark, black agoraphobic hole.

Then, when you stop taking that experimental drug, you'll rebound -- just like the depressed individual mentioned above. Except, you'll become manic for a space of time until you come back down to your old self again.

Now, consider something else: You watch a loved one forget everyone he knows. What a sad and difficult time watching a loved one's very person and essence fade away! Pieces of your loved one's past flake away over time until nothing is there.

What about the schizophrenic who can cobble his or her life back together with medication?

What about that man who has no short term memory? Every time he sees his wife again, he thinks he hasn't seen her since he came back from the hospital 40 years ago after his head injury.

What about soldiers who come back with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or some serious head injuries due to military action? Their personalities are fractured and they never go back to being the same as before they left home.

Where is the soul in all of this? What is the soul?

Can you blame all of this on demonic activity? Can you really say the devil has invaded each person's soul in all of the above situations?

I don't think our soul is some part of us or some thing of ours that God wants.

Either we are souls, or we have no souls at all.

In other words, we're just people with brains. You can call our brains our soul, or not.

Maybe that's why I can't find my soul.