Hm, I didn't mean to make this into another Passion thread. My POV is, the tenor of attitudes in the world in general and US specifically is: fundamentalism, literalism is on the increase, at the same time as other people are leaving "liberal" Xtian churches in droves. Seems liberal Xtians are just getting disgusted with being lumped in with "righteous" literalists and would rather just give Xtianity a pass and become atheist, agnostic or join some other non-Xtian religious group.
Bishop Spong has done a lot of research into this problem and is well worth reading.
He feels the upsurge of fundamentalism is kind of a last gasp of a dying breed. He points to the feminism of the 20th and 21st centuries fighting the patriarchy as being a root cause of the new direction Xtianity is taking.
He predicts the US will have a woman president in 25 yrs or less, and the Catholic Church will allow female clergy in 10 yrs.
Pertinent books:
Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism
Why Christianity Must Change or Die
A New Christianity for a New World : Why Traditional Faith is Dying & How a New Faith is Being Born
Karen Armstrong's
s Battle for God and A History of Godalso address this issue.
review of Battle on amazon:
Bishop Spong has done a lot of research into this problem and is well worth reading.
He feels the upsurge of fundamentalism is kind of a last gasp of a dying breed. He points to the feminism of the 20th and 21st centuries fighting the patriarchy as being a root cause of the new direction Xtianity is taking.
He predicts the US will have a woman president in 25 yrs or less, and the Catholic Church will allow female clergy in 10 yrs.
Pertinent books:
Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism
Why Christianity Must Change or Die
A New Christianity for a New World : Why Traditional Faith is Dying & How a New Faith is Being Born
Karen Armstrong's
s Battle for God and A History of Godalso address this issue.review of Battle on amazon:
Quote:
| About 40 years ago popular opinion assumed that religion would become a weaker force and people would certainly become less zealous as the world became more modern and morals more relaxed. But the opposite has proven true, according to theologian and author Karen Armstrong (A History of God), who documents how fundamentalism has taken root and grown in many of the world's major religions, such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Even Buddhism, Sikhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism have developed fundamentalist factions. Reacting to a technologically driven world with liberal Western values, fundamentalists have not only increased in numbers, they have become more desperate, claims Armstrong, who points to the Oklahoma City bombing, violent anti-abortion crusades, and the assassination of President Yitzak Rabin as evidence of dangerous extremes. Yet she also acknowledges the irony of how fundamentalism and Western materialism seem to urge each other on to greater excesses. |
Thank you, Amy. That's exactly the point I was trying to make.
