Ross Douthat has an interesting article in this months The Atlantic entitled Crises of Faith. Primarily the article discusses the slight rise in secularism in the U.S. while comparing it to the increase of religion in the public square in Europe. There is one point he makes that echoes something I have been thinking about for some time. To quote Douthat:
The secularism that has come of age in the Bush era, by contrast, seems to have a greater mass appeal. What’s more, where the earlier secularism tended to cultivate a self-conscious neutrality toward religion, the new secularism is defined by an unabashed hostility toward traditional faith—or at least toward any attempt to mix such faith with politics.
In a paper in the American Sociological Review, Michael Hout and Claude S. Fischer announced the startling fact that the percentage of Americans who said they had “no religious preference” had doubled in less than 10 years, rising from 7 percent to 14 percent of the population. This unexpected spike wasn’t the result of growing atheism, Hout and Fischer argued; rather, more Americans were distancing themselves from organized religion as “a symbolic statement” against the religious right.
It appears that religion has become a dirty word and, in large part, this is due to the Bush administration and its policies. So many people are angry with the president and link him to religion that peoples negative feelings toward him are rubbing off on faith in general. I have no problem with secularism. I also have no problem with faith. I actually see most religions as generally positive ( yes I am aware that religion can be used for any number of evil purposes as well, I just happen to feel there is more good to come from religion than bad).
My point is that it is truly unfortunate that Bush is such a polarizing figure and that the religious right in America is so unaccepting of others that they have tainted the idea of faith as a whole.
Interesting blog from Juan Cole’s Informed Comment.
Fox Cable News spent more time than other cable news networks covering Anna Nicole Smith and spent much less time covering Iraq than the other networks. Gee, back in 2003 they seemed to have a lot about Iraq. I guess Faux News is only interested in stories that further the agendas of Rupert Murdoch and his Republican Party:
‘ “Fox spent half as much time covering the Iraq war than MSNBC during the first three months of the year, and considerably less than CNN. The difference was more stark during daytime news hours than in prime-time opinion shows. The Iraq war occupied 20 percent of CNN’s daytime news hole and 18 percent of MSNBC’s. On Fox, the war was talked about only 6 percent of the time. Another story that has reflected poorly on the Bush administration, the controversy over U.S. attorney firings, also received more attention on MSNBC (8 percent of the newshole) and CNN (4 percent) than on Fox (2 percent), the Project for Excellence in Journalism found. ‘
At last, an explanation for the 33% who think Bush is doing a good job in Iraq! They are not getting any news about what is going on there from Republican Party t.v.!
And here’s Dan Marsh’s take on Paris Hilton and Darfur.
5- September 20 1967, the birth of Matt and Gunnar Nelson.
4- Ronald Reagan uses Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A., a song about the treatment of Vietnam vets, as his re-election campaign song.
3- Tiffany’s mall tour.
2- Fabrice Morvan and Rob Pilatus release Rob and Fab, an album in which they actually sing.
1- The Final show of The Behemoth Experience.
All kidding aside, Behemoth rocks. Very few bands are this clever, smart and entertaining. Go see them while you can!
On May 31st I received my Master’s Degree in Religious Studies from California State University, Long Beach. The past few years in Long Beach have been a wonderful experience for me. Dee and I have met great people and have had a great time. I want to take a minute and thank all of the friends and family who have helped me the past few years. I could not have done it without this amazing support system.
In August I will begin my Ph.D.studies at Arizona State University. We look forward to the new city and new adventure.