Maybe you will not want to set your hair on fire so often when you read my (anti intellectual claim posts), after you read this New York Times article.
I loved the undies story-lol. Very bold of you-lol. Guys, they are all cut out of the same piece of cloth. Boring. women are much more interesting-lol.
Subject: FW: NYTimes.com Article: Believe It, or Not
>>> > > Believe It, or Not
>>> > >
>>> > > August 15, 2003
>>> > > By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
> > > Today marks the Roman Catholics' Feast of the Assumption,
>>> > > honoring the moment that they believe God brought the
>>> > > Virgin Mary into Heaven. So here's a fact appropriate for
>>> > > the day: Americans are three times as likely to believe in
>>> > > the Virgin Birth of Jesus (83 percent) as in evolution (28
>>> > > percent).
>>> > >
>>> > > So this day is an opportunity to look at perhaps the most
>>> > > fundamental divide between America and the rest of the
>>> > > industrialized world: faith. Religion remains central to
>>> > > American life, and is getting more so, in a way that is
>>> > > true of no other industrialized country, with the possible
>>> > > exception of South Korea.
>>> > >
>>> > > Americans believe, 58 percent to 40 percent, that it is
>>> > > necessary to believe in God to be moral. In contrast, other
>>> > > developed countries overwhelmingly believe that it is not
>>> > > necessary. In France, only 13 percent agree with the U.S.
>>> > > view. (For details on the polls cited in this column, go to
>>> > > www.nytimes.com/kristofresponds.)
>>> > >
>>> > > The faith in the Virgin Birth reflects the way American
>>> > > Christianity is becoming less intellectual and more
>>> > > mystical over time. The percentage of Americans who believe
>>> > > in the Virgin Birth actually rose five points in the latest
>>> > > poll.
>>> > >
>>> > > My grandfather was fairly typical of his generation: A
>>> > > devout and active Presbyterian elder, he nonetheless
>>> > > believed firmly in evolution and regarded the Virgin Birth
>>> > > as a pious legend. Those kinds of mainline Christians are
>>> > > vanishing, replaced by evangelicals. Since 1960, the number
>>> > > of Pentecostalists has increased fourfold, while the number
>>> > > of Episcopalians has dropped almost in half.
>>> > >
>>> > > The result is a gulf not only between America and the rest
>>> > > of the industrialized world, but a growing split at home as
>>> > > well. One of the most poisonous divides is the one between
>>> > > intellectual and religious America.
>>> > >
>>> > > Some liberals wear T-shirts declaring, "So Many Right-Wing
>>> > > Christians . . . So Few Lions." On the other side, there
>>> > > are attitudes like those on a Web site,
>>> > > dutyisours.com/gwbush.htm, explaining the 2000 election
>>> > > this way:
>>> > >
>>> > > "God defeated armies of Philistines and others with
>>> > > confusion. Dimpled and hanging chads may also be because of
>>> > > God's intervention on those who were voting incorrectly.
>>> > > Why is GW Bush our president? It was God's choice."
>>> > >
>>> > > The Virgin Mary is an interesting prism through which to
>>> > > examine America's emphasis on faith because most Biblical
>>> > > scholars regard the evidence for the Virgin Birth, and for
>>> > > Mary's assumption into Heaven (which was proclaimed as
>>> > > Catholic dogma only in 1950), as so shaky that it pretty
>>> > > much has to be a leap of faith. As the Catholic theologian
>>> > > Hans Küng puts it in "On Being a Christian," the Virgin
>>> > > Birth is a "collection of largely uncertain, mutually
>>> > > contradictory, strongly legendary" narratives, an echo of
>>> > > virgin birth myths that were widespread in many parts of
>>> > > the ancient world.
>>> > >
>>> > > Jaroslav Pelikan, the great Yale historian and theologian,
>>> > > says in his book "Mary Through the Centuries" that the
>>> > > earliest references to Mary (like Mark's gospel, the first
>>> > > to be written, or Paul's letter to the Galatians) don't
>>> > > mention anything unusual about the conception of Jesus. The
>>> > > Gospels of Matthew and Luke do say Mary was a virgin, but
>>> > > internal evidence suggests that that part of Luke, in
>>> > > particular, may have been added later by someone else (it
>>> > > is written, for example, in a different kind of Greek than
>>> > > the rest of that gospel).
>>> > >
>>> > > Yet despite the lack of scientific or historical evidence,
>>> > > and despite the doubts of Biblical scholars, America is so
>>> > > pious that not only do 91 percent of Christians say they
>>> > > believe in the Virgin Birth, but so do an astonishing 47
>>> > > percent of U.S. non-Christians.
>>> > >
>>> > > I'm not denigrating anyone's beliefs. And I don't pretend
>>> > > to know why America is so much more infused with religious
>>> > > faith than the rest of the world. But I do think that we're
>>> > > in the middle of another religious Great Awakening, and
>>> > > that while this may bring spiritual comfort to many, it
>>> > > will also mean a growing polarization within our society.
>>> > >
>>> > > But mostly, I'm troubled by the way the great intellectual
>>> > > traditions of Catholic and Protestant churches alike are
>>> > > withering, leaving the scholarly and religious worlds
>>> > > increasingly antagonistic. I worry partly because of the
>>> > > time I've spent with self-satisfied and unquestioning
>>> > > mullahs and imams, for the Islamic world is in crisis today
>>> > > in large part because of a similar drift away from a rich
>>> > > intellectual tradition and toward the mystical. The heart
>>> > > is a wonderful organ, but so is the brain.
>>> > >
>>> > >
>>> > >
>>> >
>>>
>> nytimes.com
>>> > 17c8fc73b7a6a691
>>> > >
>>> > >
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>>> > >
>>> >
>>>
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