Religion played a big role in shaping the society we now know. From ancient times, there has always been the belief of the ultimate being that guides us all regardless of religion. These spiritual beliefs have helped us overcome dark times in history and strengthened our faith in religion.
But as our technology advances, we spend more time tinkering with technological gadgets rather than enhancing our spirituality. Praying each day becomes more of a burden and an after-taught for many. The population is growing but only a few go to churches to hear and celebrate the Holy Mass. Why does mankind put faith behind and put more importance on material things? Are we really done with religion now? Does it no longer hold any relevance in our modern lives?
Many Americans say they’re “spiritual but not religious.” A Barna study defines who they are, what their beliefs are, and how they live out their spirituality daily.
There are two types of “irreligious spirituality,” says the report, the second of a two-part exploration of faith and spirituality outside the church.
Thera are those who consider themselves “spiritual” but say their religious faith is not very important in their life, and then there are those who do not claim any faith at all, Barna explains.The two groups include more women than men but equally make up around 8 percent of the U.S. population. Combined, they make up 11 percent of the population, as there is some overlap between the two.
These two groups, however, differ from the “love Jesus but not the church” crowd, on which the first part of the study focused, in significant ways, Barna cautions. “Those who Barna defined as loving Jesus but not the church still strongly identify with their faith,” it explains, pointing out that those who say they believe in Jesus but no the church say their religious faith is “very important in my life today;” they just don’t attend church.
While it is impossible to believe, people still believe in faith although they rarely go to churches anymore. It’s just that many people now have learned to distinguish between religion and faith. So, there might still be hope for mankind after all. On top of the name-calling and the discriminating, we should all be sensitive of the feelings of others and respect their rights as they respect ours to achieve world peace and harmony.
A Republican U.S. senator from Mississippi and the attorney fighting the state’s law targeting the gay community are making the same argument on religious freedom, though for vastly different reasons.
Sen. Roger Wicker has signed a letter with 17 of his colleagues asking President Donald Trump to respect religious freedom.
“We cannot be a country that financially punishes individuals for practicing their sincerely held religious beliefs or decides which practices are a valid part of a particular religious tradition and worthy of protection,” the letter Wicker signed reads.
“The core principle that animates both religion clauses — free exercise and the establishment clause — is the principal of neutrality, and when it comes to religious issues, the government has to be neutral and cannot put its weight down on one side of the debate,” Kaplan told The Clarion-Ledger on Tuesday. “The core of our argument yesterday before the circuit court was that 1523 was flatly and obviously unconstitutional because it so clearly violates that principal by establishing three official or preferred religious beliefs in the state of Mississippi.”
There various cases of human rights abuse and religious persecution in the United States despite being an open and democratic country. Most stories in the news these days talk about unspeakable crimes that go to show how little regards we have left for others. Crimes have increased as the number of church-goers drop. The scriptures are there to supposedly guide mankind on how to live life in accordance with the teachings of the Lord but how will we know about it if we don’t go to churches or hear the mass anymore.
This religious fallout is worsened by our affinity to technology. Whatever little time we have left is taken up by other endeavors that include web browsing, movie watching, social media updating, etc. However, it is not too late yet. There definitely are some positive things happening. The sun shill shines after every storm and we can still rise up and redeem ourselves from our mistakes. While we try to identify as spiritual beings rather than religious ones, it seldom reflects in our actions. It does not hurt to be religious in our ways if it is the only way for us to get in touch with our inner self and rekindle our faith in that ultimate being.