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A Bright Future for Democracy Through the Absence of Religion [1]

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Date: 2023-04-08  

CNN published an article by John Blake today titled "Predictions about the Decline of Christianity in America May be Premature". I could be chilled by the article, but I choose to actively ignore it and not support it. This post explains my thinking. Religion, as a stand-alone falsehood, has become too easy to see as such. The decreasing power of religion is easily the change over my ~ 60 years that I have been most surprised at, and to me that occurred with the rise of the internet, due to it becoming easier to see religion as a falsehood. Religion joins forces with other falsehoods such as (the beliefs in) sexism, racism, queerism, ageism, and authoritarianism. What is different about religion is that is not an "ism", maybe because it is the first falsehood that children are taught. I think other falsehoods may often perform as distractions to provide cover. The problem that religion faces is not in spreading falsehoods, but rather it is in convincing parents to teach their children religion as a first falsehood. A significant percentage of parents don't want each child of theirs to be like them, but rather for each child of theirs to be themselves. I think that is how my parents thought – they were conservative, they loved me and my siblings much more than they loved themselves, and they treated me maybe 10 times better than they were treated by their parents, including at least trying to sort of support me in being myself. Something I have tried to pass down to my children. I think the hard part of the transition to reality, for children with religious parents who support their children in being themselves, is going through being nonreligious, areligious, and/or antireligious, because of the emotionality of it. Once through that phase and to the point of having an absence of religion, it is easy to let the other falsehoods just drop off into obscurity as well. Since authoritarianism requires constant falsehoods and corruption, the decreasing power of religion leaves a bright future for democracy. One final point: The top reason, of many, for why I am pleased to be a citizen of the United States, is that the United States is the protector of world democracy, maybe mostly because if authoritarianism ever takes hold of the world, the internet gives authoritarianism the means to maintain falsehoods and corruption forever. Democracy is for everyone, and I support democracy. For example, Slava Ukraini! I talk too much, so I’m stopping here. Thanks.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/8/2162914/-A-Bright-Future-for-Democracy-Through-the-Absence-of-Religion

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