Honest Answers.

[Stuu]

And any honest person, or anybody who knew statistics, would therefore know that "religiosity" has nothing to do with wealth.

It is only the developing world in which the Roman Catholic Church is making any real advances.

In South America the RCC is losing market share to the Pentecostal churches, mainly because while the Catholics will bar people from the rituals of the church because of a whole range of perceived wrongdoing, the Pentecostals welcome sinners with open arms and free involvement.

By the way, that graph above shows absolute growth in numbers. I calculate that, as a percentage of world population, the proportion of Catholics has dropped from 17.5% to 17.3% over the time of the graph.

The Apostle Paul would take New Zealand over in a few years if your open forum is that vibrant. Paul found the public's weakness and cut their mental Achilles.

I think he would get into too many bar room brawls to have much credibility.

Stuart

 

[Stuu]

:nono: Nobody deals with reality as I do: Honestly. Your every discussion on TOL is politically driven. Mine? Just show me the facts. You guys toss this lame-brain accusation all over the site as if it were TOL gold. It isn't. Rather, anybody with half a brain is never duped by 'statistics.' lain:
:nono: You are one of 'them' so not outside. You throw your pennies thinking they're golden nuggets. :nono: Copper as a matter of fact. I just told you that they necessarily are skewed and why. You? Off in lahlah land not thinking critically. Be a dupe stuu. There aren't many of you atheists because Einstein said they were 'lame.' Brad Pitt? He's a confirmed stoner. Not your 'thinking' poster boy.
and by his own admission, only 80%. Now, if you want to stop trying to take inane jabs because you have no game: Great. I won't be participating further than to put you in your proverbial mindless place with mindless accusatory. "Starting to play the dumb card" is my exit and always will be. :wave:

(and here I was looking for an 'intelligent' conversation Why'd you de-evolve, Stuu? )

You have not presented a single statistic in support of any of your claims, to counter the facts I have presented to you that come from reputable sources. You got pretty much every trend wrong.

Sorry to have burst your Trump bubble. Hope you continue to live yours happily.

Stuart

 

[Stuu]

Interesting that stuupid didn't notice the correlation between muslims and other heathens and those in liberty when it comes to wealth. And he even noticed the Christian nation and its great wealth. You just can't make this stuff up....

According to the graph, Chile and Mexico are very like the US in their rates of adherence so should be also considered 'christian nations'. But they are not wealthy. Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, South Africa and to some extent Ethiopia are all even more 'christian' than the US, but they are all much less wealthy.

France and Sweden are full of heathens, and those countries are relatively wealthy. So much for christianity and heathenianity.

On islam, it is clear that you are right. The trend seems to be that oil might save a 'muslim' nation from poverty.

Stuart (as it is spelled)

 

[Lon]

You have not presented a single statistic in support of any of your claims, to counter the facts I have presented to you that come from reputable sources. You got pretty much every trend wrong.

:sigh: No, in fact, I did not. You haven't even seen any data I'd give. You? You went to salon.com.... :doh: You simply stopped discussing objectively, that wasn't me. Look, you are easily influenced: others may not have been kind, but you didn't bother to change contexts. Is it a full-moon tonight? :idunno:

Sorry to have burst your Trump bubble.

See? Projection. I didn't vote for him. I don't make it up as I go, but have rather paid attention my years on this planet and know what I speak of. You didn't even ask for data, just if I could do data analysis. Yes, I could have, in fact.

Hope you continue to live yours happily.

Stuart

I don't. I'd rather you troubled living with reality than what makes one feel good. We are an entirely too 'feel-good' driven society all over the planet. Hedonism vs. self-control and study. Something in the water?

 

[George Affleck]

Hello, I am a 17 year old male from the UK, and was brought up an atheist. I'm posting on here to ask a pressing question of mine. To me I don't feel I require faith, or religion however I'd like to try and understand why people do, so please, share your stories, why or how you have come to faith and why you feel you need it?

Please be as civil as possible.

Halster,

It is my conviction that all humans are 'religious'. Naturally, or supernaturally, they acquire faith in something.

The Bible doesn't spend much time on this or try to convince us of it but, for the most part, takes it for granted and simply calls those who deny this reality "fools" and "without excuse". This means that they deliberately choose to follow a path of irrational thought which, by definition, is just another religion. A religion, worldview, philosophy, conviction, etc. are only different breeds of the same dog and rely on belief.

I have seen countless people jumping through hoops trying to deny it but, atheism is belief in "Nogod". Atheism has its prophets, clergy, scripture, adherents, disciples, dogma, faith, worship, relics, institutions... just like all good religions should. The deity is actually not absent, just cloaked; the deity is absence itself - Nogod - like the number zero.

As such, I would like to submit that opting out, as you seem to "believe" you can do, is irrational, foolish, and utterly impossible.
Belief is integral to the human condition. From the Christian perspective, this makes sense because God made us in His image. From the atheists perspective it does not make sense and he must deny belief and ridicule it in others.
From the Christian perspective, a hole exists in the life of all humans until they are reunited with their Creator. Hence the Bible's emphasis on regeneration, reconciliation (being born again).

You think you do not require faith because you are unaware that you have it, use it, and cannot live without it. Perhaps you would share with us how you came to believe in "Nogod" and that this is worthy of your abiding faith?


"We're all in this together. Keep your stick on the ice." Red Green

 

[Angel4Truth]

This is why Mark Twain called statistics worse than lies and damned-lies: The 'drop' in teen pregnancies coincides with a rise abortions etc.

There is an attempt to skew figures here that I've not seen prior. It is, imho, an attempt to 'rewrite' history.

It would seem that incarceration has led to less crime, if the stat holds but I always want to do my own stats, they really shouldn't be published without stringent scrutiny. -Lon

yes, and drugs and rapes aren't on that chart either.

 

[Jacob]

Hello, I am a 17 year old male from the UK, and was brought up an atheist. I'm posting on here to ask a pressing question of mine. To me I don't feel I require faith, or religion however I'd like to try and understand why people do, so please, share your stories, why or how you have come to faith and why you feel you need it?

Please be as civil as possible.

Shalom.

Do you understand who God is? Do you understand that He is the Creator? Do you understand that the Bible is the word of God? I encourage you to read it. Shalom.

Jacob