At the New York Times a fucktard preacher wrote some bullshit about his Magic Man.

New York Times - It’s Getting Harder to Talk About God

A preacher man wrote about his Magic Man fantasy using the usual ridiculous religious words like "spiritual" and "faith". The whole thing was disgusting and boring.

However the comments, written mostly by some very intelligent atheists (aka normal people), were excellent. Some examples:

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Max Dither
Ilium, NY

"I’ve been sensing for some time that sacred speech and spiritual conversation are in decline"

Good. Keep professed religiosity in the back room where it belongs. Religion is, by definition, discriminatory. If you don't believe in certain things, you're excluded. It's the ultimate tribalism.

Religion has its good points, like charity and community. But people forget that, and instead focus on the proselytizing of ancient myths and fables that ostensibly guide us about how we should live our lives. That is hardly democracy in action. "You do as I say, or God will condemn you to burn in hell." No thanks.

Just look at the conflicts around the world today. In particular, the mid-East struggles with fascist religious groups still slaughtering each other after centuries of genocide. The bad in religion far outweighs the good.

If you want to believe in religious tenets, fine, go ahead. But your right to do that ends at my right to not do that. Keep it to yourself, and don't try to infect me with it. In particular, keep religion out of government. We should have no more "In God We Trust" or "Do you swear to tell the truth, so help you God" or "One nation, under God" as instruments of our government. That is proselytizing of the worst kind and is directly counter to the Establishment clause in our Constitution.

Just imagine if Mike Pence ever became President. He'd push for a law to mandate recital of the Apostle's Creed before every football game. Not on my watch, he won't.

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VKG
Boston

Why do the religious wring their hands so frequently about the decline of some aspect of their religion. If you’re on the true path, why would that matter? My observation is that religious discussion is all too frequent, and often directed toward the unreligious, including myself. If there has been a decline in frequency of religious topical discussion, or the use of religious words and symbolism, it likely reflects the fact that fewer and fewer people outside of the Bible Belt care one scintilla one way or the other. Why? Well the sexual misdeeds of a good many priests, and the crass commercialization of Christianity (isn’t the author’s father a ‘megachurch’ Pastor?), and decades of religious wars probably has something to do with it. Young people in particular, at least those raised to think critically, seem to have a harder and harder time swallowing unscientific Bronze Age tribal explanations for the unknowable; what I don’t understand is why do you care? As long as you’re free practice your beliefs, and you are, even if fewer people say merry Christmas, what matter is it to you? Could it be that budding megachurch pastors see less and less of a future in their chosen profession, akin to independent booksellers?

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g
New York, NY

Here is more of the classic American Christian persecution complex. "I can't even talk to people about religion in the subway anymore! The world doesn't want to hear it!" Meanwhile, out here in reality, every President this country has ever had has professed to be a Christian, our Congress and Supreme Court has always been majority Christian, God is printed on the money and on the wall above every judge's seat, churches pay no taxes, Christian academies and colleges are spreading across the land, and more Americans believe in angels than they do in actual verifiable facts. You think this country has abandoned religion? Please. You can't be the underdog when you have all the power, and people would take your "God talk" more seriously if you knew what you were talking about.

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Chicago

Let's start with some assumptions/reasonable statements:
1. Faith is belief without evidence.
2. Every era of human history has had gods that people were sure were real and they could live their lives according to the god's requirements (e.g. Zeus, Mithra, Apollo, Ra, etc.).
3. Average, everyday people have tried to do their best to interpret the word of their god, mostly with disastrous results (e.g. The Inquisition, the KKK, women as chattel, Jim Crow laws, 21st century Evangelicals and Trump...need I say more).

We don't have the time for people to try to speak god talk, because it has not effectively solved problems in the past, and is certainly not solving problems today.

I would suggest that people talk the language of the human condition which goes something like this:
- Treat people like you want to be treated. Or, even better:
- “Do not injure, abuse, oppress, enslave, insult, torment, torture, or kill any creature or living being.” (Mahavira, the Jain patriarch)

The language of the human condition is so much more clear, unambiguous, and simple. No priests are needed for people to understand their place in the world and their obligation to other people. We (humanity) have to continue to work hard to get rid of god talk and start to practice the language of the human condition.

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Rover
New York

Perhaps what you really need is a vocabulary suitable for the 21st century, one that employs more sophisticated metaphors rather than traffics in fantasy and anachronism? One rooted in the literalism of Bronze Age goat herders? The proof that we don't need "God" to be moral or to have a conversation about what it means to be moral is just one secular person with sound ethics. That would also suffice to disqualify all of the evangelical Christians now supporting Trump. The last thing we need is more "sacred language." Instead, how about more people educated in the facts of science and the rich complexities of humanistic metaphor who can deal more thoughtfully and compassionately with the real world. Life is hard enough without more God-talk-nonsense and harder still with more of it, precisely because it's a means to bypass, false consolation, and creates nothing more than ethical atrophy. That's the more honest "rhetorical problem" before us. The solution isn't a more active "vocabulary of faith" but a more open and honest wisdom rooted in plain speaking candor. Keep your revival to yourself, thank you.

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Xoxarle
Tampa, Florida

To quote a truism, religion is not what we know about god, it’s what we don’t know about nature.

As we fill more gaps in our knowledge, we free ourselves from having to ascribe lightning to Thor, volcanic eruptions to Pele or hurricanes to Jehovah.

The long inevitable turn away from religious belief is cleansing. We can substitute rationality, evidence and scientific discipline for superstition, dogma, patriarchy, manipulation, false prophets, gullibility and induced phobic hatred of others for skin color (Mormons) or orientation (Evangelicals).

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PeteH
Melbourne, Australia

Many Megachurch Pastors seem to be the antithesis of the humble Christian - fancy clothes, $40K smiles, spacious homes, social media teams, wives with fancy jewelry and $750 hair-styles, even private planes. These people are exactly what's wrong with American Christianity - there's nothing even remotely Christ-like about them, or their ostentatious lifestyles.

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gemli
Boston

Religion in America does seem to be on the decline, and not only in the hesitancy of people to use religious speech. Each year fewer people report being affiliated with a particular denomination, or identify themselves as religious. The “nones” have been on the rise, and the trend is continuing.

I don’t think this is a bad thing. In fact, it can chill the blood to hear that a country is becoming more religious. It turns out the most secular countries, such as Scandinavia, Australia and the Netherlands report far higher levels of satisfaction and measures of well-being than religious nations.

In our own country, the more religious red states have higher rates of poverty, crime, preventable illness, child abuse, sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. These states are also net recipients of blue-state tax dollars.

But there still seems to be plenty of God-talk out there. Not to denigrate all religious believers, but I sometimes catch the end of Joel Osteen’s megachurch broadcast on Sunday mornings, and I’m astounded by the endless stream of empty psychobabble that promises prosperity and joy if you just turn off your brain and praise Jesus, along with a plea for money, which will somehow lubricate the sender’s passage to heaven.

We might know too much about the natural world these days to require the supernatural. Many can get along just fine without religion, and as long as we can get along, all will be well.

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Downtown Verona. New Jersey

Mr. Merritt, you present survey results totaling 63%, which you characterize as "a range of internal conflicts that are driving Americans from God-talk."

But allow me to speak for the 37% you didn't account for, or perhaps that you mischaracterized in your 63%.

Many think (and know) that 'God' is a figment of man's imagination, an irrational and medieval invention perpetuated for patriarchal control purposes.

'God' is the lodestar of manmade religious, egomaniacal conceit.

You said yourself that you are the son of a prominent megachurch pastor - you've identified the root of the problem already - you were hit over the head as an intellectually defenseless child by a bible-thumping dogmatist and you went along with the 'God' brainwashing before you had a chance to think for yourself.

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Bob
Taos, New Mexico

"I’ve been sensing for some time that sacred speech and spiritual conversation are in decline" I guess that's a joke. The "Christians" who brought us the Iraq invasion, torture, massive deficits, extreme inequality, no health insurance for tens of millions, and climate denial did it all in the name of their God. What will be next?