Trinity College has released survey results which seem to indicate that America's love affair with the man upstairs may be hitting a rough patch. The Connecticut institution's "American Religious Identification Survey" details some changes in attitudes and beliefs about religion since its two previous polls conducted in 2001 and 1990.
When asked to identify their religious affiliation, those who answered "none" numbered at 15%, up from 14.2% in 2001 and nearly doubled in percentage from 1990. The study's designers were concerned that the 2001 figures were an anomaly, but the new results seem to suggest a trend. ARIS points out that the "none" category is the only one to have increased in all fifty states.
Overall, the number of self-identified Christians has decreased over 10% since 1990 to 76% of the population. The World According to ME wonders if this will make it 10% more difficult for conservatives to scream and shout about how the United States is a Christian nation framed around Christian values by Christian men. Considering the way ultra-religious right-wingers (ie: Victoria Jackson, Sarah Palin) usually react when confronted with logic or science or any such stuff one might not find in The Bible, I'm doubtful. (Please note that The World According to ME would ask you to refrain from calling me anti-Christian and a Jesus hater and the like as I am both Christian and a Jesus lover.)
Such "one-nation-under-God/church-state-is-not-in-the-Constitution/the-Founders-framed-our-national-values-by-asking-'What-would-Jesus-do?" Christians may be interested to learn that the survey concluded that about 12% of the country are deists.
Deists, if these Bible-thumpers hadn't heard, believe, based on something called reason (a concept many of the super-religious [again, Jackson, Palin, etc] have not even a passing acquaintance with), in the existence of a god or god-like power but reject supernatural revelation.
Famous deists include such losers as: Paine, Jefferson (not George), Madison (not Billy), Washington (not Dinah), Allen (not Debbie), Franklin (nothing whatsoever to do with Peanuts).
Anyhoo, I guess the Founding Fathers would be hardly be spinning in their graves if they knew of this phenomenon. If you wanted to pigeonhole yours truly into any religion, I'll only say that I consider myself spiritually evolving and a believer in the unity of the Whole that is the responsive Universe. Don't get me started....
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96 comments:
One person's religion is another person's superstition
People pray all the time, most notably...
before tests and job interviews.
Proof that religion is not dead.
Virtually everyone agrees that science cannot prove or disprove the existence of God. Belief in God is an act of faith. For believers, trying to prove the existence of God is really an act of bad faith. For non-believers, trying to prove that God doesn't exist is a waste of time when believers don't require proof of God's existence.
We are all just trying to make sense of the world we live in. Why should it matter to me or anyone else what another person's religious beliefs are? It is righteous hypocrisy to claim superior knowledge of God over anyone else.
If you are able to find your moral compass through a belief in God, then I say "good for you". But if you say that those without belief in God are immoral, then I say you are a righteous hypocrite.
History has proven that moral and immoral persons are members of all religious persuasions: Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Jews, agnostics, atheists, etc... I doesn't matter to me what you believe. What matters to me is what you do.
There are obviously SOME areas of ethics where we must come together as a society to make rules that we can ALL (or most of us ) agree on) -- and this is the role of politics in society--and it should be secular-- On that I think we can agree-- (Althought certain religious values can inform our politcal views, such as concern for the poor, value of life, providing health care for everyone, ending wars, etc)
But the general principles on which are laws are made are that we each respect each others rights-- One hopes that we in our individual lives will go further than that--but the law is roughly based on that -- On that all persons (believers and nonbelievers) can agree.
Very well put--I couldn't agree with you more.
What ALL of us, whatever we believe should be doing is working to build a better world for our children-- and finding a better way to resolve our differences than the brute force known as war.
We should be working for a world where we not merely tolerate each other--but tryly love each other--and celebrate our diversity, not fear it.
It always made me curious about the story of Jesus and the 3 wise men; if they knew he was the son of God wouldn't you have thought that they would have had scribes around to record ALL his life not just the last years? Speaking of writings, if his followers really thought he was the son of God why did their stories take 100+ years before they got written down and you know how stories change when they are retold and retold?
First , one has to recognize what the Gospels are--they are not biographies or histories in the modern sense (although they include biographical and historical material).
Only two of the Gospels, Matthew and Luke even have infancy narratives-- and I think the magi are mentioned only in Matthew.
These Gospels wee written for specific communities, and their authors had specific reasons in mind in writing for that community.
For example, the author of Matthew was writing to a community of Jewish Christians--so you will see many references to the Hebrew Scriptures (or Old Testament).
As to WHY the Gospels weren't written immediately?
The early Christian community didn't think it would be necessary--they thought the parousia (the second coming) would occur in their lifetimes--so there was no need to write anything down--there were living witnesses to refer to.
it was really only as these witnesses (the first generation) if you will began to pass away (and the Roman Jewish War began) that it began to occur to them that they should put some of this in writing (at least the Gospels--the letters of Paul are older)
That's a bit of it--If you are interested in more, I'd recommend an Intro to the New Testament course.
Remember, it was a very different world that these people inhabited-- they spoke and thought very differently than we do--so you need to get the context of that world to understand what they meant.
Jesus wasn't really born in December, stars don't stand still.
Matthew may have been backward prophesizing in reference to Psalms 72:10-11.
But, if taken symbolically and not literally it has greater meaning whether it actually occurred or not. The writer of Matthew, and several followers tried hard to tie him to the Torah.
Why would there be scribes when nobody knew of the implications of the birth other than a carpenter and his wife? I doubt that even the parents would have understood the significance. It is unclear that even the Magi had any idea of the implication.
Also, it was not 100+ years. The four gospel books which chronicle the life of Jesus (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) were written about 30-70 years after Jesus died. The church accepts these gospels because they were widely accepted at the time and were written during the lives of those who knew Jesus (or at least during the lives of people who knew those people). There is also evidence that these gospels used other writings as sources.
Imagine if someone wrote a book about the hoIocaust today. That book would not be accepted if it did not coincide with the actual memories of survivors. There would be writings refuting the claims. The same is true of the gospels. Only a few gained wide accpetance, survived time, and were written early enough to have seen the scrutiny of early Christians who knew Jesus.
This doesn't mean that absolutely everything in the gospels really happened as described. In fact, scholars can even point to different manuscripts of the same book which do not agree. However, it is likely that much of what is written agrees with the accounts of eyewitnesses.
Illiterate goat herders don't do a lot of writing.
I don't believe that anybody said people don't believe in God anymore. The article is about religious affiliation. I too am soured on religion. So much hypocrisy, so judgmental, so worldly. Churches that feed the rich and let the poor starve to death. I personally do believe in God Almighty but, I gave up on church about 20 years ago. No matter whether it is Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, or Mormon, the main objective of the church is money. It is a load of crap. I prefer to worship personally and by myself. My relationship with God is special and no man or organization has a right to tell me how to worship. Big problem with churches in America and elsewhere but, not with God.
Losing faith in one's church is not the same thing as losing faith. Der Spiegel is reporting that Germans are leaving the Catholic Church in droves over disgust about the German Pope.
Thank God for atheists!
(Wrap yer noggins round that one)
Interestingly, IQ doesn't correlate well with religious/spiritual inclinations, with the exception of the fringe here in the U.S.
You are correct, because indoctrination from the time of birth has a powerful effect of blinding the human mind as it develops.
Oh Lord, don't let this get out to the Fundamentalists - they'll launch a new campaign to overcome the "heathenization" of America!! More crazies like Palin and the African dude who "blessed" her!!!
Please make it stop!!
that is exactly what people are running from....
My guess is that the last few decades' creeping (and creepy) merger between one segment of Evangelical Christianity and the far right, and far-right-led government, has hurt religion.
At some point, the chickens always come home to roost.
Spend 8 years telling everybody that George Bush is God's messenger and you're going to sew some doubts in the faithful.
I've tried church so many times and ended up leaving when having to deal with uptight extremists. Sadly, "Christians" do more to hurt the religion than anyone else ever could.
People in this country need to remember that we have what is referred to as the separation of church and state. There is an intelligent reason for this, and most of us still don't understand.
Maybe there is hope for our nation after all!
This doesn't come as a surprise. At a time when the Vatican excommunicates the mother of a 9 year old rape victim, who probably wouldn't have lived through a delivery, for getting her daughter a medically necessary abortion, but embraces the rapist in the rows of the church, it is time for many to stand up against a church that lives by Medieval principles, which were already outdated when Marie Antoinette got decapitated.
"Abortion is murder", the Catholic Church says, and the church has to act according to God's word. Yet, Benedict XVI didn't see any bias giving war mongrel G.W.Bush a podium, to present himself one last time as a man of God in the limelight of the Pope, merely 3 months before the Presidential election. Those children killed in Bush's senseless and criminal wars obviously don't count. It's sad how little born life matters to those who care most about unborn life.
More and more people seem to come to the conclusion that you can be a good christian, may be even a better christian, without attending any church.
Thank God.... Oh wait.
Still, too much of the population tries to force their religion on others. However, this Trinity study is a start.
I am not, in the least, concerned with someone trying to push their religion on me. I'm a big boy and can stand up for myself.
What I don't like is pushing religion onto our public policy.
Exactly.
No one is going to push their religion on me, because I'm just simply not buying what they're selling, period.
That said, my problem is that there is a push to ingrain religion and religious-based policies into our governments and laws, and that is not acceptable.
Without religion we'll have one less reason to kill one another....
It's been reported too that many fundamentalist christians are leaving church, and staying home, as churches don't have anything to say anymore. Prosperity has outgrown the simple gospel message. When ministers and members start to look like the prosperous elite, then something gives. This was prophesied in Revelation, the last church age, Laodicea, where it says, "because you say, (I am rich, increased with goods, and have need of nothing), that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked."
Guess that's why.
"Prosperity has outgrown the simple gospel message".
Really?! Maybe it is time to start taxing churches...
And turning those buildings into useful, productive purposes, like actual shelters for those that are victims of foreclosure!
Average American you are so right. That's my biggest problem with "organized" religion. It's not a question of faith as my reason for not going to church, it's the message that they are preaching. Prosperity preachers, politicians, as well as many, many other groups that call themselves christians yet use the Bible to manipulate and deceive people are the reason people have become disillusioned with church.
Organized religions are social institutions. Just because people are not identifying with any denomination or opting out of the social institutions does not mean they are going heathen.
Of course, this is the real concern of the religious leadership, their attendance wanes and the coffers are not filled. Fewer families raising their children in that churches traditions, proselytization down and they can not afford to pay the bills. They go under financially and become some small sect or cease to exist entirely.
Just because people don't associate with a religion does not make them un-believers. There's no need to associate with a specific religion as long as you believe in Jesus Christ. This is still a country founded on the principle "one nation under God". There is a higher power and the good works we perform here on earth in any capacity will be rewarded. For all of us who appreciate the world God gave us and want to be good stewards of his gift.
"one nation under God" was added to the pledge of allegiance in the 50's, this was not a founding principle of this country.
You have your belief, I have mine.
One nation under god? Not likely....
God is NOT an American.
Reward in the 'afterlife' for doing what you are told in this one is nothing more than spiritual extortion. Ethics are not derived from religion, they are derived from compassion. And you do not need religion, bibles, or prophets to be compassionate.
But please, believe what you want, just leave it out of our government!
"This is still a country founded on the principle "one nation under God"
wrong. the cold war red scare was the impetus for adding christianity to the pledge.
Doubt is not always a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.
I realized that organized religion had no meaning for me when I took a good look at the people in my church (I was 12 or 13).
They weren't happier, or kinder, or more thoughtful, or anything else religion is supposed to add to peoples' lives - than anyone else.
If anything, they were more closed-minded and judgmental than non-religious people I met.
That did it for me. I consider myself to be spiritual, not religious.
15% of people who took the survey admitted to having no religion. However, that percentage would skyrocket if the survey accounted for people who claim adherence to a religion but a) have never read their own religious doctrine and are not familiar with their own religion's tenets, and b) violate the principles of their own proclaimed religion every day.
Just about everyone I grew up with will instinctively blurt out the word "catholic" if asked what their religion is, but I know each one of them well enough to know that they've never read the Bible, and they only enter a church for weddings, funerals, and spaghetti dinners.
I've had friends who were Jewish and each of them has gone through every ritual their religion requires, yet they don't attend synagogue. The Mormons actually have a term for people who were born to Mormons and were raised among Mormons, but don't share the beliefs of Mormons. They're called "Jack Mormons."
If this survey allowed the survey takers a "Jack" option, the number of Jack Catholics, Jack Jews, and Jack Baptists would be very high.
Organized religion is a Ponzi scheme disguised as spiritual experience.
Why have there been so many church murders in the past year? Church is supposed to be a place where people congregate for spiritual renewal.
Hearing the Vatican say that washing machines liberated women and that holocaust deniers can continue to be priests certainly makes one wonder about religious leadership.
I was an atheist until I saw this year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.
Now I can officially say it - "I BELIEVE!!!"
Religion has always been used by the powerful to keep us preoccupied with 1) Gay rights 2) abortion and a woman's right to her body 3) separation of church & state 4) the battle over christmas 5) the right to die 6) censorship 7) stem cell research and whatever incendiary issue they can toss our way to keep us fighting with each other as we are sytematically fleeced. All based on incredible stories invented by bronze age nomads reworked and handed to us by dark age clerics.
I believe that education, reason, compassion, civic responsibility and the application of egalitarian principles for all humanity are essential if we are to grow as a race. we are in this together. That is my religion.
I think the politicization of religion by the republicans has done more to hurt religion than help. When churches align themselves with political parties and demand ideological lockstep they drive people away.
exactly
You are quite correct. We have a strong gay and lesbian outreach at our church, and often it takes a person over a year from the time we first met them at the local Pride festival until they actually have the courage to walk through the door for the first time.
Seeing this, having experienced it myself, it is just about impossible to express how much damage the religious right has done to Christianity. It has driven off people in such numbers and with such conviction that they will never have a faith life because of the religious right. It is so sad to see people that desperately wanted a walk with God to be convinced that they are an abomination in His sight, when nothing could be further from the truth. People just give up all hope because of the lies the right spews.
Right on! Plus I think people confuse belonging to an organized religion with a belief in a spiritual dimension of reality. I am not religious, but am highly spiritual. The man Jesus taught love and forgiveness but by and large the churches that call themselves Christian have all adapted an air of hate of those that don't believe as they do - very un-Christ-like.
Nicely stated!
Very True
I think I know why doc headlined this blog "are americans becoming godless socialists" - because the rightwing neocons are labeling President Obama as a socialist.... once upon a time socialist was equal to communist (still is in Victoria Jackson's mind).... and america's founding fathers didn't design our country as specifically christian, and wisely separated church and state.
Plus he's keeping up with the news...
and probably getting a kick out of our responses. Interestingly enough, no one's coming forward yet as being wholly atheist, agnostic, or fanatical fundamentalist.
In the past almost 20 years, the number of self-identified Christians went from 86% to 76%.
As always, I blame Bush.
lol
me too
Once one declares him or herself as something, whether it's Agnostic, Christian, Muslim, Jew, etc., etc., people who don't fall into that classification start forming opinions about them.
They're a Christian, they must be this way, I know all Muslims are_______, Jews are all_______.
We all judge or at least form some opinion in our mind about what the meaning of a certain group is.
Which is natural, but sometimes we can go overboard, painting all with a wide brush.
On the flip side, once we totally define ourselves as of a particular political, religious, philosophical persuasion we tend to at least partially close our mind to others who aren't like us.
We may be friendly toward "others", but also may harbor the notion, we're better, we're right, they're wrong.
I think people are still influenced by religions, and may take certain aspects of religions to incorporate into their philosophy, but don't feel the need to cling to just one.
While in the past, people got a lot of comfort belonging to a religious group, often it caused problems, wars, and an "I'm right, he's not" attitude. It shut out so many.
I believe people now want to tailor beliefs to what suits them and incorporating, rather than shutting out, those with different ideas. I know people who embrace and study many religions, finding at the heart we're all pretty much alike.
the study isn't surprising, if you developed a means of efficient agribusiness, what's the purpose of a fertility god.
I doubt this is going to lead to the end of religion any time soon, because people will continue to evolve their faith and find a place for it in their lives.
I'm interested in knowing the percentage of Democrats/progressives who have no religion vs. pubs/cons who have no religion.
I would be interested in knowing the percentage of Dem/progressives who have no religion and yet live ethical and moral lives vs. the number of Repubs/cons who have religion and yet their life is riddled with hypocrisy and immorality.
That would be more interesting, but I doubt you could get any reliable stats on it.
I believe that dems/progressives on the whole are more ethical (and 'moral').
Religion is a social institution. People are in and out of churches like clubs and hobbies. I think it is still the case that a majority of people believe in God.
Of course to many Christians this is not really being a religious or a Christian.
We are all apostates, heathens, infidels, atheists to someone else. Too many flavors of Christianity, all arrogantly saying they have the corner on the truth.
Weddings and funerals only for me. I stopped going when the Catholic high school I attended couldn't answer when I asked them how many people had been slaughtered over the centuries in the name of God and religion.
you shouldn't blame them... they just lost count!
As a Christian who belongs to a "Mainline Denomination" (United Church of Christ), I am not at all surprised by these numbers. For too long we mainstream Christians have sat on the sidelines while the more radical "Christians" have created a caricature as to what it means to be a Christian (judgmental, anti-science, anti-woman, anti-gay, victim).
When your message is one of, "you are not good enough for God", pretty soon people start believing it.
Shame on those of us who belong to "Mainline Denominations" for not standing up for the true message of Christ...which is, "Love God with all your heart, and Love your neighbor as yourself". Funny. Not a single word in there about judging others, stem cells, abortion, gays/lesbians or the "war" on Christmas....
One of the books that really changed my life was Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, by Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong. It's really important to know what the Bible actually is - certainly not the "literal word of God" or "infallible" by any means. Rather, it is a library of books written over thousands of years, reflecting the trials and tribulations of Hebrew society. (Ten commandments? Which one. There's two versions! Guess what, they're not a bullet point presentation, either!)
It does reflect what a wise and ancient people saw in God though. The Bible is not the word of God, but it points to God. So do the other faith traditions.
Just something to explore. Take care,
I am a believer but not a participant in the church. I tried for many years until it became political during the Bush administration. My minister would boast of prayer meetings with Bush. I watched the Bush administration going the opposite of the teachings of Christ and finally said enough.
http://www.liberalslikechrist.org/index.htm
Good for you. It takes real courage to leave the safety of the herd.
Two ways to get rich and avoid taxes and avoid jail:
1. Become a politician.
2. Start a religion.
Although down here in the South bibles continue to be thumped, most Southerners don't believe in Santa and/or the easter bunny, so there is hope for the future.
Is it me or have I been reading that 2% of Americans do not belong to any religion?
Though 15% in this study is still low, it makes more sense than 2%.
You have to factor in all the people who said they were religious in case God was listening.
Attendance of the one true church, The northern, deformed, 3rd day visogoths of chitst the geologist is doing very well thank you.
LMAO!!
I'm a proud member of the Third Evangelical Church of Rodney after learning the truth from the words of Larry Niven.
My wife and I are proud Dudeists. :)
An excellent humorous, but deadly serious philosophical fantasy on the subject of religion is the new book "Larry the Penguin Searches for the Meaning of Life." I think it covers everything we need to know about life, its purpose and God.
If I read the article correctly, there are still 34% who identify themselves as "born again" or evangelical. This, IMHO, is disturbing! We have seen in the past 8 years what strict adherence to ideology can do to our government, even with the supposed separation of church and state. The right-wingers hijacked the country and with the help of GWB, forced their agenda on the rest of us.
I was extremely happy to see President Obama sign the stem cell research deal this morning. Now, perhaps, we can return to scientific thinking and common sense research and development of treatments for some of the worst diseases that plague thousands of Americans.
Why should a person need religion to have a relationship with God?
Seems to me that religion comes between a person and God...
The GOP have painted themselves into a corner by heavily relying on the bible-thumpers and the "anglo" vote, two shrinking demographic groups. Welcome to world that is always changing - have to keep up to win.
Its funny the GOP are so xenophobic, yet most new Christians here are Latino and Vietnamese immigrants. Where I live most of the churches around me don't even have services in english. My guess is the gop is very divided on this.
I am glad I was raised Catholic, because sex will always feel dirty...
It appears the surveys about religion increasing during the Bush years were false.
Almost EVERYTHING about the Bush administration was false!!!
I consider myself a poly-atheiest... there are many gods that I don't believe in.
I think we poly-atheiests are the largest demographic out there!!!
The more religion sticks it's nose into running our country the more I abhor their values. I'm thinking that churches need to be taxed if they want to play in the country's politics. Organized religion has become a tool for right wing idealogues and I'll have none of it. For me, it's just being spiritual and try to be good in life.
The Catholic Church is openly supporting the influx of illegal aliens in the Southwest because their numbers have fallen so badly.
Earth is stained with the blood of faith
Of legions slaughtered by pious men
Their seeds of rage and hatred spawned
By deities unquestioned then
From holy scriptures cruel war springs
Compassion withers where gods preside
And common men in faith commit
Ungodly acts of genocide
By laws and reason unrestrained
Zealots pray as cities burn
From deaths unnumbered no respite
From murderous strife no lessons learned
And who will stand with reason's sword
To smite these minions of the Word?
And nature's laws now bring to bear
And cleanse this earth of faith's discord
But now, great faiths again engage
In mindless certitude enslaved
Their tears corrupt the Fertile Crescent
And Civilization's Cradle becomes its grave
er.... right.
1. We all work with one infinite power
2. All we are is the result of what we have thought.
3. Whatever is going on in your mind is what you are attracting
4. We are like magnets - like attract like. You become AND attract what you think
5. Every thought has a frequency. Thoughts send out a magnetic energy
6. People think about what they don't want and attract more of the same
7. Thought = creation. If these thoughts are attached to powerful emotions (good or bad) that speeds the creation
8. You attract your dominant thoughts
9. Those who speak most of illness have illness, those who speak most of prosperity have it..etc..
10. It's not "wishful" thinking.
11. You can't have a universe without the mind entering into it
12. Choose your thoughts carefully .. you are a masterpiece of your life
13. It's OK that thoughts don't manifest into reality immediately (if we saw a picture of an elephant and it instantly appeared, that would be too soon)
14. EVERYTHING in your life you have attracted .. accept that fact .. it's true.
15. Your thoughts cause your feelings
16. We don't need to complicate all the "reasons" behind our emotions. It's much simpler than that. Two categories .. good feelings, bad feelings.
17. Thoughts that bring about good feelings mean you are on the right track. Thoughts that bring about bad feelings means you are not on the right track.
18. Whatever it is you are feeling is a perfect reflection of what is in the process of becoming
19. You get exactly what you are FEELING
20. Happy feelings will attract more happy circumstances
21. You can begin feeling whatever you want (even if it's not there).. the universe will correspond to the nature of your song
22. What you focus on with your thought and feeling is what you attract into your experience
23. What you think and what you feel and what actually manifests is ALWAYS a match - no exception
24. Shift your awareness
25. "You create your own universe as you go along" Winston Churchill
26. It's important to feel good ( ( ( (((good))) ) ) )
27. You can change your emotion immediately .. by thinking of something joyful, or singing a song, or remembering a happy experience
28. When you get the hang of this, before you know it you will KNOW you are the creator
29. Life can and should be phenomenal .. and it will be when you consciously apply the Law of Attraction
30. Universe will re-arrange itself accordingly
31. Start by using this sentence for all of your wants: "I'm so happy and grateful now that.... "
32. You don't need to know HOW the universe is going to rearrange itself
33. LOA is simply figuring out for yourself what will generate the positive feelings of having it NOW
34. You might get an inspired thought or idea to help you move towards what you want faster
35. The universe likes SPEED. Don't delay, don't second-guess, don't doubt..
36. When the opportunity or impulse is there .. ACT
37. You will attract everything you require - money, people, connections.. PAY ATTENTION to what's being set in front of you
38. You can start with nothing .. and out of nothing or no way - a WAY will be provided.
39. HOW LONG??? No rules on time .. the more aligned you are with positive feelings the quicker things happen
40. Size is nothing to the universe (unlimited abundance if that's what you wish) We make the rules on size and time
41. No rules according to the universe .. you provide the feelings of having it now and the universe will respond
42. Most people offer the majority of their thought in response to what they are observing (bills in the mail, being late, having bad luck...etc..)
43. You have to find a different approach to what is through a different vantage point
44. "All that we are is a result of what we have thought" - Buddha
45. What can you do right now to turn your life around?? Gratitude
46. Gratitude will bring more into our lives immediately
47. What we think about and THANK about is what we bring about
48. What are the things you are grateful for?? Feel the gratitude.. focus on what you have right now that you are grateful for
49. Play the picture in your mind - focus on the end result
50. VISUALIZE!!! Rehearse your future
51. VISUALIZE!!! See it, feel it! This is where action begins
52. Feel the joy .. feel the happiness :o)
53. An affirmative thought is 100 times more powerful than a negative one
54. "What this power is, I cannot say. All I know is that it exists." Alexander Graham Bell
55. Our job is not to worry about the "How". The "How" will show up out of the commitment and belief in the "what"
56. The Hows are the domain of the universe. It always knows the quickest, fastest, most harmonious way between you and your dream
57. If you turn it over to the universe, you will be surprised and dazzled by what is delivered .. this is where magic and miracles happen
58. Turn it over to the universe daily.. but it should never be a chore.
59. Feel exhilarated by the whole process .. high, happy, in tune
60. The only difference between people who are really living this way is they have habituated ways of being.
61. They remember to do it all the time
62. Create a Vision Board .. pictures of what you want to attract .. every day look at it and get into the feeling state of already having acquired these wants
63. "Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions." Albert Einstein
64. Decide what you want .. believe you can have it, believe you deserve it, believe it's possible for you
65. Close your eyes and visualize having what you already want - and the feeling of having it already.
66. Focus on being grateful for what you have already .. enjoy it!! Then release into the universe. The universe will manifest it.
67. "Whatever the mind of man can conceive, it can achieve" W. Clement Stone
68. Set a goal so big that if you achieved it, it would blow your mind.
69. When you have an inspired thought, you must trust it and act on it.
70. How can you become more prosperous?? INTEND IT!!
71. 'Checks are coming in the mail regularly'... or change your bank statement to whatever balance you want in there... and get behind the feeling of having it.
72. Life is meant to be abundant in ALL areas...
73. Go for the sense of inner joy and peace then all outside things appear
74. We are the creators of our universe
75. Relationships: Treat yourself the way you want to be treated by others .. love yourself and you will be loved
76. Healthy respect for yourself
77. For those you work with or interact with regularly .. get a notebook and write down positive aspects of each of those people.
78. Write down the things you like most about them (don't expect change from them). Law of attraction will not put you in the same space together if you frequencies don't match
79. When you realize your potential to feel good, you will ask no one to be different in order for you to feel good.
80. You will free yourself from the cumbersome impossibilities of needing to control the world, your friends, your mate, your children....
81. You are the only one that creates your reality
82. No one else can think or feel for you .. its YOU .. ONLY YOU.
83. Health: thank the universe for your own healing. Laugh, stress free happiness will keep you healthy.
84. Immune system will heal itself
85. Parts of our bodies are replace every day, every week..etc... Within a few years we have a brand new body
86. See yourself living in a new body. Hopeful = recovery. Happy = happier biochemistry. Stress degrades the bod.
87. Remove stress from the body and the body regenerates itself. You can heal yourself
88. Learn to become still .. and take your attention away from what you don't want, and place your attention on what you wish to experience
89. When the voice and vision on the inside become more profound and clear than the opinions on the outside, then you have mastered your life
90. You are not here to try to get the world to be just as you want it. You are here to create the world around you that you choose.
91. And allow the world as others choose to see it, exist as well
92. People think that if everyone knows the power of the LOA there won't be enough to go around .. This is a lie that's been ingrained in us and makes so many greedy.
93. The truth is there is more than enough love, creative ideas, power, joy, happiness to go around.
94. All of this abundance begins to shine through a mind that is aware of it's own infinite nature. There's enough for everyone. See it. Believe it. it will show up for you.
95. So let the variety of your reality thrill you as you choose all the things you want.. get behind the good feelings of all your wants.
96. Write your script. When you see things you don't want, don't think about them, write about them, talk about them, push against them, or join groups that focus on the don't wants... remove your attention from don't wants.. and place them on do wants
97. We are mass energy. Everything is energy. EVERYTHING.
98. Don't define yourself by your body .. it's the infinite being that's connected to everything in the universe.
99. One energy field. Our bodies have distracted us from our energy. We are the infinite field of unfolding possibilities. The creative force.
100. Are your thoughts worthy of you? If not - NOW is the time to change them. You can begin right were you are right now. Nothing matters but this moment and what you are focusing your attention on.
"Creationists make it sound like a 'theory' is something you dreamt up after being drunk all night" -Isaac Asimov
"All thinking men are atheists." -Ernest Hemingway
"Lighthouses are more helpful then churches." -Benjamin Franklin
"Faith means not wanting to know what is true." -Friedrich Nietzsche
"I believe in God, only I spell it N-a-t-u-r-e." -Frank Lloyd Wright
"Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest." -Denis Diderot
"The whole thing is so patently infantile, so foreign to reality, that to anyone with a friendly attitude to humanity it is painful to think that the great majority of mortals will never be able to rise above this view of life." -Sigmund Freud
"Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful." -Edward Gibbon
"Not only is there no God, but try getting a plumber on weekends." -Woody Allen
"It's an incredible con job when you think about it, to believe something now in exchange for something after death. Even corporations with their reward systems don't try to make it posthumous." -Gloria Steinem
"The last true Christian died on the cross." -Friedrich Nietzsche
"I would not dare to so dishonor my Creator Go by attaching His name to that book (the Bible)." -Thomas Paine
"The clergy converted the simple teachings of Jesus into an engine for enslaving mankind and adulturated by artificial constructions into a contrivance to filch wealth and power to themselves...these clergy in fact,
constitute the real Anti-Christ." -Thomas Jefferson
"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because if there be one He must approve of the homage of reason more than that of blindfolded fear."
-Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Peter Carr, August 10, 1787
"The Government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion." -John Adams
Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned.
Why does the Vatican have lightning rods?
He is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
~ Thomas Jefferson
A mystic is someone who wants to understand the universe, but is too lazy to study physics.
Organized Religion is like Organized Crime; it preys on peoples’ weakness, generates huge profits for its operators, and is almost impossible to eradicate.
Give a man a fish, and you’ll feed him for a day;
Give him a religion, and he’ll starve to death while praying for a fish.
You can safely assume that you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.
Get a taste of religion.
Lick a witch.
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