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When I was very young, I was taught that every day is an opportunity to make an effort to be better person. We were all given a conscience and an innate sense what is right and wrong. Understanding and compassion were normal; I didn’t need to be told how to live my life, my goal was always to be a more spiritual person.

I was born into a Catholic family. I was guided by my grandfather and an uncle who were the two finest men I have ever known. Not only did we go to church every Sunday, we attended services on Wednesdays and for many other occasions throughout the year.

By the time I was in high school, I began to have doubts about what I heard from the pulpit. If God loved us unconditionally, why was I hearing threats and feeling fear? I didn’t understand then, but later realized that organized religion made no sense to me. In my studies I learned that all religions were created by men; often for the purpose of controlling other men, and their ambitions to become wealthy and powerful.

The principle reason our founding fathers left England for the New Land was religious persecution. King George III declared that the Anglican Church would be the one true religion in England. When they wrote the Bill of Rights, they believed that the first amendment contained the most important rights and guarantees for the people of America. The beginning of the first amendment was intentional: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

Republicans have violated the first amendment for decades. When they aligned themselves with the Christian religious right lobby, they accepted these fake-Christians as the one true religion. Much of our nation’s division is the result of interference in Washington by this self-serving group. “Hot button” issues including abortion and same-sex marriage should not and would not be “issues” without the interference of these fake-Christians and their employees; the Republican Party.

When I was very young, I was also taught that ‘religion and politics do not mix well.’ When I first read the Constitution, I fully understood the intent of the great men who wrote the law of the land; the document every public official swears to “preserve, protect, and defend.” The truth is that religions restrict individual freedoms and discourage free thought. But there is some good news.

For the first time in American history, questionnaires asking about ‘religious affiliation’ reveal that the category “no religion” had the largest response. If you study our nation and its changes this should not be a surprise to anyone. America is changing, and changing quickly. The primary reason is our nation’s largest voting bloc, millennials. Millennials are less likely to follow the path of their parents and that includes their choice of religion. Diversity and individual thoughts and rights dominate the new and improved United States of America.

This can be called a ‘movement’ which began long ago. I am one of nearly 74 million Americans who reject all organized religion. This group is now larger than Catholics and Evangelicals.

Ryan Burge is a political scientist.

“Religious nones,” as they are called by researchers, are a diverse group made up of atheists, agnostics, the spiritual, and those who are no specific organized religion in particular. A rejection of organized religion is the common thread they share.

“It is the first time we have seen this. The same questions have been asked for 44 years,” Burge told CNN.

I consider myself a defender of the Constitution. I adamantly support the right of every man and woman to choose their faith, but those who choose no affiliation must be equally respected.

Finally, a little history. Religious extremism caused more wars, more deaths, more cruelty, and more misery than anything else in the history of mankind.

Tell your friends: “The Truth Lives Here.”

Op-ed by James Turnage

Source
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/13/us/no-religion-largest-group-first-time-usa-trnd/index.html

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