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| The power of the internet is affecting religions. |
During my regular forays into
Florida religious institutions to make presentations on religious history, I
occasionally find priests, rabbis and other clergy in the congregation. Invariably they are attending because they
have doubts about the historical pap they have been fed by their religion.
Religions tend to shy away from
history – as they do from science – because they realize that the factual
information can cause a crisis in faith.
I had one Protestant minister tell me he regularly attended programs
like mine, but didn’t share what he learned with his congregation because they
are in church “for faith, not facts.”
The problem these days is that
the internet doesn’t have a filter. If you
want to find out what research has determined about a particular faith, just
log in. It’s all there. At one time, you would have had to read a
book on the topic – and you are welcome to pick up one of mine – but the same
data is readily available online.
No religious institution can sit
on the facts anymore.
That has led to a crisis in faith
among sincere believers as well as changes in religious attitudes. Various polls have shown how much has changed
since the 1990s when the internet became widely accessible.
For example, less that 75 percent
of Americans now see themselves as Christian, a number that has dropped from
above 90 percent in less than 20 years.
In some regions, like Scandinavia, Christianity has virtually
disappeared.
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| Empty pews are commonplace. |
The last-ditch efforts by arch-conservative
political leaders to impose their limited views on the population -- in North Dakota,
North Carolina and Texas, for example – reflect the growing realization that
they are losing power and support.
The Anglican Church in England
has seen steep declines in attendance and interest. That parallels an international fall off in the
use of Roman Catholic facilities for marriages and other life changes.
At the same time, Americans have
doubled their support of evolution. The number is still below 50 percent, but
increasing knowledge is beginning to shove the percentage higher.
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| King David's palace? |
The growing awareness of both
biblical inaccuracies as well as gaping holes in the fabric of belief has
impacted science as well. Recently, archaeologists
claimed they found King David’s palace outside Jerusalem. No, they didn’t. They found administrative buildings in a
community outside Jerusalem, but none had names attached. They could be connected to King David or to
any other monarch of the time period.
They could even belong to some other culture.
The archaeologists announced the
King David to because they know believers are frantic to find anything that
might “prove” that history supports their religions. So, far, historical findings have only done
the opposite:
There was no Exodus from Egypt,
which is the base of Jewish religious claims; the Gospel accounts of Jesus was
written long after events and not by eye witnesses, so are replete with
multiple factual errors and obvious misrepresentations; and so on.
You can read the supporting
evidence for these claims on the internet with no problems at all.
The Mormons have been
particularly hard hit by the exposure of the real facts. Hans Mattsson, who headed the Church’s
activities in Sweden, ignored information on the internet as propaganda until
doing his own research.
He quickly discovered the real
facts. In a published account, Mattsson
said,” I felt like I had an earthquake under my feet. Everything I’d been taught, everything I’d
been proud to preach about and witness about just crumbled under my feet. It
was such a terrible psychological and nearly physical disturbance.”
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| Death to doubters |
That’s why, for centuries, Roman
Catholic leaders encouraged illiteracy and effectively stopped everyone from actually
looking at the Bible. That’s why those
who raised questions were excommunicated or even burned at the stake.
Nevertheless, the truth does win
eventually. The first translations in
the 1300s began the process of underlining belief. In our time, the internet has greatly
expanded the process.
“I don’t want to hurt the
church,” Mattsson said. “I just want the truth.”
Unfortunately, for all religions,
the truth comes with a very high price for the faithful.
Long-time religious historian
Bill Lazarus occasionally writes about religion and religious history. He also speaks at various religious
organizations throughout Florida. You
can reach him at www.williamplazarus.net. He is the author of the famed Unauthorized
Biography of Nostradamus; The Last Testament of Simon Peter; The Gospel Truth: Where Did the Gospel
Writers Get Their Information; Noel:
The Lore and Tradition of Christmas Carols; and Dummies Guide to Comparative
Religion. His books are available on Amazon.com,
Kindle, bookstores and via various publishers.
He can also be followed on Twitter.
You can enroll in his on-line
class, Comparative Religion for Dummies, at http://www.udemy.com/comparative-religion-for-dummies/?promote=1
