Many Americans Mix Multiple Faiths
Eastern, New Age Beliefs Widespread
The religious beliefs and practices of Americans do not fit neatly into conventional categories. A new poll by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life finds that large numbers of Americans engage in multiple religious practices, mixing elements of diverse traditions. Many say they attend worship services of more than one faith or denomination — even when they are not traveling or going to special events like weddings and funerals. Many also blend Christianity with Eastern or New Age beliefs such as reincarnation, astrology and the presence of spiritual energy in physical objects. And sizeable minorities of all major U.S. religious groups say they have experienced supernatural phenomena, such as being in touch with the dead or with ghosts.
One-third of Americans (35%) say they regularly (9%) or occasionally (26%) attend religious services at more than one place, and most of these (24% of the public overall) indicate that they sometimes attend religious services of a faith different from their own. Aside from when they are traveling and special events like weddings and funerals, three-in-ten Protestants attend services outside their own denomination, and one-fifth of Catholics say they sometimes attend non-Catholic services.
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December 15th, 2009 at 2:26 am
Haven’t read the whole article yet. No surprise really. So called “Christian” meditation has recently crept into my own (Catholic) Church and our Priest, an otherwise seemingly conservative guy in many respects, has admitted to allowing and Hindu alter to be set up in our church while performing a mixed marriage service. No doubt, many will simply write me off as a bigot for objecting to these things but I would argue it is they who don’t understand.
Religious pluralism is a belief system for those who don’t understand anything about the core beliefs of any religion. Pluralists think they’re belief is all inclusive when in reality it must so significantly alter the fundamental aspects of all religions in an attempt to make them all fit together as one, that it essentially excludes the core messages of the various beliefs it attempts to incorporate. The pluralist recognizes the fruits of various faiths as being the same (charity, peace, etc) but ignores the often radically different roots that run under the surfaces of the different religions. When some one points out these differences the Pluralist acts like these aren’t important, when in reality, to the adherents of the respective faiths, they are the most important thing of all.
For example, the reason I reject, so called Christian meditation is because it’s creators based it on Hindu/Buddhist spiritual practices. In Hinduism meditation is meant to break down the I/You distinction between the practitioner and the impersonal Universal Soul. Buddhism goes a step further, with the practitioner attempting to extinguish his Ego entirely, achieving Non-Being, which the Buddhists see as the fundamental principle of all reality. For we Christians, the fundamental principle of all reality is God, Being Itself, Who is not just Personal but possess Three Persons. To commune with this God we need not eradicate our Selfhood or lose our Ego in His, rather God elevates our distinct Person-hood. This is why it is said that we are made in his image. I’m not trying to “beat people over the head” with my religion here, I’m merely illustrating a point.
The Pluralist, wants to ignore the incompatibility of these 3 faiths and indeed all other faiths. They will cast people who criticism them as “intolerant” all the while not seeing that rather than reconciling all religions, they have merely created yet another religion and are themselves being “intolerant” of all people who won’t accept it. I would have less of a problem if they would just admit that this is what they are doing.