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Eh. I consider myself spiritual but not religious because I don't practice any specific religion, but I do believe in God, I pray, etc. So, it doesn't worry me that much that people may shun organized religions.

When organized religion replaces biblical truths with teaching "anything goes" people have no reason to believe anything except "anything goes" which is what makes them feel good so there is no longer a need to be religious or belong to a religious group. IE. many or the mainstream religious bodies today stand for nothing except what is politically popular or PC. People look for absolutes, something they can hang their hat on so to speak and many religions, denominations, or what have you don't offer any absolute values.

You know, I wrote to the pastor at my wife's church on this very subject last night. I'll try and get a copy of that note posted here tonight... in case anyone is interested. I expect I'll get it on-line from my home computer after 8:00.

Terry Tempest Williams wrote a book called "Pieces of White Shell" and told of her attempt to assimilate Navajo stories into her life. She said "I am not suggesting we emulate Native Peoples -- in this case the Navajo. We can't. We are not Navajo. Besides, their traditional stories don't work for us. It's like drinking another man's medicine. ... We must create and find our own stories, our own myths, with symbols that will bind us to the world as we see it today."

I read this and thought of how Christians today keep looking to the myths of the ancient Jews, and trying to fit their stories into an age of industrialization, technology, space travel. I wonder if this is one reason that the Christian religion is in such a state of flux... some people realize that it is medicine that worked for a far distant time. Others still want to bang the square peg into a round hole (shifting metaphors), refusing to see that it really doesn't fit, despite the centuries spent trying to keep the hole square.

Mind you, I don't deny that there are pieces of the old myth that still are useful... parts that address the universal issues of human nature, the same as other religions do. But as Jefferson saw, there's a lot that it would be best to chuck out.

Eric,

I think you made a lot of interesting points and I can appreciate your opinion that the Bible does not directly address all of the modern issues we face today due to technology and other similar concerns. However, I still look to the Bible as the basis for my beliefs. It is my compass and guides me in a world filled with amibiguities. I majored in Literature and have read and studied a variety of pieces from around the world. Even so, these stories do not affect my life the way the Bible does. I do not always understand it, but I still know it is the answer. It's called faith and there's no way to intellectualize it or attempt to explain it. I know from your link how you may feel about this. My answer is simply this, I Believe.

"Even so, these stories do not affect my life the way the Bible does. I do not always understand it, but I still know it is the answer."

I think it's always a mistake, in this complex thing we call "life" to think that there is only one possible answer.

"It's called faith and there's no way to intellectualize it or attempt to explain it."

Actually, there is a book that explains "faith" pretty thoroughly. Far more completely than I would have imagined. It is called "Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origin of Religious Thought." I thoroughly recommend it to everyone interested in the question of how most people come to believe in the supernatural.