This is a pretty good survey of what American’s believe today about religion. The lettuce believe whatever does not clash with Oprah’s fruit salad generation.
Survey: More have dropped dogma for spirituality in U.S. – USATODAY.com
Religion today in the USA is a salad bar where people heap on upbeat beliefs they like and often leave the veggies — like strict doctrines — behind.
There are so many ways of seeing God, public policy expert Barry Kosmin says, that “the highest authority is now the lowest common denominator.”
“Americans believe in everything. It’s a spiritual salad bar,” says Rice University sociologist Michael Lindsay. Rather than religious leaders setting the cultural agenda, today, it’s Oprah Winfrey, he says.
“After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the national memorial service was at Washington’s National Cathedral, conducted by Episcopal clergy. After the 9/11 attack, Oprah organized the official memorial service at Yankee Stadium, and while clergy participated, she was the master of ceremonies.
“The impact of Oprah is seen throughout this survey. She uses the language of Bible and Christian traditions and yet includes other traditions to create a hodgepodge personalized faith. Exclusivism (one religion has the absolute and exclusive truth) has gotten a bad name in America today,” he says.
Political science professor Alan Wolfe, director of the Boise Center for American and Public Life at Boston University, says many people, despite their religious claims, “have no command of theology, doctrine or history, so it’s an empty religiosity.”
