Thanks for this Brendan! I love finding an article the title of which is a statement that I agree with 100%, and which makes a point I have been trying to get across to people for 50 years.
The country that I always use to make this point is the UK. Growing up here in the 50s and 60s, my lived experience was Church of England hymns, prayers, and Bible readings every day of the school week, an experienced shared with every English child who attended a state-funded school back then. I think that turned a lot of future parents into non-believers. Today, only about 5–10% of Brits attend religious services weekly. For the CoE it’s way lower (1–2%).
Personally-speaking, I grew up in Hearsall Baptist Church, Coventry, a non-Anglican “free church” that was so theologically liberal, one minister encouraged me to explore my adolescent interest in Eastern religion. That minister was Russell Aldwinckle, the late professor of theology at McMaster Divinity College. I went on to get my BA in comparative religion at the University of Leeds and then study philosophy of religion as a postgraduate teaching assistant at McMaster. To this day I remain unchristened, unbaptized, and agnostic.
Government support for religion doesn’t necessarily make a nation more spiritual or united — faith should be a personal choice, not influenced by politics or funding. True belief thrives through freedom and mutual respect, not enforcement. When individuals have the liberty to choose their own values, society grows stronger and more balanced. Similarly, digital platforms like this website http://sportzfyapk.online/ empower people with freedom of choice — offering access to sports and entertainment anytime, anywhere, without restrictions.
Thanks for this Brendan! I love finding an article the title of which is a statement that I agree with 100%, and which makes a point I have been trying to get across to people for 50 years.
The country that I always use to make this point is the UK. Growing up here in the 50s and 60s, my lived experience was Church of England hymns, prayers, and Bible readings every day of the school week, an experienced shared with every English child who attended a state-funded school back then. I think that turned a lot of future parents into non-believers. Today, only about 5–10% of Brits attend religious services weekly. For the CoE it’s way lower (1–2%).
Personally-speaking, I grew up in Hearsall Baptist Church, Coventry, a non-Anglican “free church” that was so theologically liberal, one minister encouraged me to explore my adolescent interest in Eastern religion. That minister was Russell Aldwinckle, the late professor of theology at McMaster Divinity College. I went on to get my BA in comparative religion at the University of Leeds and then study philosophy of religion as a postgraduate teaching assistant at McMaster. To this day I remain unchristened, unbaptized, and agnostic.
Exactly.
They will have only themselves to blame as young red state children grow up to associate religion with incompetent and malicious government.
Government support for religion doesn’t necessarily make a nation more spiritual or united — faith should be a personal choice, not influenced by politics or funding. True belief thrives through freedom and mutual respect, not enforcement. When individuals have the liberty to choose their own values, society grows stronger and more balanced. Similarly, digital platforms like this website http://sportzfyapk.online/ empower people with freedom of choice — offering access to sports and entertainment anytime, anywhere, without restrictions.