Are Americans more tolerant then we are led to believe?
A new survey of 35,000 people show that we are more tolerant of other peoples religions, specifically other gateways to eternal life, despite their religion telling them otherwise.
“The survey shows religion in America is, indeed, 3,000 miles wide and only three inches deep,” said D. Michael Lindsay, a Rice University sociologist of religion.
What I find so fascinating about this study is that people seem to practice the opposite than what we are led to believe by the 24 hr talking heads on cable, the pundits or the entertainment industry. This survey seems to be a glimmer of hope to a politically and religiously divided country—at the end of the day we are all just people, parents, Americans, not all that different than each other and open to different ideas.
I increasingly believe that isn’t a new tread, but has been the case for some time. There are many common threads among all Americans, at the end of the day, we are not all that dissimilar from each other in our goals and beliefs. But over the years we’ve seen ideological “wedge” issues exploited to dominate news cycles and boost ratings. But at what cost does it come to average people—other than to possibly create the illusion of a spiritual and political civil war that really doesn’t exist at the gain of others?
Why have we’ve focused so much of our attention toward extremism and absolutes? Because it fits into a sound byte? Because we don’t have the attention span to discuss the issue or share ideas rationally?
My question is what can we do to end it this illusion of cultural division? This study shows us that despite religion, despite living in a more religious red state or a more liberal blue state, we are a lot more tolerant of our others beliefs than we are led to believe. And I’m sure the commonalities don’t stop at just religion.
So how do you spread that gospel?
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