The
Republican Party’s reliance on frothing at the mouth Christian extremists is
turning America’s younger generations away from religion:
The
share of U.S. adults who say they believe in God, while still high compared
with other advanced industrial countries, slipped to 89 percent in 2014 from 92
percent in 2007, according to the Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape
Study.
The
proportion of Americans who say they are “absolutely certain” God exists fell
even more, to 63 percent in 2014 from 71 percent in 2007.
The
trend is most pronounced among young adults, with only half of those born from
1990 to 1996 absolutely certain of their belief in God, compared to 71 percent
of the “silent generation,” or those born from 1928 to 1945.
It’s
not hard to understand the mechanism at play here. Republicans have spent
decades conflating religion and politics. As their politics became more
extreme, so did their religion and as their religion became more extreme, so
did their politics. The GOP is caught in a feedback loop of insanity that they
cannot possibly break out of.
Fortunately
for the country, the craziest preachers and politicians also tend to be the
loudest. They spend every waking moment promising fire and brimstone for anyone
who doesn’t hate the LGBT community, Latinos, poor people, blacks,
Muslims, etc. and they do it at the top of their lungs, drowning out moderate
and liberal religious figures.
The end result is that the younger generation’s
exposure to the religious world outside of their immediate community is to see
just how awful and hate-filled religion in America is. They naturally recoil
from that kind of ugliness, and that’s it for religion for them.
They may not
become atheists, but they won’t touch organized religion with a ten-foot pole
and without the organization to pressure them into conformity, younger
Americans are not going to support the politics of hate.
Fifty
years ago, the Republican Party made a deal with the Devil: They would harness
the power of religious extremism to energize voters by becoming the Party of
JAYzzzzus Christ!
And it worked. For decades, the religious right has kept the
GOP addicted to religion. But, like any addict, Republicans started to need
more and more of it.
And it had to be more radical and extreme to feed the hate
and rage the right thrives on. Now, unless they’ve indoctrinated their kids
since birth, that anger is pushing an entire generation away from religion and
that deal with the Devil? The bill is about to come due.
Author Justin Rosario is a stay at home father and
liberal blogger that enjoys exposing conservative lies, hate and greed. Follow
him on twitter @FilthyLbrlScum