The Christian Right Is Helping Drive Liberals Away From Religion

[ronburgundy]

While I consider the decline of religion to be a positive thing, in this case it seems to be because of political affiliation rather than because of critical thinking. I'd think that those who leave religion for such reasons can still easily be taken in by other forms of irrational beliefs.

Political affiliation and critical thinking are not separate things. The GOP is increasingly anti-science in most domains and generally anti-critical thinking and education. Those who value those things will gravitate away from the GOP.
And "political" issues like gay rights stem from anti-gay bigotries that are rooted in irrational beliefs that cannot stand up to critical reasoning. And conservatism is, by definition, anti-thetical to change and progress, which are inherent to science and critical thinking.

Also, the GOP attacks all non-Christians and coerces it's members to at least pretend to be religious. So those outside of the GOP are more free to question and change their religious beliefs w/o being attacked by their political allies.

Yes, there are some who have rejected formal religions for reasons other than applying critical thought to the absurdity of the core beliefs like god, afterlife, etc.. Those folks are likely to get suckered into other nonsense. But in general, a large part of the political divide on religion is tied to a political divide on rational thinking and respect for science and education.

 

[Jarhyn]

While I consider the decline of religion to be a positive thing, in this case it seems to be because of political affiliation rather than because of critical thinking. I'd think that those who leave religion for such reasons can still easily be taken in by other forms of irrational beliefs.

Political affiliation and critical thinking are not separate things. The GOP is increasingly anti-science in most domains and generally anti-critical thinking and education. Those who value those things will gravitate away from the GOP.
And "political" issues like gay rights stem from anti-gay bigotries that are rooted in irrational beliefs that cannot stand up to critical reasoning. And conservatism is, by definition, anti-thetical to change and progress, which are inherent to science and critical thinking.

Also, the GOP attacks all non-Christians and coerces it's members to at least pretend to be religious. So those outside of the GOP are more free to question and change their religious beliefs w/o being attacked by their political allies.

Yes, there are some who have rejected formal religions for reasons other than applying critical thought to the absurdity of the core beliefs like god, afterlife, etc.. Those folks are likely to get suckered into other nonsense. But in general, a large part of the political divide on religion is tied to a political divide on rational thinking and respect for science and education.

It all comes down to the fact that doubt is the foundation of all progress towards greater knowledge, particularly doubt founded upon observation; to trust, but verify.

Conservatism is founded on "Trust. Never doubt."

Conservatism is not a position favored by reality.