Atheism!

July 16th, 2022| Topic: RaMbLeS | 0

Gallup’s May 2–22, 2022 Values and Beliefs poll discovered that 17% of Americans do not believe in God.

The good news is that the vast majority of US adults do believe in God, but that percentage, 81%, has slid 6 percentage points down from 2017’s 87%. And it is the lowest it has ever been. In fact, between 1944 and 2011, more than 90% of Americans held to the existence of God.

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
Psalm 14:1

Results were based on telephone interviews conducted between May 2 and May 22 of this year, with a random sample of 1,007 adults, over 18 years old, and living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Interviews were conducted with respondents on landline telephones (25%) and cell phones (75%), in both English and Spanish.

Perhaps it is not surprising that belief in God has fallen among younger adults and those on the left of the political spectrum: these groups registered 10 or more percentage point drops when compared to the 2013–2017 polls.

At least in Psalm 14, the issue is not the denial of the reality of there being a God:

Patrick Miller, Old Testament scholar put it well:

The expression ‘there is no God’ is not an ontological statement …. It means rather that God is not here or God is not present. As if one were to reach into one’s pocketbook and exclaim, ‘There is no money’ …. Or if one were to look into the pantry and say, ‘There is no food.’” In these cases one does not mean to say that money and food do not exist, but that one does not have any food or money.”

The question is whether is God cares at all about the human condition and situation, and if he does, does he care enough to do anything about it. Does God make any difference in life?

Interestingly, of the 81% of God-believers, only 42% believed God hears prayers and intervenes. Only half!

Miller, again:

If God is not present in the human situation, and if God is not powerful and manifests no power to redeem the human situation, then does any claim about the existence of God have any meaning or reality at all?”

Indeed, such people then proceed with life under the mistaken assumption that they are responsible for their own welfare and destiny and can engage in whatever it takes to accomplish those ends. Needless to say, this company may even include believers in God, who act as though deity was uninvolved with them.

Yahweh, He has looked down from heaven
upon humans to see if there is anyone who understands,
who seeks after God.
They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt;
[there is] none who does good, not even one.
Psalm 14: 2–3

About 68% of those between 18 and 28 years are God-believers; so are 80% and more of those over 30 years, though numbers have declined from the last poll for all these groups.

What can we say?

Only this …

God [is] with the generation of the righteous. …
Yahweh is his [the righteous one’s] refuge.
Oh, may the deliverance of Israel come from Zion!
When Yahweh restores His captive people,
Jacob will shout with joy, Israel will rejoice.
Psalm 14:5–7

Notice, this God’s locations: in heaven (14:2), on earth, in Zion (14:5), but most importantly for the believers in God, he is with us (14:5).

And that’s all we need!

SOURCE:
Gallup