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Heaven and Hell. God and Satan. What Does America Believe?
By Marc | November 11, 2008
What does America believe in? Is God real? If so, how do we picture the nature of the being?
My personal story: When I was a very young boy, our family went to Mass every Sunday, my sister and I went to Catechism (Sunday school for Catholics), and I never thought much about the existence of God.
I mean I knew God existed, but it was just something ingrained into my mind. The Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) was commonly understood as truth without a doubt. It was impossible for my young brain to even entertain the notion of non-belief.
Later, in high school when my family rarely attended but I was still highly involved in Catholic organizations, I started questioning the beliefs of the Church and God. I couldn’t fathom pain and unfairness in the world if a loving God was in charge. I also saw flaws in Christianity (which, as it turns out, were only my gripes with Catholicism).
This eventually led to my notion that God did not exist. If God did exist at some point, he died long ago or moved on to something else. Jesus was a legend, a lunatic, or a mutant (I read lots of comics in those days). The Bible was the greatest work of fiction man was ever duped by (like the 1938 radio broadcast of “War of the Worlds”).
I had it all figured out. Since God did not exist, I was free to determine my fate after death. I chose to roam the universe. Also, Christians were fools to believe in a magical land in the clouds: pure mind control.
Isn’t it nice to be able to be so in control you can choose your reality?
But although I didn’t believe in the existence of God, and was so sure of it, I knew there was evil. Satan, or at least demonic force, was real as day. I could so blatantly dismiss an all-knowing, all-powerful Creator, but the unexplained and the fear of Hell drove me into a panic. That’s one reason I never went through with suicide: fear it might all be true.
Who or what do we think God is? According to a 2007 survey conducted by the Barna Group, in America:
- 4% believe everyone is God.
- 69% believe that God is the all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect creator that rules the world today.
- 8% believe that God is the total realization of personal, human potential.
- 3% believe that there are many gods, each with different power and authority.
- 7% believe that God is a state of higher consciousness that a person may reach.
- 3% believe that there is no such thing as God.
Today, my belief (and when I was a small boy) would fall into the category of God being the all-perfect creator; the God of the Bible. In high school up until a few years ago, it would be in the 3% of a non-existent God. I enjoy mythology and ancient civilizations, so I knew about polytheism and could at least understand it.
But the other answers (everyone is God, the total realization God, and the higher consciousness God (like Oprah’s following or Buddhism)) were more far out than even I could ever imagine.
What about Satan? Also, from the Barna Group, were some stats on Americans’ views of Satan (in 2007):
- More than half of adults (57%) say that the devil, or Satan, is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.
- 46% of born again Christians deny Satan’s existence.
- Two-thirds of Catholics (64%) say the devil is non-existent and only a symbol of evil.
These numbers simply astound me. The same Bible that teaches God and Jesus also speaks of Satan. Why attest to one but ignore the other when the source is the same?
Is it a fear of punishment or a denial of personal accountability? Maybe it’s easy to look forward to Heaven when the prospect of Hell is taken out of the equation. Is it the same as some atheists saying Christianity is sexually oppressive because it frowns upon sexual immorality and casual intercourse? Deny it because it kills the buzz?
According to the statistics, around half of us who call ourselves Christians don’t even believe what is written in the Bible about the existence of the Accuser. What can be done to change this perception?
As a child, I couldn’t fathom the concept of no God. As a teenager and adult up until a few years ago, I couldn’t see how people could fall for Christianity. Now, I can understand non-belief, unquestioned belief, a convenient spiritual view, as well as a conscious decision to follow Christ.
Perhaps one day I’ll understand belief in the existence of light without shadow to let me know it’s light.
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