Have You Ever Questioned the Existence of God?

Mother Jones recently reported a poll taken by the Pew Research Center asking voters if they ever question the existence of God. 86% of older voters say they never had while Milliennials (folk born after 1981) drop down to 68% never questioning God’s existence.

Mother Jones reports on this to show a changing base in the Evangelical Christians which constitute 36% of Republican voters. They also point out that younger Christians are turned off by attacks on gays and lesbians and basically more disillusioned with GOP politics. Ralph Reed, an evangelical political activist says it doesn’t mean a thing; youngsters may start out liberal but when they marry and have babies and pay taxes “We’ve got them.”

A couple of things here bother me. First, Evangelical Christians don’t speak for all Christians and all Christians are not Republicans. Speaking for myself I find the law and order, strict interpretation of laws (biblical and otherwise) absolutely counter to the teachings of Jesus who took on those folk (Pharisees, Sadducees and Zealots) of his day. His basic teaching technique, storytelling (parables) encouraged people to think through issues for themselves. And he was most inclusive of people who others excluded.

But what absolutely boggles my mind is that most folk say they never have questioned their belief in God. That amazes me! I can’t think of any religious tenant I hold that I have not questioned, lost faith in, and later either accepted or rejected it based upon biblical study and reason. Naively, I thought most folk were that way.

My conclusion on all this is that most folk today just don’t appear to think much. We seem to be an increasingly non reflective culture. Just give me a good job so I can live well, play a lot, and take care of my own. As for the future…well, who knows? And, that bothers me a lot.

The founding fathers knew that if democracy was to work it needed an educated, and interested and involved populace, voters. They were thinkers and reflectors and questioners who were serious about what government should be and how it should work. The same was true for religious leaders who exercised much more influence at the time.

Today, the voting public seems happy to drink beer, go to ball games and get excited about athletic contests, and watch mind numbing TV that have no real impact upon the world at all. No wonder the money brokers can manipulate the public, they just don’t think much and are myopic in what thinking they do.

The political issues of the day are jobs. But there seems to be little thought about whether the jobs affect the environment, are good for most folk, and have long lasting importance for the overall economy.

In my younger years I used to lose my faith with some regularity, but it kept sneaking back into my believing nature. Fortunately that is less true now, but I still wrestle with faith issues and believe God wants me to do that.

As to my faith in democracy and our current political track, I have little faith. My religious faith is based upon God. My political faith is based upon people. God I trust, people I am less confident about. Perhaps Reed is right, when kids age they just quit thinking beyond immediate needs. If true, that is very sad.