Latest Release from Screwtape’s Research Department
From research done at Ohio State: “Participating in Religion May Make Adolescents from Certain Races More Depressed”
The key point of the report is found here:
[T]he results suggest that participating in religion at high levels may be detrimental to some teens because of the tensions they face in balancing the conflicting ideals and customs of their religion with those of mainstream culture….
That’s actually a very cogent observation that should catch our attention. The study shows that when adolescents from cultures that tend to be more religiously observant come into contact with modern society, the incompatibility between the two may lead to stress and emotional tension.
What’s wrong with the study, though, is the unconscious blaming of religion for the problem. The researchers unquestioningly assume that if there’s tension when religion and culture come into conflict, religion must be the source of the trouble. It couldn’t possibly be the pornographic consumerist mainstream culture, could it?
September 4, 2008 at 5:24 pm
[...] The Deeps of Time catches a gaffe in a study that attempts to link high levels of participation in “Religion” (note: there doesn’t appear to be any attempt to distinguish between modes and denominations of belief, which would seem to be a huge oversight to begin with) with depression. The study shows that when adolescents from cultures that tend to be more religiously observant come into contact with modern society, the incompatibility between the two may lead to stress and emotional tension. [...]
September 5, 2008 at 8:52 am
I think the world view is at odds with Christians, as well as other religions.
That doesn’t surprise me, as Jesus Christ warns of this, through the gospel.
In America, we hadn’t seen much persecution for Christ’s sake, until the late Twentieth and early Twentfirst Centuries. Now, pastors go to jail in Philadelphia, PA for preaching the gospel; those who follow the Holy Trinity watch, as reference to our Creator is banned from courts, schools and public venue. An entire Chrisetian atmosphere slips gradually away, under skeptic, atheist and other minority protestors.
The international Wahabbi and Al Quedah attacks persecute Christians, other Muslims and other religions to the extent of beheadings.
This violent expressing of Islam, by its minorities, may well become the focal point for world anti religion markets; and then spread to virulent Anti Christ practices, once the Jihad has been limitied.
I think that the End Times may be real, and unfolding around us.