The 4 Gods Americans believe in

[bobbieinok]

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060912/NEWS06/609120444/-1/ZONES01



Septembe 12, 2006

By Cathy Lynn Grossman
USA Today
The United States calls itself one nation under God, but Americans don't all have the same image of the Almighty in mind.

The '4 Gods'

Authoritarian
(31.4 percent of Americans overall, 43.5 percent in the South)>
• How God is seen: Angry at humanity's sins and engaged in every creature's life and world affairs.
• Believers' traits: Religiously and politically conservative, they want an active, Christian-values-based government and federal funding for faith-based social services. About one-third say God favors the United States in world affairs.

Benevolent
(23 percent overall, 28.8 percent in the Midwest)
• How God is seen: Sets absolute standards for mankind but is forgiving, like a father who embraces a repentant prodigal son.
• Believers' traits: More than half (54.8 percent) want the government to advocate Christian values. This group draws more from mainline Protestants, Catholics and Jews and mainly sees a forgiving God. More than two-thirds say caring for the sick and needy ranks highest on the list of what it means to be a good person.

Critical
(16 percent overall, 21.2 percent in the East)
• How God is seen: Has a judgmental eye but won't intervene, either to punish or to comfort.
• Believers' traits: Less likely to draw absolute moral lines on issues such as abortion, gay marriage or embryonic stem-cell research.

Distant
(24.4 percent overall, 30.3 percent in the West)
• How God is seen: Followers see a cosmic force that launched the world, then left it spinning on its own.
• Believers' traits: This has strongest appeal for Catholics, mainline Protestants and Jews. It's also strong among "moral relativists," those least likely to say any moral choice is always wrong. Less than 4 percent say embryonic stem-cell research is always wrong, compared with 38.5 percent in the authoritarian model.

Source: Study conducted by Gallup and analyzed by Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion

[LuckyLib]

1. I fully expected them to be food, fun consumerism, and sex.

(Not necessarily in that order!);)

[Erika]

2. Oh, Geez, back to religion.

When did religion become such a big issue? We left Europe to get away from religion. Now it's in our face every time we turn around.

I am sick to death of religion. It shouldn't play a role in our government. We already have Xtian prayers at government meetings, a paid for chaplain out of my taxes, etc, etc. They/religions have tax breaks for donations, free public service on their properties, et al.

We are picking up their share of taxes while we listen to them bitch and moan whether God, Allah, Mohammed, Christ is the "correct" one to worship and how they are all being persecuted.

They fight wars based on their qualified sense of "morality".

I think our founding fathers had a great deal of sense when they declared this country secular.

[Ediacara]

3. What about the 14% of Americans that don't?

[muesa]

4. Benevolent-Distant Mix

seems to characterize "faith based" Progressives.

[NAO]

5. God, Guns, Gays, Greed. or Reactionary, Religion, Resentment, Racism

The 4Gs (aka "Red Meat") plan to fire up the base.

or...

The more traditional 4Rs:

-reactionary
-religion
-resentment
-racism

Same basic issues, older, more traditional package, but long reliable for firing up the aforementioned base.

Especially effective when used in combination - e.g. Reagan's "Welfare Queens", a slur which invoked resentment and racism, and motivated a reactionary political agenda.