How Bad Is It?
Pretty bad. So bad that George Scialabba, writing in The New Inquiry and asking "How Bad Is It?", thinks the fact that seventy percent of Americans believe in angels is a symptom of "our civilization’s decline."
Whatever you think of angels, this is historical ignorance on a pretty stunning scale, since in whatever the earlier golden age from which he thinks we have declined, 95% or 98% of people believed in angels.
Whatever you think of angels, this is historical ignorance on a pretty stunning scale, since in whatever the earlier golden age from which he thinks we have declined, 95% or 98% of people believed in angels.
He also laments the shriveling of church groups. Shouldn't that be a good thing? Might quell all the angel-talk.
ReplyDeleteI don't get it, Gene. How is Scialabba showing his historical ignorance here? His point is apt, by your own admission: Over 95% of people used to believe in angels during the golden age, yet today only 70% of people believe. Clearly, civilization is in decline. ;)
ReplyDeleteGood one, Mike. That's exactly my view, of course.
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