This week on the God Discussion Show: The 'Religion of Atheism,' Deism, the Nones and America's Religious Landscape

The last time that Dr. Paul Serwinek was a guest on the God Discussion show, an hour-long interview barely put a dent into what Paul had to talk about:  religious demographics in America. We're pleased to announce that Dr. Serwinek of the Christian Sociological Society will be joining us this Friday to share more about this hot topic.

A recent Pew Research Center's Forum of Religion & Public Policy survey revealed record-breaking levels of "nones" — that is, those who are not affiliated with organized religion — in America. For the first time in Pew Research Center surveys, the Protestant share of the population has dipped significantly below 50%.

(More about our guest and show follows the show notes.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SHOW NOTES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Show Time: Friday night, November 9, 2012, 6 Pacific / 7 Mountain / 8 Central / 9 Eastern / GMT=Saturday, November 10 @ 2 AM

Call-In Number: 914-338-0452 (or, when show is live, simply push the SKYPE button that appears on the show page.)

To hear the show live and participate in the web-based chat room:  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/god-discussion/2012/11/10/the-nones-our-religious-landscape-with-dr-paul-serwinek

How it works … When you visit the show page (linked immediately above), the podcast will automatically play out of your computer speakers when it is live. A SKYPE button will also appear that you can simply press and connect with the host (if you have SKYPE, that is). A web-based chatroom will be running contemporaneously with the show, where you can post questions and comments.

More info about time zones, the chat room, archive downloads and hosts: The God Discussion Show Page.

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Paul J. Serwinek, Ph.D. – The Rise of the Nones, Christian Reasoning, and Atheism vs. Deism in the U.S. Religious Landscape.

Paul SerwinekThe Pew Forum found that 1 out of 5 adults are no longer affiliated with organized religion, and nearly one-third of young adults under the age of 30 are "nones."  Breaking down the numbers, more than 13 million Americans are self-described atheists and agnostics (nearly 6% of the U.S. public), and nearly 33 million people still have faith, but no particular religious affiliation (14% of the public).

Dr. Serwinek, who will share his insights about the Pew survey, asserts that atheism is a religion. He will also discuss a Christian's reasoning on belief in God, how a true scientific, sociological study must be conducted, and how an Atheist must go about disproving Deism.

Paul Serwinek is a director of the Christian Sociological Society.   He is a retired researcher and consultant in the areas of Human Resources, Business Ethics and Applied Sociology and serves as adjunct professor at a number of Christian colleges in Michigan.  He was an instructor in the Sociology Department at Wayne State University and Management Department at the University of Detroit-Mercy.

Serwinek earned his Ph.D. in Sociology from Wayne State University and his Masters in Business Administration from the University of Detroit.  He is currently a member of and participant in the American Sociological Society and Sociology of Religion Section.  He is the author of Finding Fulfillment – Wisdom for Practical Living (Vision Books, 1997) and The Most Popular Songwriter (Advantage Books, 2009).

talking iconCallers are welcome to join in the discussion, and as always, we will have our web-based text chatroom running.  Hosts for Friday night's talk are Al Stefanelli, Elaine Poole and Deborah Beeksma.

If you miss the show, archives are available about 5-10 minutes after the show and are hosted on BlogTalkRadio and iTunes. There's a BlogTalk Radio widget on the bottom of this and every other page on GodDiscussion.com for quick access.

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  • http://www.facebook.com/jim.davidson.35 Jim Davidson

    "The last time that Dr. Paul Serwinek was a guest on the God Discussion show, an hour-long interview barely put a dent into what Paul had to talk about: Religious demographics in America." I guess I'm left to ponder why it is even relevant what Mr Serwinek has to say about religious demographics in America.

    The reality is: What religion constitutes in America has little both in faith and practice to what has been historically represented as "the religion of Christ." In fact, I'd venture to say that faith in its truest form represented as the faith of Christ [at least the words of Christ filtered down and passed down to us in the form of liturgy and Biblical word] is bereft of any of its original content and purpose in its current practice.

    Christians wander today, no different than the sheep of David. They "feel" something has gone wrong. They instinctively react to their perceived belief in "wrongness" by immediately abandoning their faith towards a faith in secular institutions and Government. They look towards erecting Constitutions in public places as a backbone to buttress the weakness of the Ten Commandments. They work on the principle that God needs a helping hand and that's what government was created to provide.

    Really, if the good Dr wanted to find some meaning in life, true meaning, he would abandon his errant course, his search for religious demographics. To paraphrase Jesus he should "quit polling the dead" and do something meaningful. Maybe wipe the parched lips of a crack baby or become the surrogate father for some kid who's well on his way towards following in the criminal footsteps of his father.

    There are meaningful paths one can follow in life. Maybe the good Dr can find one.

    May the Lord bless and keep him.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000214995854 Holly Bailey

      Why do you assume that he isn't doing something "meaningful"?? People are capable of sharing their knowledge and "doing good"… Maybe you should go out and do somthing meaningful and stop sharing your negative comments!

      • http://www.facebook.com/jim.davidson.35 Jim Davidson

        The fact that I received an unsolicited spam from Goddiscussion warranted a response. I heard him once before. I was unimpressed by both the good doctor and his subject matter. There are far too many worthless people in the religious business. If they did more to follow in Jesus footsteps than try and market their wares based on the Jesus branding the world would be a better place. If you consider that "negative" than maybe you could use a good soul searching.