More proof that religious views vary drastically from person to person; the data comes from a couple different surveys. It seems to me like this is a modification of the God of the Gaps idea. It is intelligent people thinking that it doesn’t make sense for good people to go to hell just because they didn’t accept Jesus Christ; so they adjust their faith and modify it a bit more to make themselves feel better. Why not just get rid of the whole damn faith in the first place? It will save you a lifetime of having to ‘fix it’ so that it can still fit with reality.
Anyway, here is what the survey found:
“Twenty-five percent of born-again Christians said all people are eventually saved or accepted by God. A similar proportion, 26 percent, said a person’s religion does not matter because all faiths teach the same lessons. And an even higher proportion, 40 percent, of born-again Christians said they believe Christians and Muslims worship the same God.
Barna defined universalism as the belief that all human beings will eventually be saved after death. The California-based research and polling firm defines born-again Christians as people who have made ‘a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today, and who believe they will go to heaven after death because they confessed their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as their savior.’”
According to the Barna analysis, 43 percent of Americans in general agreed with the statement “It doesn’t matter what religious faith you follow because they all teach the same lessons,” while 54 percent disagreed.For many evangelicals, the idea of Christians holding universalist ideas is particularly disturbing because it nullifies the need for Christ to die on the cross and the message of Jesus that he is the only way, truth and life.Various research firms have reported different data on the prevalence of universalist beliefs among born-again believers and more specifically, evangelicals.A 2008 Pew Forum survey revealed that 57 percent of evangelicals agreed with the idea that other religions than their own can lead to eternal life. After tweaking the definition of "evangelical," however, LifeWay Research, found that only two out of 10 evangelicals agreed with the statement that eternal life can be obtained through religions other than Christianity.While universalism is nothing new, some believe cultural trends are placing pressure on Christians and their beliefs.Don Carson, research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, said at The Gospel Coalition’s national conference last week that many are feeling pressure from the culture "to find universalism attractive.""There are pressures in our culture to reduce the truth content of Scripture and then simply dismiss people by saying that they're intolerant or narrow-minded ... or bigoted without actually engaging the truth question at all. And that is really sad and in the long haul, horribly dangerous."Barna’s analysis on beliefs regarding universalism and pluralism is based on data from telephone interviews conducted in the OmniPollSM and from Barna Group’s theolographic TM database from 2005 through 2011.
Every time somebody takes a good look at their beliefs, they see how archaic they are and they are forced to either modify them to fit or reject them entirely. If your faith says that you must accept Jesus into your heart to be saved (it says this straight and to the point, not something that is kind of 'assumed') then the fact that you modify this to include good people who don't accept Jesus, means that you conflict with your beliefs! Not in a tiny way, but a drastic way and with a core belief! Why continue to twist the words of the Bible, just to make it seem the slightest bit civilised and praise worthy? Just accept your belief is wrong, lose it, and move on!
Be a good human being because you are a good human being, not cause the bible tells you how to! This will save you a lifetime of trying to justify the atrocities of your religion.
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