Ask Americans what their religion is, and nearly 1 in 3 say this -- none. That’s according to the U.S. adults surveyed by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Mike Dulak grew up Catholic in Southern California, but by his teen years, he began skipping Mass and driving straight to the shore to play guitar, watch the waves and enjoy the beauty of the morning. “And it felt more spiritual than any time I set foot in a church,” he recalled.

Nothing has changed that view in the ensuing decades.

“Most religions are there to control people and get money from them,” said Dulak, now 76, of Rocheport, Missouri. He also cited sex abuse scandals in Catholic and Southern Baptist churches. “I can’t buy into that,” he said.

  • Smacks@lemmy.world
    111·
    9 months ago

    I don’t mind religion, it’s the crazies that use their religion to push hate that are the problem.

    • bob_wiley@lemmy.worldEnglish
      8·
      9 months ago

      I’ve talked to religious people who said their religion was the only reason they didn’t kill people. I’m extremely glad those people have religion.

    • shectabeni@sh.itjust.works
      4·
      9 months ago

      Agreed. I even have found myself thinking over years that some people in my life would have been better off if they had found religion, though I am not myself religious.

    • Zozano@aussie.zone
      2·
      9 months ago

      It really depends on how you’re conditioned. If you consider an aliens perspective, anyone who believes in something so important without good enough evidence are crazy, whether they act like it or not.