Post by The Arbiter on Mar 14, 2012 16:54:30 GMT -6
***FINDING SIGNAL***
AMERICAN RADIO CHANNEL 93.9 FM. LOCAL STATION WNYC--SUBSTATION OF NPR--BBC FUNDED RADIO
EARLY MORNING COMMUTE SHOW
Hello, and welcome to All Things Considered: NPR's daily news program. I'm Jeffrey Llaine.
And I'm Danielle Michaels. This morning, we'll be talking about European Union accusations toward American trade Embargoes.
Also, we will play an interview with Doctor Phyllis McMaughy, talking about growing secularism in a neo-America.
And later, we'll have an interview with Lieutenant General Jonathan Garza, a Marine Corps Officer, who will give us an inside look at the brewing conflict with China.
This is All Things Considered. It's six oh' three.
To start things off, we will play our pre-recorded interview with Doctor Phyllis McMaughy, an official on Secularist and Atheist ideologies. The interview was done at three-fifteen yesterday, conducted by Marcus White. The interview is an in depth discussion of how radically American ideologies are changing in the face of what is quickly becoming a "politically correct" world, where secularism reigns over traditional religious values.
Marcus: Before we start Doctor McMaughy, I would like to thank you for coming in for this interview despite the death of your daughter recently.
Phyllis: It's fine, don't worry about it.
Marcus: To kick things off, I want to ask, do you have a religious preference or follow a specific ideology?
Phyllis: Uh, yes. I am a Lutheran Christian. I attend church every other Sunday.
Marcus: And does your religion ever conflict with your work?
Phyllis: Sometimes it does, yes. I have to deal with people who are just, well...outright rude or ignorant, and simply try to deny your way of life without a second thought.
Marcus: That must be rather hard.
Phyllis: It can be, yes.
Marcus: Now, what-what is it that is happening with the average American citizen ? Is there a decline in religious belief or- or what?
Phyllis: I...I would say that yes, there has been a sharp decline in religious fervor over the past eight years. You see, me and my fellow researchers started surveying back in two-thousand-ten, picking up on church attendance records and merely surveying people on the internet and street corner walk-ups as to how often Americans were attending church. What we have seen over the past eight years is...this sort of...negative trend in religious practice in America. Back in two-thousand-ten, we measured secularists and atheists to be around fifteen to twenty percent in America. Over the past eight years, we've seen a sharp increase in secularism; about thirty-five to forty-percent of Americans.
Marcus: Wow. That's uh...that's pretty shocking news.
Phyllis: When put in terms of America, yes. But when we compare this trend to the rest of the world- a good example would be France. France has had a strict policy of secularism since the eighties- you can't have religious iconography or preach in a public place these days. In the past few years, that secularism has been kind of spreading around the world, affecting mostly Europe and Northern Asia. What we found was interesting though, was that it had gone pretty much unnoticed in America, when it had been really happening the whole time.
Marcus: And what do you think it was that triggered this large influx of atheism and secularism in the United States and-er-Europe?
Phyllis: Well-I am again referring back to my cohorts-we found that with the rise of "political correctness" and people being pushed toward more "logical" interpretations of existence due to advances in science and technology, essentially led to people just dropping their beliefs and taking up these much more explainable forms of human existence.
Marcus: So you and your fellow researchers believe that people are converting to Secularism and Atheism because they want proof of their existence? Like they want to have a definite purpose for their living?
Phyllis: I can't do more than speculate, but yes. People want a more firm, explainable reason as to why they were born. In other words, it is becoming increasingly hard for people to believe that an omniscient being one day said "poof" (*Marcus chuckling*) and then he made the universe with countless stars and planets, and then decided he would make this funny little world with living creatures made purely for killing each other on grand scales.
Marcus: That is rather interesting. I have one last question before we let you go, and it's kind of a long one, so don't fret. Back in two-thousand-fifteen, there was the Anonymous Riot at the capitol building, in protest to a new law that was being put through Congress to try and ratify a new law, banning open practice of religion in states that wished to declare themselves as secular; which failed of course. Do you think that the Anonymous Riot was just a mass group of online-personalities coming together to arbitrarily protest something that sounded bad, or was this a coherent attempt to prevent the elimination of a constitutional right?
Phyllis: Well, when talking about the group Anonymous, things get sketchy. You're referencing a group of primarily young people from around eighteen to thirty, all coming together with a vague general purpose-
Marcus: But-but didn't the Anonymous group clearly state they were protesting the passing of the law?
Phyllis: ...Yes...Yes I guess they were working to a specific objective.
Marcus: So what do you think? Was this an outcry from the people saying "you're trying to take away what makes America, America", or just a bunch of online hooligans.
Phyllis: I think it was more of an outcry. Some of Anonymous' members are pretty shady, but most of them seem to be working for the same thing now, and that is preventing America from becoming an ultra-conservatist nation at this point. What I found most interesting though about the Anonymous Riot, is that the riot itself was turned into one by armed Police Officers guarding the Capitalist building. The Police, not the demonstrators, were the ones who resorted to violence first; and the result was comparable to Tiananmen Square or the Boston Massacre, depending upon which side you are rooting for.
Marcus: Because people actually did die there. The death toll was something like one-hundred-fifty demonstrators, twenty-officers, countless arrests?
Phyllis: Yes, and what this means for America is that, if the people are willing to risk their lives to stop the spread of Secularism in such a dramatic fashion, we could essentially be looking at a second civil war here pretty soon.
Marcus: So Phyllis, final verdict: do you think secularism is beneficial or harmful to America?
Phyllis: I think it's a little hard to say at this point; but what we know for sure is that if the government tries to mess with it right now, we could lose control of the situation. Right now though, I'd have to say secularism is harmful to America, especially in part due to the Anonymous Riot.
Marcus: Alright, well, thank you very much for coming in Phyllis.
Phyllis: My pleasure. It's been nice being here.
AMERICAN RADIO CHANNEL 93.9 FM. LOCAL STATION WNYC--SUBSTATION OF NPR--BBC FUNDED RADIO
EARLY MORNING COMMUTE SHOW
Hello, and welcome to All Things Considered: NPR's daily news program. I'm Jeffrey Llaine.
And I'm Danielle Michaels. This morning, we'll be talking about European Union accusations toward American trade Embargoes.
Also, we will play an interview with Doctor Phyllis McMaughy, talking about growing secularism in a neo-America.
And later, we'll have an interview with Lieutenant General Jonathan Garza, a Marine Corps Officer, who will give us an inside look at the brewing conflict with China.
This is All Things Considered. It's six oh' three.
To start things off, we will play our pre-recorded interview with Doctor Phyllis McMaughy, an official on Secularist and Atheist ideologies. The interview was done at three-fifteen yesterday, conducted by Marcus White. The interview is an in depth discussion of how radically American ideologies are changing in the face of what is quickly becoming a "politically correct" world, where secularism reigns over traditional religious values.
Marcus: Before we start Doctor McMaughy, I would like to thank you for coming in for this interview despite the death of your daughter recently.
Phyllis: It's fine, don't worry about it.
Marcus: To kick things off, I want to ask, do you have a religious preference or follow a specific ideology?
Phyllis: Uh, yes. I am a Lutheran Christian. I attend church every other Sunday.
Marcus: And does your religion ever conflict with your work?
Phyllis: Sometimes it does, yes. I have to deal with people who are just, well...outright rude or ignorant, and simply try to deny your way of life without a second thought.
Marcus: That must be rather hard.
Phyllis: It can be, yes.
Marcus: Now, what-what is it that is happening with the average American citizen ? Is there a decline in religious belief or- or what?
Phyllis: I...I would say that yes, there has been a sharp decline in religious fervor over the past eight years. You see, me and my fellow researchers started surveying back in two-thousand-ten, picking up on church attendance records and merely surveying people on the internet and street corner walk-ups as to how often Americans were attending church. What we have seen over the past eight years is...this sort of...negative trend in religious practice in America. Back in two-thousand-ten, we measured secularists and atheists to be around fifteen to twenty percent in America. Over the past eight years, we've seen a sharp increase in secularism; about thirty-five to forty-percent of Americans.
Marcus: Wow. That's uh...that's pretty shocking news.
Phyllis: When put in terms of America, yes. But when we compare this trend to the rest of the world- a good example would be France. France has had a strict policy of secularism since the eighties- you can't have religious iconography or preach in a public place these days. In the past few years, that secularism has been kind of spreading around the world, affecting mostly Europe and Northern Asia. What we found was interesting though, was that it had gone pretty much unnoticed in America, when it had been really happening the whole time.
Marcus: And what do you think it was that triggered this large influx of atheism and secularism in the United States and-er-Europe?
Phyllis: Well-I am again referring back to my cohorts-we found that with the rise of "political correctness" and people being pushed toward more "logical" interpretations of existence due to advances in science and technology, essentially led to people just dropping their beliefs and taking up these much more explainable forms of human existence.
Marcus: So you and your fellow researchers believe that people are converting to Secularism and Atheism because they want proof of their existence? Like they want to have a definite purpose for their living?
Phyllis: I can't do more than speculate, but yes. People want a more firm, explainable reason as to why they were born. In other words, it is becoming increasingly hard for people to believe that an omniscient being one day said "poof" (*Marcus chuckling*) and then he made the universe with countless stars and planets, and then decided he would make this funny little world with living creatures made purely for killing each other on grand scales.
Marcus: That is rather interesting. I have one last question before we let you go, and it's kind of a long one, so don't fret. Back in two-thousand-fifteen, there was the Anonymous Riot at the capitol building, in protest to a new law that was being put through Congress to try and ratify a new law, banning open practice of religion in states that wished to declare themselves as secular; which failed of course. Do you think that the Anonymous Riot was just a mass group of online-personalities coming together to arbitrarily protest something that sounded bad, or was this a coherent attempt to prevent the elimination of a constitutional right?
Phyllis: Well, when talking about the group Anonymous, things get sketchy. You're referencing a group of primarily young people from around eighteen to thirty, all coming together with a vague general purpose-
Marcus: But-but didn't the Anonymous group clearly state they were protesting the passing of the law?
Phyllis: ...Yes...Yes I guess they were working to a specific objective.
Marcus: So what do you think? Was this an outcry from the people saying "you're trying to take away what makes America, America", or just a bunch of online hooligans.
Phyllis: I think it was more of an outcry. Some of Anonymous' members are pretty shady, but most of them seem to be working for the same thing now, and that is preventing America from becoming an ultra-conservatist nation at this point. What I found most interesting though about the Anonymous Riot, is that the riot itself was turned into one by armed Police Officers guarding the Capitalist building. The Police, not the demonstrators, were the ones who resorted to violence first; and the result was comparable to Tiananmen Square or the Boston Massacre, depending upon which side you are rooting for.
Marcus: Because people actually did die there. The death toll was something like one-hundred-fifty demonstrators, twenty-officers, countless arrests?
Phyllis: Yes, and what this means for America is that, if the people are willing to risk their lives to stop the spread of Secularism in such a dramatic fashion, we could essentially be looking at a second civil war here pretty soon.
Marcus: So Phyllis, final verdict: do you think secularism is beneficial or harmful to America?
Phyllis: I think it's a little hard to say at this point; but what we know for sure is that if the government tries to mess with it right now, we could lose control of the situation. Right now though, I'd have to say secularism is harmful to America, especially in part due to the Anonymous Riot.
Marcus: Alright, well, thank you very much for coming in Phyllis.
Phyllis: My pleasure. It's been nice being here.