Dementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously-unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging. It's really not a disease; rather, it describes a group of symptoms affecting intellectual and social abilities severely enough to interfere with daily functioning. The adjective "religious" just adds to the problem!  :-)

What might have passed the "smell test" two thousand  years ago can't get past first base today!

The STODGY explanations about how the universe works, using a geocentric paradigm, as well as many other totally unscientific claims just doesn't work in 2010. With the advent of the scientific revolution, religion came face to face with "think rationally or diminish". Well, some people have gone in both directions. Voltaire wrote, "Men's hearts are cruel because their minds are dark meaning they will continue to commit atrocities as long as they continue to believe absurdities."

So just what are some of those absurdities? I was afraid you'd ask. But for me, here are a few:

>The Garden of Eden was an historical fact as was Jonah living in a fish for three days.
>The sun stood still in the sky.
>When Jesus was crucified, dead men got up out of their graves and went to town.

I'm trying to not be controversial here by not getting into to some of the sacred cows; however, there are many that would disagree with the obvious three above because they see the Bible as a direct word from the pen of God. Everyone needs faith, but blind faith and a total lack of any intellectual credibility doesn't bode well for evangelistic success. One can be both a Darwinian evolutionist and a creationist without any contradictions.

Until religions understand that the Creator gave us a brain for more than just a cranial filler, the future for spiritual growth is not good.

Until religions understand that the Creator is LOVE, and so are we, who needs us- or Him?