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Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(133,902 posts)
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 03:14 PM Jan 2023

Losing their religion: why US churches are on the decline

Churches are closing at rapid numbers in the US, researchers say, as congregations dwindle across the country and a younger generation of Americans abandon Christianity altogether – even as faith continues to dominate American politics.

As the US adjusts to an increasingly non-religious population, thousands of churches are closing each year in the country – a figure that experts believe may have accelerated since the Covid-19 pandemic.

The situation means some hard decisions for pastors, who have to decide when a dwindling congregation is no longer sustainable. But it has also created a boom market for those wanting to buy churches, with former houses of worship now finding new life.

About 4,500 Protestant churches closed in 2019, the last year data is available, with about 3,000 new churches opening, according to Lifeway Research. It was the first time the number of churches in the US hadn’t grown since the evangelical firm started studying the topic. With the pandemic speeding up a broader trend of Americans turning away from Christianity, researchers say the closures will only have accelerated.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/losing-religion-why-us-churches-090033401.html

101 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Losing their religion: why US churches are on the decline (Original Post) Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Jan 2023 OP
Yep! True Blue American Jan 2023 #1
When it's so, that has to mean they don't know teaching morality Hortensis Jan 2023 #21
I disagree with this genxlib Jan 2023 #42
Finding a substitute wasn't a problem for us. paleotn Jan 2023 #75
We don't need churches to teach morals Happy Hoosier Jan 2023 #52
I'm not religous. Agnostic in fact. paleotn Jan 2023 #68
And moral teachings and understandings do not exist solely in churches. The niyad Jan 2023 #70
Now, THAT first sentence is true and recognizes that there Hortensis Jan 2023 #89
My mother (82 year-old WF) says her church, a liberal Methodist church, Aristus Jan 2023 #2
So are thousands of others. The pandemic made it worse. True Blue American Jan 2023 #25
Yep Rebl2 Jan 2023 #31
Our church lost a lot of younger, more liberal congregants when Ilsa Jan 2023 #40
After years of questioning the retorhic of Christianity I finally just walkingman Jan 2023 #3
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is the cornerstone of all religions Wednesdays Jan 2023 #5
Lol. Mosby Jan 2023 #11
Um, what? Wednesdays Jan 2023 #16
The only TRUE "golden rule.." Archae Jan 2023 #76
Read the Bilble edhopper Jan 2023 #87
"Do unto others" makes fine sense for a species of interdependent primates. Sky Jewels Jan 2023 #20
10 Commandments seems to work. True Blue American Jan 2023 #26
Well, #9's you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Hortensis Jan 2023 #29
If You Don't Love Your Neighbor:) True Blue American Jan 2023 #47
And, of course: peppertree Jan 2023 #54
4 of them are strictly religious in nature... Happy Hoosier Jan 2023 #56
Do you realize how hard it is to carve and carry stone tablets down a mountain? ToxMarz Jan 2023 #73
Yup. Archae Jan 2023 #81
Touche!!! Lol!!! Happy Hoosier Jan 2023 #84
As many people say, Diamond_Dog Jan 2023 #4
I left a couple because they left me! True Blue American Jan 2023 #48
Same for me.... JanLip Jan 2023 #83
Exactly! True Blue American Jan 2023 #91
this can only be a good thing Skittles Jan 2023 #6
That was exactly my thought! -nt CrispyQ Jan 2023 #12
+1 llmart Jan 2023 #18
Amen walkingman Jan 2023 #27
I think it'll be a good thing IF the surviving churches, and new ones, Hortensis Jan 2023 #33
Crystal power is a load of crap, but at least crystals actually exist. Sky Jewels Jan 2023 #96
:) True. And herb gardening has real, proven mental and physical health Hortensis Jan 2023 #99
Yes! I grow some herbs and always get a "scent high" from them when I walk by. Sky Jewels Jan 2023 #100
Yes! PERFECT sense. We have a spot on a path Hortensis Jan 2023 #101
The most visible face of modern Christianity is prosperity gospel, mammon, and politics. keithbvadu2 Jan 2023 #7
This ...... Useless in FL Jan 2023 #10
Yeah, that whole rich man & the eye of a needle thing, & Christ & the moneychangers, & CrispyQ Jan 2023 #13
I saw this cartoon this morning and it made me giggle... Sky Jewels Jan 2023 #24
Thanks. I know a few that I'd like to rapture/vacuum away. erronis Jan 2023 #37
LOL. CrispyQ Jan 2023 #49
Haha mountain grammy Jan 2023 #72
Preparing for the rapture keithbvadu2 Jan 2023 #78
+1 dalton99a Jan 2023 #15
Sickening Rebl2 Jan 2023 #43
It's about effin time.. wish it were in larger numbers, enough to wipe it out of politics msfiddlestix Jan 2023 #8
The beauty we see in Creation phoenix75 Jan 2023 #9
+1 Rebl2 Jan 2023 #34
I'll go along as long as you don't capitalize "Creation" or "Nature" like they are deified. erronis Jan 2023 #39
Permit me to share a passage from "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius.... phoenix75 Jan 2023 #90
+1 SheltieLover Jan 2023 #57
This message was self-deleted by its author Mosby Jan 2023 #14
The so-called evangelicals support a the prejudiced, racist lying POS Republicans. Then you have doc03 Jan 2023 #17
Inevitable, since their invisible sky god never makes an appearance lindysalsagal Jan 2023 #19
This! Now we have to grow up and take care of each other. Biophilic Jan 2023 #55
Such wonderful, wonderful news. Sky Jewels Jan 2023 #22
The old guard in the 1970's warned about this to the Fundies. Xolodno Jan 2023 #23
And in the 1970s, they had no way of knowing that the internet would come along. Sky Jewels Jan 2023 #28
Agree. Altho some might take the "rise of the internet" as an example of the Devil erronis Jan 2023 #41
Conventional churches are probably too cerebral for those Turbineguy Jan 2023 #30
Maybe the rapture happened and these folks were left behind IronLionZion Jan 2023 #32
Yikes! That is something to ponder, isn't it? Lol judesedit Jan 2023 #74
Churches in decline Conjuay Jan 2023 #35
Many were lost to covid. Emile Jan 2023 #36
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin....... Upthevibe Jan 2023 #38
Maybe people are finally actually reading the Bible. HardPort Jan 2023 #44
Reports like this have been out there for years, but I assert that they should be read with caution Algernon Moncrieff Jan 2023 #45
Repurpose churches? How about some suggestions? erronis Jan 2023 #46
There is financial pressure as well genxlib Jan 2023 #50
Spent my first 18 years being force-fed evangelism... czarjak Jan 2023 #51
Good vercetti2021 Jan 2023 #53
Religion and Churches aren't the same thing. Aussie105 Jan 2023 #58
I absolutely do not need religion. NT Happy Hoosier Jan 2023 #59
Are you living your life Aussie105 Jan 2023 #62
Cheers. Happy Hoosier Jan 2023 #63
The humanitarian parts of the Christian bible.... paleotn Jan 2023 #80
The New Testament True Blue American Jan 2023 #92
What Ben Franklin said 303squadron Jan 2023 #60
Turning away from going to church treestar Jan 2023 #61
They have actually... Happy Hoosier Jan 2023 #64
Church, religion and living your life as a Good Person . . . Aussie105 Jan 2023 #67
Four things TlalocW Jan 2023 #65
Excellent! Now those tax-free users of civic resources can be made into something niyad Jan 2023 #66
take away the special tax status, and the shit would disappear all together! stop subsidizing! bringthePaine Jan 2023 #69
Good! paleotn Jan 2023 #71
I do a lot of work gopiscrap Jan 2023 #77
Part of a reson is that as Boomers become unable to attend or die off Warpy Jan 2023 #79
Religion and politics use each other to gain power and wealth. keithbvadu2 Jan 2023 #82
I doubt it will rebound. The internet is letting young people compare notes. Sky Jewels Jan 2023 #98
When religion is weaponized, the eventual casualty is religion. n/t TygrBright Jan 2023 #85
churches have prime real estate... could make good condos BlueWaveNeverEnd Jan 2023 #86
Great news! IrishAfricanAmerican Jan 2023 #88
Preaching the Gospel of the MAGAt King is no longer Roisin Ni Fiachra Jan 2023 #93
Sad Trump-et? Sky Jewels Jan 2023 #97
Simply put EnergizedLib Jan 2023 #94
Explains the roomier pews we've been sitting in. Torchlight Jan 2023 #95

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
21. When it's so, that has to mean they don't know teaching morality
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 04:52 PM
Jan 2023

was an important function performed by good churches. Or perhaps that morality itself even exists -- I don't recall being able to buy a solution to a moral dilemma on Fortnite.

Posting problems on social media where a horribly common response is to abandon family and friends when they become irritating is not exactly an adequate substitute.

Society may not need a deity, but it desperately needs moral teachings and understanding.

genxlib

(6,102 posts)
42. I disagree with this
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 05:25 PM
Jan 2023

Kids can turn out moral without a church upbringing

Kids can turn out evil with a church upbringing.

What is needed is good parenting and the support of a good community. The problem is that many people use church to provide that community. Without church, it is hard to find a substitute for it

paleotn

(21,823 posts)
75. Finding a substitute wasn't a problem for us.
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 06:14 PM
Jan 2023

One of religions greatest fibs is that they're essential for a moral society. As usual, they're full of crap.

Happy Hoosier

(9,445 posts)
52. We don't need churches to teach morals
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 05:37 PM
Jan 2023

Especially when the “moral” behavior they teach often includes denying people basic human rights.

paleotn

(21,823 posts)
68. I'm not religous. Agnostic in fact.
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 05:58 PM
Jan 2023

We have been for years. So you're saying my partner and I didn't teach our brood moral lessons because we don't belong to some religion? Our children are thus amoral? I find that EXTREMELY offensive. You don't need mythological bullshit to teach morality. One of religions biggest lies. Given their track record, THAT'S saying a lot.

The most hateful and immoral people I've ever known in my life are staunchly religious.

niyad

(130,454 posts)
70. And moral teachings and understandings do not exist solely in churches. The
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 06:00 PM
Jan 2023

edifice complex has nothing to do with moral teachings.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
89. Now, THAT first sentence is true and recognizes that there
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 07:35 PM
Jan 2023

is such a thing as moral teachings and understanding.

So many responses. Imo, all illustrate the problem I'm pointing out in one way or another.

Most deny knowing that ANY churches instruct their congregations in morality in daily life. No one looked that one up first.

Most deny that learning is necessary. In THIS world with abundant proof that it is horribly needed available in every direction every day, they didn't look that amazing impression up either.

People vary tremendously in their ability to understand or care about moral issues, and in the way they interpret and experience them. It's like math, music, economics -- most people won't get large parts of it on their own, won't even try. How many of us have wondered about or tested their own level of moral reasoning? Note, we're not talking about how moral we are or behave, but our ability to understand what is moral.

Btw, no one who claims to have had adequate moral teaching explains where it came from. So others will know where to find it. Failing structured attempts by good churches, schools would be the next most likely source, but it's obvious right in this thread that only some do. Failing those, even more hit-and-miss exposures through things like the Boy Scouts, Dear Abby, organized sports (don't let the team down!), movies (the force be with you, there is a dark side... ) and other such, is probably as much close as most Americans come.

You really should wonder about the connection between the normalization of evil and depravity and the general cluelessness that moral principles even exist and should be studied and considered for adoption.

Aristus

(71,868 posts)
2. My mother (82 year-old WF) says her church, a liberal Methodist church,
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 03:17 PM
Jan 2023

is down to fewer than forty people, all of them over the age of 65.

Ilsa

(64,026 posts)
40. Our church lost a lot of younger, more liberal congregants when
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 05:25 PM
Jan 2023

a conservative minister was hired. He got tossed. Ruined the budget with donations down.

Now we have a liberal minister, and conservatives are staying away from worship, although many still go to Sunday School.

We're struggling for the first time in decades.

walkingman

(10,486 posts)
3. After years of questioning the retorhic of Christianity I finally just
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 03:24 PM
Jan 2023

said for me it's over. I always thought it was hypocritical and more of a social club but after 2016 that made it easy for me.

I think religion is a personal choice and that no one religion is the correct religion. My personal religion is "Try to not be an asshole". It's not that hard but admittedly I sometimes fail. No heaven, no hell, no fear of punishment, no guilt, no savior, no one to worship, no one to fear, just try to not be an asshole 😁 And when I fail, as we all do, do your best and try again.

Wednesdays

(21,906 posts)
5. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is the cornerstone of all religions
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 03:29 PM
Jan 2023

And that Golden Rule has been adopted even among the nonreligious.

Wednesdays

(21,906 posts)
16. Um, what?
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 04:30 PM
Jan 2023

Please explain. You think that certain religions promote the belief that you should do nasty stuff to others?


On edit: the original religions, not perversions of it, like the Taliban and Evangelical Fundamentalists.

 

Sky Jewels

(9,148 posts)
20. "Do unto others" makes fine sense for a species of interdependent primates.
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 04:43 PM
Jan 2023

I’m sure that sentiment in some form predates the surviving manmade organized religions by tens and tens of thousands of years. Ape-ish critters like humans and prehumans evolved as highly social beings who can only survive and thrive when they collaborate on gathering and hunting food, creating shelter, watching the children, and the like. IMO, we would have been far better off had we left it at that and not brought the silly supernatural stories into the mix. Too late now though. At least more and more people are rejecting them, which gives me hope.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
29. Well, #9's you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 05:04 PM
Jan 2023

How's that one working these days?

My observation is that a MAJORITY of people are unable to apply it to their own behavior and couldn't comply even if they took a fancy to.

Happy Hoosier

(9,445 posts)
56. 4 of them are strictly religious in nature...
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 05:42 PM
Jan 2023

And there’s some strangely missing commandments. There is no commandment against slavery. Or rape. Or beating the snot out of someone. Odd.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
33. I think it'll be a good thing IF the surviving churches, and new ones,
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 05:17 PM
Jan 2023

are driven to become what they and society need them to be. Not just somewhat better.

Most of those who are leaving churches seek alternative spirituality through things like yoga, positive thinking, crystals, or, very often, load up a spiritual shopping basket with their favorite church dogma to serve in a deconstructed version. Religion will always be with us because many people need it, and that means we need good ones.

Not me, but god help us all when those who do are seeking their spiritual fix from their favorite Tucker Carlson or Bill Maher figure instead.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
99. :) True. And herb gardening has real, proven mental and physical health
Mon Jan 23, 2023, 05:03 PM
Jan 2023

benefits for those who grow their own. Plus culinary and other benefits from some herbs themselves. Herb gardening's wonderful, and that some base alternative woo-woo faith systems around them is hardly their fault.

 

Sky Jewels

(9,148 posts)
100. Yes! I grow some herbs and always get a "scent high" from them when I walk by.
Mon Jan 23, 2023, 05:10 PM
Jan 2023

Nature worship makes perfect sense to me.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
101. Yes! PERFECT sense. We have a spot on a path
Mon Jan 23, 2023, 05:18 PM
Jan 2023

with rosemary on both sides. Cold-hardy variety and one of the things the deer don't touch, it's always a joy.

keithbvadu2

(40,915 posts)
7. The most visible face of modern Christianity is prosperity gospel, mammon, and politics.
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 03:46 PM
Jan 2023

The most visible face of modern Christianity is prosperity gospel, mammon, and politics.



CrispyQ

(40,804 posts)
13. Yeah, that whole rich man & the eye of a needle thing, & Christ & the moneychangers, &
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 04:13 PM
Jan 2023

love of money being the root of all evil, sort of got lost in all the hating on women & gays & everyone else they don't like. I wish their stupid rapture would happen & suck them all away.

phoenix75

(291 posts)
9. The beauty we see in Creation
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 04:02 PM
Jan 2023

and the perfection we observe in Nature gives me more peace and comfort than traditional religion ever did.

erronis

(23,082 posts)
39. I'll go along as long as you don't capitalize "Creation" or "Nature" like they are deified.
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 05:23 PM
Jan 2023

These terms don't belong to some theistic group. They are much more basic than cult words. They try to talk about the underlying "science" of what surrounds us.

phoenix75

(291 posts)
90. Permit me to share a passage from "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius....
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 09:47 PM
Jan 2023

"Constantly regard the universe as one living being, having one substance and one soul."

Peace Love and Joy 🙏

Response to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

doc03

(38,930 posts)
17. The so-called evangelicals support a the prejudiced, racist lying POS Republicans. Then you have
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 04:31 PM
Jan 2023

the so-called legitimate churches covering for clergy that molest kids. I can live an honest life without them.

Biophilic

(6,469 posts)
55. This! Now we have to grow up and take care of each other.
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 05:41 PM
Jan 2023

It does feel like we may have finally out grown our childhood and we're just trying to figure out how to adult.

Xolodno

(7,319 posts)
23. The old guard in the 1970's warned about this to the Fundies.
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 04:54 PM
Jan 2023

Getting into politics, social issues, confrontational evangelism, mega churches, etc. would eventually disenfranchise people. They didn't care or believe it. As the number of converts were up and the coffers were being filled.

There were warning signs about a decade ago, converts dropping off, those identifying as religious but not part of any religion, number of people no longer attending creeping up, etc.

Now its being laid to bare. Irony, their confrontational tactics are now getting more desperate and sometimes police have to intervene as they are blocking public access on busy streets, their "tracts" littering the spaces, etc.

If you ask me, they don't have a way to fix the problem and the situation will only get worse for them.

 

Sky Jewels

(9,148 posts)
28. And in the 1970s, they had no way of knowing that the internet would come along.
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 05:00 PM
Jan 2023

The sharp decline in U.S. religious belief corresponds fairly closely with the rise of the internet. It used to be most Americans lived in areas where others held similar beliefs. They reinforced each other's dogma daily. Now they can just google things like "Is there a god?" and instantly get a range of opinions, many of them "No." They can quickly compare notes and realize that others think that the emperor is buck nekked, too. Religion thrives in darkness and isolation. We're seeing that exposure to sunlight makes it go away.

erronis

(23,082 posts)
41. Agree. Altho some might take the "rise of the internet" as an example of the Devil
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 05:25 PM
Jan 2023

They look for anything to advance their agendas. Most of which revolves around making money and tricking rubes.

Turbineguy

(39,910 posts)
30. Conventional churches are probably too cerebral for those
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 05:11 PM
Jan 2023

fleeing to fundie mega churches with multi millionaire preachers.

Algernon Moncrieff

(5,961 posts)
45. Reports like this have been out there for years, but I assert that they should be read with caution
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 05:28 PM
Jan 2023

The older "mainstream" Protestant churches (Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist) as well as some of the smaller sects have been closing doors. In some cases, it is a result of schisms driving members away over topics like same-sex marriage. The Catholic church has shed members due to the sex scandals. In other cases, it is that towns and neighborhoods have changed. But mostly (as surveys have shown) it's that the traditional services don't appeal to young families. Larger mega-churches hold bigger crowds than their older counterparts, and look more like theaters than what you think a traditional church looks like. They have professional/semi-professional musicians that play contemporary Christian songs heard in most markets on FM stations.

erronis

(23,082 posts)
46. Repurpose churches? How about some suggestions?
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 05:31 PM
Jan 2023

I've seen nice high-class restaurants that I can't afford.

And food distribution sites. Perhaps homeless shelters.

Some clean needle exchanges. Some private sex encounter areas with all the necessary sanitary supplies.

Death With Dignity locations.

Waste storage. Bomb shelters (not very good).

I'm sure there are a lot of uses. But, PLEASE DO NOT ALLOW RELIGION BACK IN!


genxlib

(6,102 posts)
50. There is financial pressure as well
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 05:35 PM
Jan 2023

While a number of sizable mega churches are swimming in money, there is a lot of pressure on smaller churches.

While they have escaped taxes, they are not immune from increasing costs in real estate, utilities, insurance and staffing.

On the opposite side of the table, I think people are finding it harder to turn over huge chunks of money when they are getting by on less themselves

It should also be noted that tax changes have hurt all charities. While nominally still tax deductible, donations are rarely saving on taxes now due to the large standard deduction.

It is hard for small churches to survive in this environment

Aussie105

(7,720 posts)
58. Religion and Churches aren't the same thing.
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 05:43 PM
Jan 2023

Someone can be religious, in the sense of following the humanitarian parts of the Bible, without ever going to Church.

Once organised religious churches turn to politics and teaching against the Bible a lot of people get turned off.

Of course, reports of kiddy fiddling by the clergy and TV evangelicals wanting your money are a turn off too.

Need religion? Yes!
Need Churches? No.

Aussie105

(7,720 posts)
62. Are you living your life
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 05:47 PM
Jan 2023

as a humanitarian?

You are right though; your personal internal moral and social rules and standards need not be confused with religion.
Or labelled as such.

Happy Hoosier

(9,445 posts)
63. Cheers.
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 05:51 PM
Jan 2023

I do my best to make the world a better place. Call it enlightened self interest…. I want to live im a good world and so I must seek to help create one as much as I can.

paleotn

(21,823 posts)
80. The humanitarian parts of the Christian bible....
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 06:24 PM
Jan 2023

are universal truths. No religion is required. If you want to dress it up with fanciful bullshit, that's your choice, but the two are NOT mutually inclusive.

303squadron

(791 posts)
60. What Ben Franklin said
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 05:45 PM
Jan 2023

"When a religion is good, I conceive it will support itself; and when it does not support itself, and God does not take care to support it so that its professors are obliged to call for help of the civil power, 'tis a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one."

treestar

(82,383 posts)
61. Turning away from going to church
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 05:45 PM
Jan 2023

and turning away from Christianity are two different things. They need to research that and not assume.

Aussie105

(7,720 posts)
67. Church, religion and living your life as a Good Person . . .
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 05:57 PM
Jan 2023

Are three separate things.

Just about every religion has the last aspect as a fundamental tenet.

One very old religion predating Christianity was entirely based on that. Zoroastrianism. Worth Googling.

TlalocW

(15,674 posts)
65. Four things
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 05:55 PM
Jan 2023

A lot of the loss comes from younger generations not feeling the church is necessary because
1. They saw the hypocrisy of "loving" Christians as they abandoned everything they gave lip service to to support hateful policies and people - long before but definitely culminating with Donald Trump.
2. The internet - there's no hiding anymore and hoping things blow over. Tangible newspapers and the six-o'clock news can't report on everything - like Catholic and Protestant sex scandals, and commenters often look at things from another angle than journalists.
3. The internet part deux. Being a "NONE" used to be harder before the internet, but finding people like you online is encouraging, and it's led many to step out of the closet and meet in real life.
4. Their gay uncle, lesbian aunt, non-binary cousin, etc. are not the monsters they've been portrayed as.

niyad

(130,454 posts)
66. Excellent! Now those tax-free users of civic resources can be made into something
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 05:56 PM
Jan 2023

productive. One of my favourites in San Diego was a church building that became a very nice nightclub. Locally, a former church building became the offices of our local independent, alternative paper.

Warpy

(114,503 posts)
79. Part of a reson is that as Boomers become unable to attend or die off
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 06:23 PM
Jan 2023

the population of potential church goers is declining. Immigration isn't fixing that completely, as many immigrants are no longer from predominately Christian countries.

While Millennials and Zoomers are generally soured on religion in general because of the horrible mischief that happens when religion plays politics and politics tries to influence religion, attendance might increase slightly when they have kids and those kids want to be able to join their school chums in church youth groups, it happened to unbeliever Boomer friends of mine.

What remains to be seen is whether they go to the big, dazzling showbiz venue megachurches that are big on politics and prosperity theology that makes the preacher real prosperous, or if they opt for the little, friendly neighborhood churches. What I don't expect is any major increase in the number of atheists, few of us are ready to fly without a net.

keithbvadu2

(40,915 posts)
82. Religion and politics use each other to gain power and wealth.
Sun Jan 22, 2023, 06:47 PM
Jan 2023

Perhaps church attendance would not be declining if 'witnessing' for their faith did not include protecting pedophile priests/pastors, supporting sexual predators like Trump and using the faith to gain riches.

But did include "love thy neighbor" more than 'begrudge thy neighbor'.

Pat Robertson, Franklin Graham and their ilk are CBR - Cash Based Religion.

Judas was an early, modern-day, conservative disciple.

Judas got 30 pieces of silver, but just once, for selling Christ.

Franklin Graham, Jim Bakker, Pat Robertson, and their ilk get millions of dollars repeatedly for selling Christ.

Judas was a fool for doing a one-time sale.

 

Sky Jewels

(9,148 posts)
98. I doubt it will rebound. The internet is letting young people compare notes.
Mon Jan 23, 2023, 04:48 PM
Jan 2023

Religious dogma thrives in isolation where people will swallow the same silly stories because everyone they know, including their parents, have swallowed them.

That doesn't work so well in the age of the internet, when people can instantly find out that millions of people are noting that the emperor is buck nekkid.

Roisin Ni Fiachra

(2,574 posts)
93. Preaching the Gospel of the MAGAt King is no longer
Mon Jan 23, 2023, 05:36 AM
Jan 2023

working out for christo-fascist religious charlatans?

The sad trumpet plays...wah, wah, waaah.

Torchlight

(6,514 posts)
95. Explains the roomier pews we've been sitting in.
Mon Jan 23, 2023, 04:18 PM
Jan 2023

First three quarters are always packed, last three pews are fifty-fifty these days making it a sight easier to get in and out. Sure, it's an already small congregation, but in our tiny chapel, even a handful of people can feel stifling on a July morning.

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