Crisis in American Faith: Christianity is 43 percent of population as Conservative Christianity becomes own religion

[ck4829]

"The most popular religion in the United States is Christianity, comprising the majority of the population (73.7% of adults in 2016)..."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_United_States

Seem to be about 30% of the population, so I think Christianity dropping from 73% to 43% is fair, give or take a little bit.

I mean, let's call it what it is...

* If you white-out Matthew 19:24 but highlight Romans 13

* If you want to call being GLBTQ a sin but ignore the commandment that is, you know, "Thou shalt not steal", something that is held sacred to adherents of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. I actually read that commandment, it does not read "Thou shalt not steal unless thou be rich and powerful". If you can call GLBTQ a sin, but you suddenly shut your trap when people are defrauded by the rich and powerful (Which is... anyone, anyone? ... STEALING), then don't call yourself a Christian, you can call yourself a Conservative Christian, but not a Christian. You outright reject a commandment held not just by Christianity but by other Abrahamic faiths as well, I mean come on.

* If, and going on healthcare, you actually say we have the world's greatest healthcare and we have a "Christian nation", but we pay the most for healthcare. Is it because of that, is it because we pay the most? Jesus healed people for free. You wanna rip the Christ out of your supposed Christianity any other ways while you're at it? Goodness.

* If you have a cargo cult of billionaires, prosperity theology, and Donald Trump.

* If you consider the teachings of Jesus to be "woke"

Then stop calling yourself a Christian, you're a Conservative Christian.

I'm not a super-believer in religion, I'm a critic of organized religion as a whole, but I do believe in something... maybe it's God, maybe it's oneness, I don't know. But I try to respect people who do believe and are respectful of others; Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Bahai, Hindu, etc., and those who do not believe as well and are respectful of others.

You can have money-makes-right, power-makes-right, stick it to the woke, it's not the sin of stealing when the rich do it, cargo cult belief system or you can have Christianity. But not both. So, it is because of this respect and belief for mutual respect that, in good conscience, I can no longer associate Christianity with the Conservative Christianity that has taken root in the American political landscape today.

[keithbvadu2]

1. Jesus was 'woke'

[ck4829]

2. Something I expect Conservative Christianity to do

[Mosby]

3. 80% of Americans believe in God.

90% of Americans celebrate Christmas, a holiday about the birth of Jesus.

Personally I think Christianity appeals to people because of salvation theology, which claims that anyone can be cleansed of their sins if they are really, really sorry and love Jesus.

The rest of us don't buy that nonsense.

[ck4829]

4. And Conservative Christianity appeals to people tho think having money means you are blessed or something

It's argumentum ad crumenam turned into a religion of itself.

[keithbvadu2]

5. Trump's Political Christians are the public face of Christianity in America today.

There are two major groups of ‘Christians’ in our country;

Christians of faith and
Political Christians who praise proud adulterer Trump who does not need Christ’s forgiveness and ridicules Holy Communion.

[ck4829]

6. And they don't have to be though

It's time for every other Christian to stand up, you don't even have to be a Christian to say it, but it's clear that Trump-supporting Conservative Christians have diverged so much from teachings and tenets of Christianity, it's a farce to call them Christians.

I morally can not at this point.

[Mariana]

7. Christianity is as Christianity does.

The majority of Christian voters cast their ballots for Trump three times. In 2024 he got 63% of the Protestants' votes and 59% of the Catholics, according to the exit polls. They are the majority of Christians in the United States. They are the mainstream.

[ck4829]

8. Then one can say they've surpassed Christianity

But, in good conscience, I can not look at them disregarding "Thou shalt not steal" and Matthew 19:24 and see them as Christians, but a whole new religion.

People like Mariann Budde may not be of the majority, but she is not of the new and Republican-biased Conservative Christianity religion.

[Mariana]

9. I don't think you get to decide who's a Christian and who isn't.

And let's not pretend that the Gospels always portray Jesus and being this super nice guy. The stories describe him at times as being racist, sexist, violent, destructive, and as putting his own comfort above the needs of the poor. Examples:

Racist: Matthew 15:21-28, in which Jesus is hateful toward a woman who asked him to heal her child because, he said, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel" and she was of a different ethnicity. He compares her to a dog begging for scraps, and only relents after she grovels enough to suit him, and agrees with his dehumanizing characterization of her.

Sexist: Zero of his disciples were female.

Violent: John 2:13-22, in which Jesus flies into a rage, constructs a weapon and attacks people because he disapproved of their activities on the temple grounds, even though they had permission to do what they were doing there.

Destructive: Same story, in which he vandalizes the place. Also Mark Chapter 5, in which Jesus causes a herd of pigs to run off a cliff and die, after which the locals begged him to leave the area. This might also be a racism story, because the owners of the pigs would have been Gentiles, and "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."

Put his own comfort above the needs of the poor: Mathew 26:6-13, in which Jesus is anointed with very expensive perfume. His own disciples are disturbed by this, and protest that it should have been sold and the money given to the poor. Jesus rebukes them, saying, "The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me."