Zone1 Losing their religion: why US churches are on the decline

[Augustine_]

A sad reality in many places. Will new generations live a righteous life without the guidance of a clear moral authority?

Fundies require a threat of eternal damnation before attempting to be a decent human being. Quite telling.

 

[Zincwarrior]

Religious people did a lousy job representing their faith.

Frankly all organizations have been losing members for the last two decades. We don't join associations any more.

 

[norwegen]

Atheism is a religion,

Atheists beg to differ.

But they don't promote hatred, cruelty, and death to those that don't believe as they do.

Plenty of atheist despots have made life unpleasant for a lot of people.

 

[Baron Von Murderpaws]

Atheists beg to differ.


Plenty of atheist despots have made life unpleasant for a lot of people.

Religion is a congregated like-mindedness of people that believe in one specific ideal, making it a gloified, managed organization of that ideal.

Atheists are a religion.

Making life unpleasant is a cavernous difference from making human suffering and human slaughtering in your fantasy characters' names.

 

[occupied]

Religion is a congregated like-mindedness of people that believe in one specific ideal, making it a gloified, managed organization of that ideal.

Atheists are a religion.

Making life unpleasant is a cavernous difference from making human suffering and human slaughtering in your fantasy characters' names.

Some atheists treat it like a religion and are just as annoying and judgemental as an evangelical. The vast majority are just not religious.

 

[jwoodie]

You DO NOT need an oligarcy created policing system, made up of fantasy characters and lies in order to learn or teach morality, honesty, and ethics to anybody!

This sounds more like a description of our public school system than an indictment of Christianity. Do you dispute that a man named Jesus lived 2,000 years ago and was crucified by the Romans?

P.S. I won't bother to ask you the source of morality other than religion, because you have no answer.

 

[shockedcanadian]

This sounds more like a description of our public school system than an indictment of Christianity. Do you dispute that a man named Jesus lived 2,000 years ago and was crucified by the Romans?

P.S. I won't bother to ask you the source of morality other than religion, because you have no answer.

Here is what I've noticed in my life, 99% of the people I've met who have Faith, I mean real Faith, be they Christian, Jewish or Muslim are nicer, more pleasant people than those without Faith. One can argue why this is the case, it seems fairly obvious to me; but that has been my experience.

 

[jwoodie]

Atheism is a religion, so I'd say yeah.
But they don't promote hatred, cruelty, and death to those that don't believe as they do.

Atheism may or may not be a "religion" but its believers (like you) sure do a lot of proselytizing, often through government mandates.

P.S. What religion were Hitler and Stalin practicing when they were killing millions of people?

 

[cnm]

P.S. I won't bother to ask you the source of morality other than religion, because you have no answer.

Morals are community norms. This can be shown by the way different communities have different morals. Valid morals are those which help the community survive and prosper.

 

[cnm]

Here is what I've noticed in my life, 99% of the people I've met who have Faith, I mean real Faith, be they Christian, Jewish or Muslim are nicer, more pleasant people than those without Faith. One can argue why this is the case, it seems fairly obvious to me; but that has been my experience.

Yeah, right. And if they're like you it's because they don't have real faith, right?

 

[sparky]

Religious people did a lousy job representing their faith.

imho, becasue the two have become mutually exclusive.......~S~

 

[shockedcanadian]

Yeah, right. And if they're like you it's because they don't have real faith, right?

What are you insinuating?

 

[Baron Von Murderpaws]

Atheism may or may not be a "religion" but its believers (like you) sure do a lot of proselytizing, often through government mandates.

P.S. What religion were Hitler and Stalin practicing when they were killing millions of people?

Hitler was a Protestant, and Stalin was an Orthodox....but practiced Atheism during his rule.
Again, religion doing its thang.

And you misplace religious brainwashing for me telling facts. Another trait of the illustrious religious cults out there.

 

[occupied]

imho, becasue the two have become mutually exclusive.......~S~

Evangelicals might be the laziest religious people in the world. They ransacked the OT for moral escape hatches to avoid loving their neighbors and still feel righteous.

 

[ding]

A sad reality in many places. Will new generations live a righteous life without the guidance of a clear moral authority?

Losing their religion: why US churches are on the decline

As the US adjusts to an increasingly non-religious population, thousands of churches are closing each year – probably accelerated by Covid

www.theguardian.com

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.

“The closures, even for a temporary period of time, impacted a lot of churches. People breaking that habit of attending church means a lot of churches had to work hard to get people back to attending again,” said Scott McConnell, executive director at Lifeway Research.

“In the last three years, all signs are pointing to a continued pace of closures probably similar to 2019 or possibly higher, as there’s been a really rapid rise in American individuals who say they’re not religious.”

Not to worry. It's cyclical.

 

[metalwolf]

I don't know what planet you've been on, but on THIS one, religion is the bane of humankind.
Murder, rape, pedophilia, theft, lying, cheating, stealing, WAR.......all carried out by the religious "righteous" because there were people that did NOT agree with them......so they were used, abused, or slaughtered.

YOU might want to read some ACTUAL human history books from THIS planet!!!

Don't forget about the Conquistadors of Spain who tried converting all the Incas and killed those they couldn't convert cause they felt it was their duty to make them adopt the Christian faith.

Or the various wars that were fought in the Name of God, like this war that brought Europe down in flames.

Thirty Years’ War

The Thirty Years’ War was a 17th-century religious conflict fought primarily in central Europe. It remains one of the longest and most brutal wars in human

www.history.com

 

[evenflow1969]

A sad reality in many places. Will new generations live a righteous life without the guidance of a clear moral authority?

Losing their religion: why US churches are on the decline

As the US adjusts to an increasingly non-religious population, thousands of churches are closing each year – probably accelerated by Covid

www.theguardian.com

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.

“The closures, even for a temporary period of time, impacted a lot of churches. People breaking that habit of attending church means a lot of churches had to work hard to get people back to attending again,” said Scott McConnell, executive director at Lifeway Research.

“In the last three years, all signs are pointing to a continued pace of closures probably similar to 2019 or possibly higher, as there’s been a really rapid rise in American individuals who say they’re not religious.”

A sad reality in many places. Will new generations live a righteous life without the guidance of a clear moral authority?

Losing their religion: why US churches are on the decline

As the US adjusts to an increasingly non-religious population, thousands of churches are closing each year – probably accelerated by Covid

www.theguardian.com

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.

“The closures, even for a temporary period of time, impacted a lot of churches. People breaking that habit of attending church means a lot of churches had to work hard to get people back to attending again,” said Scott McConnell, executive director at Lifeway Research.

“In the last three years, all signs are pointing to a continued pace of closures probably similar to 2019 or possibly higher, as there’s been a really rapid rise in American individuals who say they’re not religious.”

Well the kids they are not real religious. I on the other hand pray every day. My wifeand my mother made me go to church. My children are grown. My ex wife don't really know where she is don't care. She was an abusive drunk. I know you can relate. I am fishing or hunting on Sunday morning and there is no one to tell me no. Just because they aren't in church does not mean they are not religious. That being said it was not uncommon for me to see church people worshipping jack Daniel's on Friday night and God on Sunday. Kinda turned me off on the church thing.

 

[CarlinAnnArbor]

When people talk about how some mobilised people to war through reloigion, they also forget that people of Faith also fought to end it. When War Mongerers are in power anywhere, they can apply any excuse.

The haters posting in this thread won't even see or comprehend the destruction coming to a nation that abandons God.

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not proper;

 

[CarlinAnnArbor]

Don't forget about the Conquistadors of Spain who tried converting all the Incas and killed those they couldn't convert cause they felt it was their duty to make them adopt the Christian faith.

Do you know ANYTHING about the Incas? Or the Aztecs. God had enough of these violent cultures

 

[GMCGeneral]

Jesus Himself prophesied there would be a great "falling away" before the Tribulation. We are seeing that now.