Christianity On The Decline In America.

I view this as a good thing. To me, this means that people are realizing that no one actually KNOWS what's out there/what happens when we die/pretty much anything else, so we should be allowed to make our own decisions as to what to believe in, if anything.
If you believe in a god (any religion), and it helps you be a better person in your day to day life, that's awesome! But, that doesn't mean that god/religion is going to help everyone. So, you shouldn't push your religion onto people trying to "save" them, because it might actually end up hurting them. Believe whatever you want, but don't insist on society putting your beliefs ahead of everyone else's. Especially if your belief is in some way trying to hold back/hurt someone who doesn't share your beliefs. And whatever you do, keep it out of politics, separation of church and state is a wonderful thing. Also, keep it out of science, because using a religious BELIEF to prevent science from discovering and using FACTS to help the world is insane.
If you don't believe in a god (or religion), and you're a good person in day to day life, awesome! You don't need religion to be a productive member of society, and that's great. No surprise there. But again, your way isn't the only way to believe, so let people believe whatever they want (as long as it isn't hurting anyone or holding anyone back).
Bottom line: believe (or don't) anything you want, just keep it to yourself. And let your kids truly decide if they believe what you do, rather than forcefully indoctrinating them with your beliefs.

a reply to: ketsuko

There is a good argument to be made that things falling apart in Europe led to mass conversions..

People not happy with the world led by their old gods and deciding to try a new one..


Irreguardless if you charted the fall of the western Roman Empire and the rise of Christianity. The charts would line up beautifully..

a reply to: ketsuko

Well I think we can both agree that conversation to Christianity didn’t do anything to help the western Roman Empire lol..


It wasn’t like converting made things better lol.

a reply to: ketsuko

Also “why the Roman Empire fell”

And

“Why did advancement stop/slow dramatically”.


Are not the same question..


There is no reason why the Roman Empire couldn’t have fallen AND literacy rates and public spending projects couldn’t have increased..


Monotheism could have nothing to do with the fall of the Roman political faction and everything to do with the reaso advancement stopped.

a reply to: pianopraze

I’m not sure I buy that..

I live I MS the conservative evangelical capital of the world and doesn’t reflect my admittingly anecdotal surroundings..


Maybe they are expanding, but not at the same rate as the population growth..

So a church might go from 300 people to 500 people in ten years, but the surrounding area had a population growth of 65% whe the church only had a 40% growth I that same period??


That’s a pretty common “fake study” tactic .

Say “crime is on the rise” , but fail to adjust for population growth.

a reply to: Blue_Jay33

Website that promotes "end of days" investing, "the beginning of the end" etc using stats from a PRRI (Public Religion Research Institute). hmmm

I guess Christianity is on the decline - is this a bad thing?

Morals are moving targets - ethics rarely taught in education.

The decline and social decay of Civilization possibly.

"Rome" will adjust and morph into a post Christian Gaia earth worship.

The accoutrements will change but the Controllers will still pull the strings.

a reply to: TheConstruKctionofLight

The accoutrements will change but the Controllers will still pull the strings.

Unless there is some sort of social step change that my friend is about the top and bottom of it.

All we can do is try to be the change we would like to see.

a reply to: Blue_Jay33

then turns to Wicca,

Wicca is so 80's. Wait till the new gods are beamed straight into the faithfuls heads.

themindunleashed.com...

For seemingly no reason, a document called “EM effects on human body” also found its way into the file that Waltman received, and inside was various diagrams showing how human minds can be controlled remotely using electromagnetic frequencies.

a reply to: Woodcarver

Up until the industrial revolution, religion stifled free thought, expression, and innovation.

Why do you persist in generalities and peddles half truths? Has religion hurt you so badly you resort to fabrications?

The renaissance predated your industrial revolution.

Boyle was considered one of the fathers of the industrial revolution in Europe


en.wikipedia.org...

. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders of modern chemistry, and one of the pioneers of modern experimental scientific method. He is best known for Boyle's law,[7] which describes the inversely proportional relationship between the absolute pressure and volume of a gas, if the temperature is kept constant within a closed system.[8] Among his works, The Sceptical Chymist is seen as a cornerstone book in the field of chemistry. He was a devout and pious Anglican and is noted for his writings in theology.

Still paying attention?

wiki
"The Renaissance was a cultural movement that initially began in Florence, Italy, but later spread throughout Europe.It started around 1350 and ended around 1600. "

a reply to: JoshuaCox

en.wikipedia.org...(historiography)

As the accomplishments of the era came to be better understood in the 18th and 20th centuries, scholars began restricting the "Dark Ages" appellation to the Early Middle Ages (c. 5th–10th century).[6][7][8]

The majority of modern scholars avoid the term altogether due to its negative connotations, finding it misleading and inaccurate.[9][10][11]

The original definition remains in popular use,[1][2][12] and popular culture often employs it as a vehicle to depict the Middle Ages as a time of backwardness, extending its pejorative use and expanding its scope.[13]

Christianity takes over with the concept that god controls everything and humanity is meaningless and all of eutope backslides into the dark ages.. WITHIN A CENTURY!!

And yet Europe was in decline because of Romes bankruptcy. The new religion of Christianity did not have the State behind it till the 5th century.

Religion says we were at our best at the beginning

Which specific religion says this and what beginning?

a reply to: ketsuko

a reply to: JoshuaCox

The Industrial Age didn’t start until governments started going secular as well

Nope. Not true

You can chart humanities advancement step for step with the decile of monotheistic religions in political control.

And yet the ancient Greek Civilization and all the advancements it bestowed in the arts mathematics flourished under a polytheistic environment which predated the monotheism of Christianity and Judaism.


the Father of Algebra - under a monotheistic Islam

wiki
Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi lived in Baghdad, around 780 to 850 CE (or AD). He was one of the first to write about algebra (using words, not letters)

I could keep going - quick run to Neil degasse (sic) Tyson and get up to speed - you're embarrassing yourself.

a reply to: Blue_Jay33


Just believe in whatever crazy thing you want to....

originally posted by: WarPig1939
Jesus Christ while he was alive and on Earth had the answers to all

See that's the point...scholarly evidence points to the fact that he didn't exist. That he was either made up by the Romans, or actually a single personification of several persons to whom many things are attributed. People are wising up to the idea that the bible and other religious texts aren't the works of gods but the works of men.

a reply to: Blue_Jay33

Americans still have a keen interest in spiritual things, but many of them are now attempting to fill that void in alternative ways. For example, it has been claimed that Wicca (a very popular form of witchcraft) is now the fastest growing faith in America.

Perhaps one reason that Wicca is becoming more popular is because of the skyclad ceremonies. Maybe if a few of the more liberal churches starting practicing this, their membership would be increasing.


But in all seriousness, perhaps people are sensing, intuitively, that there is some greater force at work in our world. And this force cannot be satisfactorily defined by our classical religious practices.

-dex

a reply to: TheConstruKctionofLight

Don’t you know what happened in the 1600’s?

a reply to: Blue_Jay33

This article feigns ignorance on why Americans are leaving Christianity. It's obvious. Since the early 2000's, the various Christian sects between Catholicism and Protestantism have been engaged in various high profile scandals that have never been adequately resolved. From pedophilia scandals to protestant mega churches prioritizing money over faith popping up all over the Bible belt or Christian families disowning and throwing their gay children onto the streets. As the world has also exponentially become more connected in this time frame, these things are spread easier and easier among the younger generation and they lose faith. How can a faith that proclaims goodness be SOOO tainted with evil? Where is the divine retribution to clean the corrupt religious ranks? There is none. So people leave.

Then you can't forget politics. Christians have been increasingly tying their faith to right wing politics for the last 25 years or so now. This has all culminated with the religious right throwing their hat in with Trump and alienating liberal Christians. Many on the left associate mean and callous behavior with Christianity now, which isn't what the religion is supposed to represent. Though liberals are helping too, but in a different way. Liberals are embracing alternative religions than just Christianity because this country is supposed to celebrate the freedom of religion. So non-Christians are filling their ranks which further skews the Christian demographic downwards.

However, it's not all doom and gloom either. The Hispanic crowd, especially immigrants, tend to be very fundamentalist and religious. This sect of people could go a long way of rebirthing Christianity into a better lime light in the public eye. It's just a shame that the religious right is making enemies of them right now.

a reply to: Woodcarver

Stop sprouting falsehoods . Rebut my post point by point

originally posted by: JoshuaCox
a reply to: Woodcarver

BWAHAHAHA that is hilarious..


Every atheist is an agnostic..

Because the over all concept of a creator cannot presently be debunked by technology..

The question is “ did any of the worlds religions portray an accurate account of reality in their ancient texts?”

Hell no..

No even close.. every testable claim any religion made has been easily debunked.

Did the whole world flood 10,000 years ago??

Nope..

Did one family incest humanity into existence 10,000 years ago??

Nope..

7 day creation ??

Nope

Dud the universe firm in the order of 7 day creation??

Nope..

Are rape, slavery and murder considered morally acceptable??

Nope..

Could a human survive in a whale??

Nope..

Did Rome require people to return to their ancestral home of 1,000 years before for a census??

Nope..

Every single testable claim religion makes that modern technology can check has been debunked..

Every single one..


Presently they ask you to ignore all of that because only spirituality matters.. because logically it is obviously nonsense.

My position that there is likely no god, is based on a rational evaluation of the overwhelming lack of any good reason to believe that they actually do exist.

That coupled with the vast gods that used to be popular that have fallen by the wayside.

How many of those gods do you Not believe in? What are your reasons for not believing in them? Could those same reasons Be applied to the gods that you do you believe in?

The lack of casting holy spells and not enough mana, and the bad rap that priests have these days is a good reason, let alone the bigotry that brought up with social media an issues these days.

They say Islam on the incline, but I bet it has a high turnover or conversion rate as well, they just don't put those in the statistics.

Then there atheism, and the technological wonders that Satan's coming out with these days to lure the kids from that very pissed off invisible man in the sky. I wonder what's the churches wifi password?