America's churches seem to be under siege and losing ground faster than anyone expected. This week was particularly bad: Christian news web sites are full of economic disaster stories right alongside stories about young people leaving churches in droves.Here is just a sample of the top headlines at one Christian news site this morning:
- Crystal Cathedral vendors and what they're owed
- Megachurch Crystal Cathedral Ministries seeks bankruptcy protection
- Top 400 charities see billions less in donations
- Walking away from church ["...conservative politics is a turnoff to more and more young adults"]
Young adults are sick and tired of the extreme right turn that religion took starting in the 1970s. The Christian/Jewish/Islamic anti-gay and social conservatism agenda that so many insist is "God's word" turns our youth off big time. They are still religious but leave the churches behind – which drops them right into the two-generation effect (see Death of Religion is a Two Generation Process?).
And older adults are sick and tired of a seemingly endless stream of sex, adultery and pedophilia. Add the recession to the mix, and things don't look good for America's churches.
My fellow blogger vjack over at Atheist Revolution is more pessimistic. He doesn't expect to see the demise of religion in his lifetime. But I disagree. Every time I look around, the process is accelerating. If you're curious, here are some previous blogs I wrote that were very popular.
- Is Christianity Dying?
- Is Christianity Dying? Interesting New Data.
- Christianity is Dying - The Story Behind Anne Rice's Defection
- Mushy Christians: More evidence Christianity is Dying
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You give me hope. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteHallelujah!
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderful news, but wait until you hear the excuses from apologists.
ReplyDeleteSuch as:
"Jesus was right when he said that there was going to be a great apostasy in the future. He's coming soon!"
Thanks for your continued posts. If we could fill all the empty churches with homless, would there be any people sleeping outside? Or what will come of the churches?
ReplyDeleteChurches are dying, yes. Organized religion is on the decline. But that doesn't mean "faith" is dying.
ReplyDeleteMost of the people I know who subscribe to the 'None' category on their religious forms still believe in God, or the bible, or Jesus, or mysticism, or karma, or some other BS. They just don't believe in churches anymore.
This is a hopeful statistic, though - as once people walk away from the organized religions, it might be easier for them to admit the truth.