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Quote:Christianity has remained at the forefront of the nation's political and social conversations for centuries — but new research shows that could be changing.

A new report by Pew Research Center and the General Social Survey published on Tuesday found that the large numbers of people in the U.S who practice Christianity are declining. The religion's demographic has been dwindling since the 1990s, the report said, as many adults transition to an identity of atheist, agnostic or "nothing in particular."

And? Does this make you feel good or what?

Oh look another commie post....we will get rid of Christianity blah blah blah.

This trend has been evolving for years now. And it is not surprising.

If it were not for the rise of the Hispanic population, the U.S. dip in the percentage of citizens identifying as Christian would be even more dramatic.

And is growing worldwide, even in places like China and the Middle East.

(09-16-2022 07:57 AM)umbluegray Wrote:  And is growing worldwide, even in places like China and the Middle East.

And South America and Africa

(09-16-2022 07:56 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  This trend has been evolving for years now. And it is not surprising.

If it were not for the rise of the Hispanic population, the U.S. dip in the percentage of citizens identifying as Christian would be even more dramatic.

One would think that a savvy conservative would embrace immigration reform to make it easier for these populations to become American

(09-16-2022 08:05 AM)Kruciff Wrote:  

(09-16-2022 07:56 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  This trend has been evolving for years now. And it is not surprising.

If it were not for the rise of the Hispanic population, the U.S. dip in the percentage of citizens identifying as Christian would be even more dramatic.

One would think that a savvy conservative would embrace immigration reform to make it easier for these populations to become American

Actually, that seems to be happening in the Hispanic community anyway. As people see the horrific problems cause by leftist open-border policy they start to get red pilled.


Y'all didn't see that one coming.

Actually Kruciff, that's YOUR problem. You just don't know it.

Figure it out.

(09-16-2022 08:05 AM)Kruciff Wrote:  

(09-16-2022 07:56 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  This trend has been evolving for years now. And it is not surprising.

If it were not for the rise of the Hispanic population, the U.S. dip in the percentage of citizens identifying as Christian would be even more dramatic.

One would think that a savvy conservative would embrace immigration reform to make it easier for these populations to become American

Oh immigration reform = open borders. Silly communist.

I get it... I see on Sundays around where I live ball tournaments and all kinds of activities for kids..

Most of the smaller churches here struggle because there's a megachurch with several branches and they bring in all kinds of people..

We went once.. wasn't our cup of tea. We now go to a smaller church.

(09-16-2022 08:05 AM)Kruciff Wrote:  

(09-16-2022 07:56 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  This trend has been evolving for years now. And it is not surprising.

If it were not for the rise of the Hispanic population, the U.S. dip in the percentage of citizens identifying as Christian would be even more dramatic.

One would think that a savvy conservative would embrace immigration reform to make it easier for these populations to become American

I was so called "taught" by a socialist dush fack at a pretty conservative Catholic grade school that Jesus would have been a socialist on the left and all our parents were wrong.

I sometimes use to wonder why I became more conservative in reality and libertarian in ideology than my parents. Then, I think back on idiots like that who only complained everyone else was in the wrong and never took a look at themselves in the mirror. That dush fack got kicked out years after I graduated for getting too touchy with 10-12 year old girls.

To the Original Post:
Covid IMO is a big portion for this as well. I'm guilty myself of not keeping my faith where I'd like and have been trying to improve on that but that's for God and my concern only. Reason I state that is I'm sure a lot fell into the same thing I did as well.

(09-16-2022 08:28 AM)gdunn Wrote:  I get it... I see on Sundays around where I live ball tournaments and all kinds of activities for kids..

Most of the smaller churches here struggle because there's a megachurch with several branches and they bring in all kinds of people..

We went once.. wasn't our cup of tea. We now go to a smaller church.

I had a similar experience. My family were regulars in the church until the one we attended made a marked change and started becoming, in hindsight, a mega church in the making.

Long story short, my parents and sister practice individually and I left altogether, over the span of about a decade.

--- Young people don't see the difference between theologically liberal & their political beliefs. People see a hypocrisy w/ Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, etc. Not saying hyporicry from conservative theology doesn’t turn people away, but when the biggest faces of the faith are, people see that.

--- Parents were told not to indoctrinate their kids, so the world indoctrinated them instead. Heck, the church I went to growing up didn't teach in their youth programs b/c they were afraid of indoctrinating & had a 'you'll believe if you'll believe' attitude. (The church became theologically liberal over time & eventually closed their doors)

--- As the Democrats continue to embrace secularism, like what OP is giddy about, it will turn believers away from them. I think we're already seeing a shift in Catholics from Democrats to Republicans.

Nobody talks about religion more than atheists.

What we're seeing with changing beliefs is completely natural. The further you get away from the founder of the religion the weaker the faith system will become over time. The religion has to keep evolve with the times in order to stay relevant. There have been several points in history where Christianity was waning until major events will reinvigorate it. I think the fall of the western Roman empire helped to give it a boost due to the loss of the structure provided by the empire. It didn't happen overnight, but when people lose hope in the future due to failures on the secular side then religion can thrive. Also people in Europe who became authority figures utilized Christianity to help stabilize their power over the people. Feudalism and the hierarchy of the nobles was inspired by Christianity - where the people were taught that God "handpicked" his men who he wanted to put in charge and to go against the authority on the ecclesial or temporal sides was to defy God' and his will. There was a tug of war over time that occurred from the Renaissance, Age of Enlightenment and the technological progress that began from the Industrial Revolution up to today. In the U.S., Christianity was waning until the specter of Communism began to rear it's head. The Great Depression was another point where people became more religious and that carried us through the Cold War. I think Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong both inspired the U.S. gov't and citizens to flock to religion as a counterbalance to the spread of communism. It was Eisenhower administration that modified the Pledge of Allegiance to include God in it and our paper money was modified to include "in God we trust".

Since the end of the Cold War and the expansion of international trade - when GATT evolved into the WTO - we've seen unprecedented prosperity across the world compared to prior historical eras. Religion thrives during times of strife and turmoil but not so much in times of plenty.

While I consider myself agnostic, I think many (too many) tie attending church regularly/periodically with being a Christian.

I can count on 1 hand how many times my parents have been to church in my entire life and they still consider themselves Christians. I did the CCD thing and all hen I was a kid, but organized religion is just not for me. Does that make me not a Christian - I dunno?

I think most people assimilate attending services of some kind with being of a certain faith.

(09-16-2022 09:08 AM)Eldonabe Wrote:  While I consider myself agnostic, I think many (too many) tie attending church regularly/periodically with being a Christian.

I can count on 1 hand how many times my parents have been to church in my entire life and they still consider themselves Christians. I did the CCD thing and all hen I was a kid, but organized religion is just not for me. Does that make me not a Christian - I dunno?

I think most people assimilate attending services of some kind with being of a certain faith.

I would agree with that. My parents stop attending the Catholic Church when I was very young because they refused to baptize me unless my dad was at church every Sunday. He worked 3rd shift and his days off were Monday and Tuesday nights. By the time Sunday morning came around he was tired and went to bed while my mom brought my sister and I to church. They were disgusted that they were told that it was more important for my dad to be at church than to be able to provide for his family. It wasn't that they lost their Christian views, it just was an individual church caused them to fall out of attending any more.

I've never been someone who attended regularly. Outside of funerals and weddings, I rarely ever find myself in a church.

(09-16-2022 09:08 AM)Eldonabe Wrote:  While I consider myself agnostic, I think many (too many) tie attending church regularly/periodically with being a Christian.

I can count on 1 hand how many times my parents have been to church in my entire life and they still consider themselves Christians. I did the CCD thing and all hen I was a kid, but organized religion is just not for me. Does that make me not a Christian - I dunno?

I think most people assimilate attending services of some kind with being of a certain faith.

Attending Church, even attending one every Sunday doesn’t make one a Christian. Many ministers from Dr Graham on down have preached on this very subject for decades. Even scripturally, the Parable of the Wheat and Chaff hints at this, as in those mixed in the faithful but are not His

(09-16-2022 08:05 AM)Kruciff Wrote:  

(09-16-2022 07:56 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  This trend has been evolving for years now. And it is not surprising.

If it were not for the rise of the Hispanic population, the U.S. dip in the percentage of citizens identifying as Christian would be even more dramatic.

One would think that a savvy conservative would embrace immigration reform to make it easier for these populations to become American

I don’t think anyone of this board has a problem with controlled LEGAL IMMIGRATION.

Yes, sadly as we leave Christianity in this country we are also seeing it decay right before our eyes. Crime and homicides are rapidly rising.

Just remember Christianity goes hand in hand with morals and law abiding citizens.

I will never understand how folks are ok with believing nothing. To have absolutely nothing to hope for when their entire world falls apart. Maybe this why the suicide rate among Atheists / Agnostics is so high. I’ve been there and I completely understand why people do it. End my life end the pain and sadness.