Maybe people are leaving church because they have started asking questions.
Not the kind of questions religion 'asks', which are answers in disguise.
Gallup: U.S. church membership dips below 50% for first time
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Re: Gallup: U.S. church membership dips below 50% for first time
#22first time in 80 years, anyway. for rather more of the 19th century than we think, regular church attendance was more like 35% of the country.
Any source for that?
Re: Gallup: U.S. church membership dips below 50% for first time
#23There's a great discourse in one of Dan Brown's books about whether people leave religion because they have found better answers elsewhere, or because they have stopped asking the questions. Separately, I observed that that the areligious are much more likely to have few or no kids while the religious folks put a much greater emphasis on it. As the secular world moves towards a place where there's no pressure to marr…
There’s out- and inflow, too ((children of) the religious becoming areligious and vice-versa).
I expect those to more than compensate for the religious having more kids, on average.
Re: Gallup: U.S. church membership dips below 50% for first time
#24Re: Gallup: U.S. church membership dips below 50% for first time
#25There's a great discourse in one of Dan Brown's books about whether people leave religion because they have found better answers elsewhere, or because they have stopped asking the questions. Separately, I observed that that the areligious are much more likely to have few or no kids while the religious folks put a much greater emphasis on it. As the secular world moves towards a place where there's no pressure to marr…
> how long before it is once again relegated into a demographic minority?
Many children of religious people are areligous, which is a primary reason how we got to < 50% church membership in the first place.
Re: Gallup: U.S. church membership dips below 50% for first time
#26Now let's tax churches, like Frank Zappa suggested :)
Ehhh Christian churches are some of the largest charitable donators in the world. Unless those taxes are going to the same places to help people I'd vote no. The government isn't going to spend it on things that help people and we know that.
Wouldn't it be similar to corporate tax?
Tax profits, so that any existing donations would be tax deductible?
Re: Gallup: U.S. church membership dips below 50% for first time
#27The spread of information has allowed people to form their own moralistic code and spiritual journey that doesn't rely on having an institutional infrastructure. They are choosing religions that reject elite priesthoods, a trend now going back for thousands of years starting with Zarathustra. I consider this progress.
They have chosen new religions and a new elite priesthood, they just have different names.
Wokeism is the new thing in elite west coast culture. It’s just not officially classified as a religion because it’s less organized
Re: Gallup: U.S. church membership dips below 50% for first time
#28I had a unique experience growing up in a religious family (that is very tolerant and respectful of all world religions) while simultaneously being immersed in Scientology via a private school experience.
The thing that underscores all of my experiences has been hypocrisy. So many people just want to belong to a group, or were raised in it and know nothing better. They don’t practice what they preach.
I can’t help but think the world will be better off when we abolish big religion.
Re: Gallup: U.S. church membership dips below 50% for first time
#29The spread of information has allowed people to form their own moralistic code and spiritual journey that doesn't rely on having an institutional infrastructure. They are choosing religions that reject elite priesthoods, a trend now going back for thousands of years starting with Zarathustra. I consider this progress.
> They are choosing religions that reject elite priesthoods Do you have an example of such in the modern age? I don't really see many people I know "choosing religions that reject elite priesthoods"
This is hard to define as there is ambiguity between religion and spirituality.
Even a subscription to pure scientific worldview is a religion in itself.
Re: Gallup: U.S. church membership dips below 50% for first time
#30The spread of information has allowed people to form their own moralistic code and spiritual journey that doesn't rely on having an institutional infrastructure. They are choosing religions that reject elite priesthoods, a trend now going back for thousands of years starting with Zarathustra. I consider this progress.
> They are choosing religions that reject elite priesthoods Do you have an example of such in the modern age? I don't really see many people I know "choosing religions that reject elite priesthoods"
QAnon?