Posted on 05/12/2015 1:14:52 PM PDT by Michael van der Galien
The last several decades, the Left has done its best to change America’s religious landscape. According to a new Pew study, they’re succeeding better than many thought possible:
"The number of Americans who don’t affiliate with a particular religion has grown to 56 million in recent years, making the faith group researchers call “nones” the second-largest in total numbers behind evangelicals, according to a Pew Research Center study released Tuesday."
Christians are still the majority, but their numbers have fallen from 78 percent to just under 71 percent. The main reason? Increasingly more Americans consider themselves “non affiliated” with any particular religion.
The good news? This doesn’t automatically mean that Americans have become atheists. There is a large group of people who consider themselves to be ‘spiritual’ and who believe there’s likely a God, but who just don’t have a bond with any particular religion.
Sadly, that’s all the good news I’ve got for today:
"Last year, 31 percent of “nones” said they were atheist or agnostic, compared to 25 percent in 2007, and the percentage who said religion was important to them dropped."
In short, there are fewer religious people and those who don’t consider themselves ‘religious’ in the traditional sense are moving towards atheism — fast.
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
>>>Not where I live. Evangelical church that I attend are over flowing.<<<
I have my doubt there is any area that isn’t being affected by a growing segment of non religious: Atheists, agnostics or spiritual but not religious (as I read on a dating site once).
Please share with me where you are from.
That’s good! I wish I would hear that from one of my younger family members.
I don’t know much about Episcopal, but I assume from what you are saying that they are very lenient?
All churches are overflowing in TX. Our population is booming and church plantings are everywhere. Congregations are meeting in schools, storefronts and even sharing with other church space on different schedules. Although along with the good comes the bad: more mosques, Mormon churches and all the rest of the cult religions.
I don’t care about religion.
I DO care about being in right relationship with Jesus.
Thinking that maybe they should be worrying.
I don’t think people have fallen away so much as the church today simply has become another entertainment venue. You get a full rock concert with a small bit of encouragement thrown in for good measure. You don’t even have to find your Bible and dust it off because the Scripture, if there is a mention of any, will be on the projector. And if you don’t like what’s playing at that theatre of religiousity, you move on to the next one, until you give up going at all.
Trust NOTHING that comes out of Pew Research since their intent is to advance liberalism rather than uncover facts which might fail to do so.
I give this headline no credence whatsoever. FReepers are posting anecdotal examples of overflowing churches on Sunday which refutes the thread. Yes, in some blue states secularism is rising where urban liberals own the culture, no big deal there.
Jesus is Lord!
My Catholic Church is filled and we just built it new a year ago!
Plus we have 30 catechumens and candidates this year!
One church in town has so many Baptisms that they have it scheduled for three separate days!
Could be.
**And the Catholic Church in America is losing membership at the fastest pace of all **
Not so.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3289090/posts?page=28#28
**Naw. It’s never time to worry. It’s always time to pray, though.**
Amen.
Also Padre Pio — “If you worry, prayers doesn’t do any good. If you pray, you won’t worry.”
And many other areas which Christianity is attacked from, too:
Knowledge/”reason”. When it becomes its own authority and rejects God.
Technology.
“Reason”-based science, the “Enlightenment”.
Political philosophy, democracy, the American Constitution (with a focus on this world, individual rights, individualism, and “neutrality” on faiths), socialism, communism.
Public education.
Higher education.
Atheism, secular humanism.
Sophistry, moral relativism, situation ethics, gradualism, naturalism, existentialism, the concerns of this life, “got to have it” mentality.
Film and TV.
Literature, both “high” and “low” , young adult, children’s.
Music.
All types of entertainment/diversion.
Obscenity, “coolness,” glorification of sin, adolescence, liberal stereotypes.
Sports.
Personalities. Famous people as idols, their personal “testimonies” for their causes, the public’s illusions of intimacy with them.
The news media.
The “fine arts,” the Renaissance (its elevation/glorification of man).
The structures of modern society. The wage-earning nuclear family. Corporations, business. Community, the global village.
Feminism.
The internet.
Social media.
Alternative media.
Consumerism, materialism.
Advertising.
Comforts and wealth.
Medicine, certain practices and treatments, including abortion, IVF and embryonic stem cell research.
Fixations on physical health, exercise.
Psychiatry/psychology.
Globalism.
Fashion, immodesty, vanity.
Gambling, lotteries.
Drugs, alcohol. Legal drugs.
The wealthy, greed.
Professionalism.
False religion.
The churches. Mainline Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox, evangelical.
Entrenched leadership in Bible-believing churches and organizations.
I’m sure it’s not because Christians are attacking Christians over doctrinal differences.
I would say they're moving more toward an apathetic, 'don't really care' agnosticism than atheism.
Not sure what to make of this. Don't think it has application to everybody. I do admire Padre Pio in so many ways and pray almost constantly but still needed medical intervention to break the ravages of anxiety. Not every emotion is under voluntary control.
I just looked at that and the last part needs to say:
“f you pray, you don’t need to worry.”
Now, that, I have to agree with you. Except for a very few “STREET PREACHERS”, most of today’s churches are playing to the crowd. The object of most of the CHRISTIAN PREACHER, I’m including the CATHOLIC CHURCH are there for the money. So, they don’t say anything so radical for fear of losing their people. Shame on them.
Yep, well said.
Good one.
We've lived in Valley Ranch for 18 years. During that time, we've seen our parish grow from about 1,000 families to over 8,000. St. Ann parish in Coppell is now the 6th largest Catholic parish in the country.
Other denominations have thrived as well. There's an Islamic mosque, but the younger generation shows more of a desire to assimilate. The boys have found out that the cute girls prefer football players.
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