Because Americans, especially white Americans, are much more secular in general than they were in past decades, a trend that doesn’t seem to be waning. Some may return, but devout Xianity is in decline among whites and the well educated in general, and has been for some time.
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Unfortunately a large part of the Christian church (both Catholic and Protestant) has accepted into itself the secular and humanistic thinking that is within our culture, allowing the culture to influence the church instead of the church influencing the culture. I believe we are now going through some of the same cycle that the Israelites did. Which then tends to cause us to fight inwardly in the church since we are having such a limited impact outside of the church...I sensed some of this as I read through some of the replies to the article.
To my fellow Christians, I will leave you with this...
Matthew 4:19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
It’s the beliefs and the teachings of the Catholic Church which are important. What people receive from it depends on their own attitudes. If the Catholic Church says some particular behavior is wrong, then the ill-informed find it easier to leave the Church than to follow it.
Being Catholic is hard, but it’s worth it. And when people start going on about “antiphons” and musical ability, I wonder what their real beliefs are, and why they need such excuses to lead lives not acceptable to the Catholic Church. And, yet, I know the reason—they have to salve their consciences with made-up excuses.
On another thought, this all began in this country right after WWII, when our men came home, got married, and had children. There was an extreme shortage of houses; people rushed to the suburbs; builders did not leave land for churches; or for Catholic schools, and many children never learned the heart and basis of the Catholic religion. The result? Those same children married eventually and raised more children without any understanding of the religion they THOUGHT they belonged to.
What followed was a shortage of priests and nuns to teach the REAL Church.
Is it any wonder that there are so many people who think that because they were born into a Catholic family that they actually ARE Catholics?
The Catholic Church will always be hated. It’s nothing new. Christ warned us while He was on this earth.
I left the Roman Catholic church for a variety of reasons. Many of them came directly from a bible study class I had taken. The issue of Confession is the main reason. Jesus says to confess our sins to God and honestly repent, and we are forgiven. He does not say confess our sins to another sinner (Priest) and that sinner will deem what is adequate repentence (penance) and absolve us from sin. Only the savior can do that. Secondly, how do catholics know if they are truly forgiven if: A Catholic commits a venial sin and confesses, and Priest gives them one penance, and the next week, the same sin is confessed and another Priest give them a more harsh or lesser penance. How do you know which is adequate for God’s absolution?
The church has become a collectivist promoting institution. It has bought into the “social justice” philosophy. The only area where they have been consistent is on the issue of abortion. On everything else they are out of touch the promote a christian version of marxist philosophy. The previous pope was just as guilty as the current one of it. The American bishopric like the Latin American one is far too influenced by liberation theology.