Why Christianity is dying in the U.S.

[pcm92]

Why do you think it is dying? Does it stand a chance of coming back?

[inthesky]

It isn't "dying." Yes, most of population polled (especially evident in the younger generations) have no religious affiliation, but it isn't dying by any means. Organized religion, especially Christianity and its variants, continues to have relevance as a community focal point and often informs political dialogues and personal beliefs.

See this:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/10/08/nones-protestant-religion-pew/1618445/

Fairly small sample size for what we're talking about but it's still relevant. Study was conducted by Pew, which is a not totally bogus research group

For what it's worth, I identify as atheist

[3raser]

It's the same in the U.K. It's probably because of the media. I am not going to discuss my religious beliefs with anyone on this website though.

[max_cady]

I think the topic should have a question mark in itself. I don't think it's dying by any means, but like 3raser mentioned, social networking and media perception sometimes distorts and in many cases isolates people from most current events.

It's the same US that drew massive crowds when Pope Benedict toured the country.

[Happy Cat]

New generations of people just aren't as interested in religion it seems. Can't blame them really, I'm not really interested in it myself at all. Of course it depends on the country you are in, but for free countries such as USA, Europe, and Canada for example, it seems religion is starting to take a back seat. Of course it can be deeper then country, depending what state you are on in the US could have a huge impact too.

Also, it doesn't help that all the popular Christians right now are nutcases that want to ban personal freedoms just because it's against their religion. It's stuff like that which is making the new generations not very interested in religion.

It's the same reason republicans are losing popularity in the US, they are seen as rich religious nutcases who hate gays, women, and poor people by the younger generation

[max_cady]

And that's mostly because misinformation, lack of moral judgement and the unwilingness to crawl out of the bubble abound in the younger generation. Not to mention, the perpetual worship of false idols.

The odd thing is that supossed secular, foward thinking establishements are becoming a cesspoll of mysoginy, racism and anti-critical thinking...

[George]

Its because the church is full of misinformation and most of the scripture its based on is false. That is why no one believes in it. The same reason no one believes in Zeus, Odin and other false Gods.

[max_cady]

You might want to look up the differences between polytheism and monotheism, though secularism seems to be a more radical variant of polytheism/paganism.

[inthesky]

And that's mostly because misinformation, lack of moral judgement and the unwilingness to crawl out of the bubble abound in the younger generation. Not to mention, the perpetual worship of false idols.

The odd thing is that supossed secular, foward thinking establishements are becoming a cesspoll of mysoginy, racism and anti-critical thinking...

I don't know what you're getting at with the bolded. Exposure to/tolerance of religion I don't think necessarily has anything to do with openness to experiences.

As for your second part, well, if you're talking about evolutionary psychology (a branch of psychology with repeated supporting of heteronormativity, general inability to address LGBT issues) or other cultural legacies (Confucianism has misogynistic tenets, like "no woman is suppose to occupy a position higher than a man in a post" or that woman are born with filial debt) sure.

But it's no accident that the Abrahamic religions have strong affect with movement conservatism and conservative values in general. Sure, you can be a feminist and a Christian but you probably don't believe in Christianity for its progressive values. There are misogynistic undercurrents in the Bible (Abraham had concubines, and that's just for starters!) Some followers of Islam are no slouch for regressive values either.

http://neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=551932

Jarring graphics. Huge percentages of people who find homosexuality, suicide, abortion, euthanasia, alcohol consumption, and sex outside of with the wedded spouse abhorrent. Lots of people who want Sharia Law to be the official law of their country Though incidentally, the people surveyed are also sharply critical of acts of extremism and consider basic economic problems such as unemployement to be highly pressing issues. Also a Pew study, and it's 38k worldwide survey

Other things about the bible notwithstanding, like the Genesis story being bogus and other such magic as turning water into wine, multiplying food, turning people into salt, raining burning sulfur, etc.

The "Moral Majority" doesn't have sway right now. It's not relevant within mainstream conservative discourse (I think mainstream lots of things suck but whatever) because currently the conservative memes with positive affect are liberty and protection from government intrusion. A not totally congruent stance for people who want Roe V. Wade overturned. But there is an ebb and flow; neoconservatism in the US isn't dead, and social conservatives are a huge voting base for Republicans so they'll never go away.

Also, the notion that secularism is "radical" outside of a purely academic discussion is bizarre. Religion has little place in informing the policy, values, and law for a constantly changing society, unless religions change with it. This is why I support not making LGBT issues a civil/voting issue, because people who don't want to recognize equal standing for non-heteronormative people shouldn't be allowed to have a say. If historically Abrahamic religious fundamentalism hasn't been totally supportive of things like homosexuality but there's really nothing wrong with it, well then the natural consequence is that humans can create their morality without information by religion.

[max_cady]

Morality never changed over the ages. There is a notion of right and wrong, regardless of the times we live in. Unfortunately, in these ever changing society, the younger generation doesn't understand that "new" is an ephemeral concept and changing the laws and the way society functions based on whatever the new fashion trend is, reduces our laws and way of life to something akin to a new pair of shoes or earings.

Sure, humans can create their own moral rules, but since there is no authority to verify or validate, morals can simply a matter of personal taste and vary greatly from one person to another. This is not moralty, it is pure and simple relativisim.

[CrazyT]

Having faith is one thing, but truly believing(because either makes sense or is/the majority is provable) is another thing. I think the latter would(if it's true) seem like a pretty reasonable explanation. The educated/rational won't just follow anything with blind faith is what I think. If there is a being or a higher power a person would have to invest his life into, there's ought to be something convincing to make it worth investing that much or drastically change a person's way of life. Whether or not something is or isn't convincing is another topic tho

The upbringing has become a lot less strict and more freely. So that also adds up to the above

[Aki-at]

Most people do not want restrictions imposed on their life, they question the thing that does impose those restrictions and opt out of following that code either through disagreements with the particular person/ideal or lack of belief.

People do it with their parents, with their governments, with their culture. Religion really is no different.

Some Muslim/Moslem practitioners are no slouch for regressive values either.

It's Muslim, with a strong "s" sound.

[inthesky]

@Aki-at

sorry, thank you for the correction.

[Nameless 24]

It's the same in the U.K. It's probably because of the media. I am not going to discuss my religious beliefs with anyone on this website though.

That's because there are more Muslims in the country now.

[max_cady]

England has a massive Pakistani community so it's hardly surprising.

In the case of Portugal and Spain, we have an Islamic community mostly for historical reasons, I mean most of Portugal and areas of Spain had been occupied historically by Islamists, but they did leave their mark.

The Corbova Mosque in Córvoda, Spain is one of the most beautiful mosques in all of the Iberian Peninsula.