U.S. decline of Christianity continues at rapid pace
American Thinker,
by
Casey Plunkett
Original Article
Posted By: M2,
10/27/2019 6:33:30 AM
Pew Research Center has been conducting a series of studies on religious attitudes in the U.S. over the past decade and recently released its latest set of findings. As I approach “elderly discount eligibility,” I'm increasingly fascinated by shifts in generational attitudes and how they become manifest in politics. There is interesting data, on the heels of prior versions of this survey from '14 and '17, which is summarized below. I submit the polarity in the U.S. political realm is correlated with this tectonic shift in religious attitudes.
Adults identifying as Christians down 12% the past decade
Reply 1 - Posted by:
F15 Gork 10/27/2019 6:58:20 AM (No. 218748)
Looks like the gubmint & public education have achieved one of their primary goals....
15 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Sanddollar 10/27/2019 8:33:45 AM (No. 218825)
"And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."
Matthew 16:18
15 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
rikkitikki 10/27/2019 9:08:39 AM (No. 218866)
Most of the mainline Protestant denominations have redefined the term, 'Christian', to the point where it has lost all meaning. In their rush to be inclusive, they have overridden Jesus' very exclusive approach to eternal life. Jesus had a way of clearing up such confusion, when He said such things as, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Jn 3:3. Unless their definitions include what Jesus taught, then they cannot very well be considered to be 'Christian' at all.
7 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
columba 10/27/2019 10:45:40 AM (No. 218945)
Just as news faces tend to see nothing beyond LA, DC and NYC, this report sees nothing outside of the US. It's a mistake.
2 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
zephyrgirl 10/27/2019 11:28:53 AM (No. 218986)
The major Protestant religions of my youth are unrecognizable today. The sermons are either social justice lectures or feel good "God loves you and forgives all sin" talks without the admonition to repent and sin no more. The pipe organs, choirs and beautiful, traditional hymns have been replaced with guitars, drums and "happy, clappy" garbage. The churches are so intent on making the perverted feel welcome and loved that they act as if sin doesn't exist. I get more from my Bible study group than I do from most churches.
11 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
TLCary 10/27/2019 11:47:35 AM (No. 219010)
There is nothing that indicates that this will ever go the other way. The reasons for the decline are the reasons it will continue to. Islam is growing in America as Christianity is waining. Islam will only be a niche population but that's not to be dismissed, (tried that with the homosexuals). Something drastic would have to happen to change the fundamentals. The changes that have been tried to make Christianity more appealing to the masses of a more modern society have also made it useless. If there is a move, I don't see it. Divine intervention? Because this feels like checkmate. Europe is way ahead of us. But remember, this is all happening on our watch.
0 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
MSUDoc 10/27/2019 12:21:48 PM (No. 219048)
#5 completely nails it.
Churches, especially Protestant, have lost any sense of the sacred, and humble sense of our fallenness and desperate need for a Savior.
Instead, we get praise bands, women bishops, clapping hands,virtue-signaling lectures (“sermons”) about evil Israel and LGBT issues, ignorance of the Bible and on and on.
There is no church home for me anymore. Even our local LCMS church as a “contemporary” service at prime times filled with tambourines and pretend rock stars.
Tragic on so many levels. The Church is supposed to be a Rock, but it is now just a place for group therapy for those refusing to acknowledge their true sinfulness, and humble gratitude for the sacrifice of Christ.
5 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
chumley 10/27/2019 12:23:50 PM (No. 219050)
Christianity, like every other religion, is a commodity that must be sold to people. Long gone are the days when you went to the church of your parents out of obligation, or the one in your town because it was where you meet your neighbors and catch up on local news. In the past church fulfilled far more than just religious needs.
Now those needs are fulfilled elsewhere, with far less commitment and less harangue. My great grandfather was a terribly feared "hell fire and brimstone" preacher. The stories I have heard of his anger and brutality are disturbing, made even more so by the fact that he had a packed church primarily because people were afraid NOT to go.
I have a choice. I choose not that.
0 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
Penney 10/27/2019 12:49:36 PM (No. 219076)
Pew is apparently lefty biased and so is not a reliable poll source, but church attendance has declined during more recent decades compared to percentages throughout American history. Several factors contribute to the lower numbers including disruptive public policies from the 1960s & '70s which have but encouraged the fracturing of families, adversarial media, political correctness and intolerance. It should also be noted that there are Christian's who do not attend a church for one reason or another, so they are not included in polls such as this.
America was founded by Christians fleeing big governmental tyranny & religious persecution in Europe to live here in a land based upon Judeo/Christian principles and ethics which over the centuries since then have made the USA the unique welcoming benevolent land of the free and home of the brave on Earth.. Still they come, those who seek their freedom secured by the U.S. Constitution &Bill of Rights still come to be American citizens! God bless the USA!
0 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Harlowe 10/27/2019 1:01:43 PM (No. 219085)
#7- While in complete agreement about the “political correctness and/or social appeal” that has crept into many Protestant churches, including praise bands, women bishops, clapping hands, virtue-signaling lectures/sermons, and ignorance of the Bible, if “contemporary” worship services are rock-solid, anchored in Scripture, and touch the lives of worshippers in a positive manner instilling Judeo-Christian values, perhaps they are a worthy means of reaching younger generations. In Old Testament times, trumpets, harps, cymbals, and tambourines were used for worship celebrations. Personally, “contemporary” worship services are not appealing in the very least and avoided to the extent that such services deter this family’s attendance. Thankfully, some local LCMS churches offer two services, “traditional” and “contemporary.”
2 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
dbdiva 10/27/2019 2:09:43 PM (No. 219123)
When I was 13 my parents left our church because it was way too liberal for them; I'm 70 now. The church that we left is now pastored by a trio of ministers. One gay man, one lesbian, and a normal ( how we define normal, anyway) woman. I would guess not very much real scripture is taught by that threesome.
Churches define success by how many of their pews are filled each week or the amount of money in the offering plates. They've become more like businesses than what the Lord intended them to be.
Popularity is more important to these ministers than the states of their members souls.
People who are really interested in being taught the true Word of God are fed up and are leaving their churches but not leaving their faith. I have heard that some disenfranchised church goers are starting home churches. Christianity came to life in home churches so it is fitting that in the end times they would rise up again.
As for me I study scripture each day. It is the first thing on my schedule - even before I log on to Lucianne!. I probably have learned more in solitary studying than I would have sitting in a church. There is so much scripture that many ministers wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. These are the pastors that tickle their congregations ears and tell them only what they want to hear. They are shortchanging their members when they should be preparing them for eternal life.
2 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
DVC 10/27/2019 5:08:57 PM (No. 219293)
The fact that most of the US church central power structures have been taken over by anti-religious Communists decades ago has a lot to do with this.
1 person likes this.
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Terrible news, not that it's really news. Without the moral guardrails of Christianity, you get what we have -- amorality.