Religion Plummeted in America During Obama Era

[Sketcher]

These trends have been under way for a long time and in my opinion are not linked to the Obama administration.

This I agree with.

Rights and freedoms are not part of a zero-sum game. Expanding them does not thereby reduce them for some other group. Extending the vote to women did not reduce the rights of men in society. In reality Christians have lost no rights and are not threatened in any meaningful way.

This I could agree with if freelance photographers could be free to not sell their services to gay commitment ceremonies while selling their services to Christian weddings. It is one thing to provide greater freedom to gays, it's another to use that as an economic club on Christians, or anyone else.

 

[Original Happy Camper]

a note to those interested...you have only a few more days to blame obama so get in while the gettins' good...

Au come on, Bush is still being blamed

 

[Blade]

If the WORD does not go out. It is not because of some man. Its YOUR fault MY fault period. Take this site alone.. People are more IN this world then with Christ. We post things that have nothing what so ever to do with Christ and NO ONE says anything. Things with MAGIC and such and again no one says anything.

So you share you talk you witness.

 

[TurtleAnne]

I wish people were not so blinded by their partisan loyalties.

Obama has a history of of speaking out against Christian values/culture in political influence. Video example below. And his establishment's platform is hostile to Christian values, as well, the topic of the abortion being the one that stands out to me the most more often than not.

But it is simultaneously true that while Trump claims to be a Christian, his life does not reflect the teachings of Jesus, like at all. Trump also has a history of displaying an attitude in which he doesn't think he needs to repent, is very arrogant in the face of God, despite his claims to be a Christian. Video example below.

I don't see how anyone can honestly deny the influence these two men have had on millions of people in the U.S. alone, not to mention possible influence in other nations who follow western media/politics. I frequently visit many national and global sites for news and political talk, and there are millions of people out there who act like Obama or Trump are their personal heroes, and many millions more who fall for the classic tactic of.. "I don't like Politician A, so therefore I will support Politician B, even if Politician B is also bad, and I will be mindlessly defensive of Politician B in the process."

I mean yes, at the end of it all, personal responsibility is the top factor, but there is a reason that the church was charged with having shepherds who would both feed and defend (spiritually) the flock. Consider Acts 20:28:

Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

So while personal responsibility is the top factor, it has been common sense from the beginning of the new covenant that people are heavily influenced by leadership, which is why shepherds (pastors, ministers, priests, etc) were charged with spiritually defending (to the best of their ability, of course) Jesus' sheep (Christians). This is just God's wisdom in a straightforward manner.

I know it really sucks and all, when we have no truly good candidates, or when time and time again our presidents are Christians-for-votes only. But that is no reason for us to become mindless sycophants for a 'lesser' of evils.

 

[rockytopva]

Had Hillary got in I believe we would have ended up totally heathen!

 

[faroukfarouk]

The general question I would ask is, What sort of religion is it, that it supposedly depends on the patronage of politicians?

"The word of God is not bound" (2 Timothy 2.9)

 

[JackRT]

I wish people were not so blinded by their partisan loyalties.

Obama has a history of of speaking out against Christian values/culture in political influence. Video example below. And his establishment's platform is hostile to Christian values, as well, the topic of the abortion being the one that stands out to me the most more often than not.

But it is simultaneously true that while Trump claims to be a Christian, his life does not reflect the teachings of Jesus, like at all. Trump also has a history of displaying an attitude in which he doesn't think he needs to repent, is very arrogant in the face of God, despite his claims to be a Christian. Video example below.

I don't see how anyone can honestly deny the influence these two men have had on millions of people in the U.S. alone, not to mention possible influence in other nations who follow western media/politics. I frequently visit many national and global sites for news and political talk, and there are millions of people out there who act like Obama or Trump are their personal heroes, and many millions more who fall for the classic tactic of.. "I don't like Politician A, so therefore I will support Politician B, even if Politician B is also bad, and I will be mindlessly defensive of Politician B in the process."

I mean yes, at the end of it all, personal responsibility is the top factor, but there is a reason that the church was charged with having shepherds who would both feed and defend (spiritually) the flock. Consider Acts 20:28:

Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

So while personal responsibility is the top factor, it has been common sense from the beginning of the new covenant that people are heavily influenced by leadership, which is why shepherds (pastors, ministers, priests, etc) were charged with spiritually defending (to the best of their ability, of course) Jesus' sheep (Christians). This is just God's wisdom in a straightforward manner.

I know it really sucks and all, when we have no truly good candidates, or when time and time again our presidents are Christians-for-votes only. But that is no reason for us to become mindless sycophants for a 'lesser' of evils.

Just watched the President Obama video and I saw nothing whatsoever there hostile to "Christian values/culture in political influence". I found his remarks to be quite reasonable.

 

[Rajni]

The general question I would ask is, What sort of religion is it, that it supposedly depends on the patronage of politicians?

"The word of God is not bound" (2 Timothy 2.9)

^This.
In addition, it's supposedly what comes out of a man that does the defiling, not what goes in. Therefore, whoever happens to be leading the country at any given can't be used as an excuse.

But even if one were to use that as an excuse, isn't it usually when times are hard that folks turn to religion? So any evidence that they weren't doing so under Obama must say something about his impact on keeping times not-that-hard.

Just watched the President Obama video and I saw nothing whatsoever there hostile to "Christian values/culture in political influence". I found his remarks to be quite reasonable.

When all it takes is a Starbucks cup not looking the right way, it's not surprising that anti-Christian hostility would be found in the smallest things.


-

 

[mark kennedy]

Religious affiliation has been on the decline for decades, the President of the United States has very little to do with that. Christians are not evangelizing like they once did and we have a couple of generations that see the church as irrelevant to their lives.

 

[FireDragon76]

Obama has a history of of speaking out against Christian values/culture in political influence. Video example below. And his establishment's platform is hostile to Christian values, as well,

I watched the video, and I don't see hostility to Christianity. I see political realism. You are interested in Lutheranism, right? Go look up the Two Kingdoms doctrine. The separation of Church and state is just as potentially Lutheran as it is American. And this is not just for reasons of convenience, either. It is important to separate the means of grace from politics, in order to safeguard the Gospel. There is also an important rejection of all millenialist aspirations, of immanentizing the eschaton through secular means. Christ's kingdom is not of this world, nor does he call us to make this world into the kingdom of God.

Look at what has happened in the US, with other churches. There has been a mixing of church and politics to a degree that is unhealthy. Young people now think of churches as being too political in the US. This shouldn't be the case. The Gospel is for everyone, whether you are a gun-nut in Georgia or a granola-eating tree hugger in California.

 

[brinny]

The Barna research is most interesting but it still does not answer the question of why strong Christians would so avidly support a candidate with a background such as Donald Trump. It is as if they were voting against their own beliefs.

It's not Donald Trump, per se, it's the platform.