In my mind the only saving grace of this site is the teens that come here. @Stanfordella @Cimorene @Go Braves ; these are examples of teens that put a shining light on Christianity and this site should count their blessings they've chosen to remain here - Though many of you don't make that an easy decision.
I don't see how you can take Catholicism all that seriously. It's a highly authoritarian and totalizing worldview where you are expected to follow one man and his opinions. Can you say "The Emperor's New Clothes"?
I never said I was a Catholic btw. But they have a valid line of succession, from the laying on of hands starting with St. Peter. That's why I take them seriously, even if their pope oversteps his bounds. I'm obligated to do that for any bishop. And if you think he's authoritarian, just wait until you meet the High Priest and King.
Most secular historians can see no clear line back to Peter. It seems to be a pious fraud, a nice story that Catholics tell to lend themselves legitimacy, but of dubious truth value.
I'm not inherently anti-Catholic. My congregation was actually very Catholic in terms of rituals used. But intellectually, I am far from approving of the way they think of the Church and authority.
Many boomers never had strong ties to religion to begin with. Changing views about morality and religion? That ship sailed a long time ago.Millennials Are Leaving Religion And Not Coming Back
Social science research has long suggested that Americans’ relationship with religion has a tidal quality — people who were raised religious find themselves drifting away as young adults, only to be drawn back in when they find spouses and begin to raise their own families. Some argued that young adults just hadn’t yet been pulled back into the fold of organized religion, especially since they were hitting major milestones like marriage and parenthood later on.
But now many millennials have spouses, children and mortgages — and there’s little evidence of a corresponding surge in religious interest. A new national survey from the American Enterprise Institute of more than 2,500 Americans found a few reasons why millennials may not return to the religious fold. (One of the authors of this article helped conduct the survey.)
- For one thing, many millennials never had strong ties to religion to begin with, which means they were less likely to develop habits or associations that make it easier to return to a religious community.
- Young adults are also increasingly likely to have a spouse who is nonreligious, which may help reinforce their secular worldview.
- Changing views about the relationship between morality and religion also appear to have convinced many young parents that religious institutions are simply irrelevant or unnecessary for their children.
Many boomers never had strong ties to religion to begin with. Changing views about morality and religion? That ship sailed a long time ago.
According to the 2014 RLS, the decline was more in some groups than others. And many of the growing "unaffiliated" group are still religious; just not in any organised way.
"Luke Olliff, a 30-year-old man living in Atlanta, says that he and his wife gradually shed their religious affiliations together. “My family thinks she convinced me to stop going to church and her family thinks I was the one who convinced her,” he said. “But really it was mutual. We moved to a city and talked a lot about how we came to see all of this negativity from people who were highly religious and increasingly didn’t want a part in it.” This view is common among young people. A majority (57 percent) of millennials agree that religious people are generally less tolerant of others, compared to only 37 percent of Baby Boomers."
...
“My own upbringing was religious, but I’ve come to believe you can get important moral teachings outside religion,” she said. “And in some ways I think many religious organizations are not good models for those teachings.”
Heck, every synagogue I have ever attended has had to have armed guards, since the 1980s, but ours don’t harass the homeless or other guests.
What’s your point? That numbers of Christians have decreased? Nobody denies that.You're completely missing the point. No matter how strong (or weak) the linkage is between Boomers and Christianity, it has always been apparent that later generations have been less inclined to stay in the religious fold.
What this study establishes is that this reduction in religious participation is a permanent fixture and not just an artefact of youth.
OB
Good list. But dont omit "religion" from it!....The love of money and the lights of the world, postmodernity, humanism, liberalism, false ideology, depression, suicide, spiritual sickness have turned many away from God.
Mene Mene Tekel UpharsinWhat’s your point? That numbers of Christians have decreased? Nobody denies that.
Boomers left the Church in striking numbers so to say this is a new phenomenon with millennials is a mistake.
The love of money and the lights of the world, postmodernity, humanism, liberalism, false ideology, depression, suicide, spiritual sickness have turned many away from God.
Ah yes. The people who disagree with me must be moral failures. Of course. No way could it have anything to do with the moral intransigence on display in so many religions.Religion is part of human culture man. The anti-religion idea is part of a modernist hedonistic culture.
There are issues with religious groups but you are still moral failures.Ah yes. The people who disagree with me must be moral failures. Of course. No way could it have anything to do with the moral intransigence on display in so many religions.
Yes, I'm wearing my scarlet "F" right now!There are issues with religious groups but you are still moral failures.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?