[quote=IndyCA35]For the first time in 80 years, the number of Americans with dedicated church attendance has fallen below 50%. According to a Gallup poll released Monday, only 47% of those polled confirmed that they are members of a religious body. This is quite a decline from previous years of polling, which saw the number hover around the 70% mark for several decades. Unsurprisingly, the downward trend began around the dawn of the new century.
In the past few years especially, the secular religion of politics has become an obsession. On the Left and Right, adherence to a political philosophy can overshadow, or at the very least compete with, all other long-held beliefs. While the shift didn't suddenly begin in 2008, it was certainly pushed further along by Barack Obama's presidency. In response to his eight years in office, the Right searched for an answer that would stem the tide of progressivism. President Donald Trump created his own revival among the GOP faithful. Many religious conservatives even found a deep connection between his election victory and the idea that God would save the nation through him. But political allegiance isn't the same as spiritual, no matter how closely they resemble one another.
Americans seem to be finding a religious-type fervor in things outside the walls of the church, political or otherwise. Added into the mix is a pandemic that has discouraged attendance, and churches are emptier than ever. The global health crisis upended life as usual, and even committed attendees had to change their habits for safety reasons. At the start of the pandemic, nearly every church in America shut its doors to in-person services. By the end of last year, roughly 80% had opened back up for these regular services. But attendance is still incredibly low compared to pre-pandemic levels.
According to the Pew Research Center, the percentage of Americans who consider themselves to be nonreligious or unaffiliated is now at 29%. This has been a somewhat rapid rise from the 17% who said the same in 2009. As those who identify as Protestant or Catholic decrease, the so-called nones, as Pew describes them, have risen.
Eviction moratorium is unconstitutional, federal judge rules This shift toward a less religious American landscape is a loss for society. Beyond the chief reason for church, communing with God, and meeting with those of like-min
I hope youre at Sunrise Service RIGHT NOW. with some skin-in-the-game. Sure put my time in. For many years. Then cooked breakfast for hungry ass Boomers.
Not today, I slept in. Saving up for the friggin ‘Easter egg hunt’ that happens at 11am up there. The wife has the unfortunate draw of getting “nursery duty” today. Wonder how many brats will shît their onesies.
Church and Church work sucks the life out of the 10% that do all the work. That’s why not many want to go.
Theyre tired of taking care of lazy pew warmers that just to be coddled and have someone read to them and make them feel good. They don’t like sermons about commitments, church edification, kingdom work, discipleship and the Great Commission. Just lolly gaggers. Checking their watch, till it’s time to go stuff their pieholes agains at the catfish house or pizza buffet.
I’d say the 10% thing is a sign that there are too many programs and social business going on than the real purpose of the church. Sitting back looking at all the stuff that has nothing to do with the Gospel .... take that away .....
