The death of Christianity in the U.S. Has it really died?
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Christianity has died in the hands of Evangelicals. Evangelicalism ceased being a religious faith tradition following Jesus’ teachings concerning justice for the betterment of humanity when it made a Faustian bargain for the sake of political influence. The beauty of the gospel message — of love, of peace and of fraternity — has been murdered by the ambitions of…
That's the general tenor of the article. The gist is that Christianity died when Christians made it political. Does this ring true to you? Do you agree with any of his supports? Personally, I think he went a little to far in generalizing but the Peter J. Gomes school of Christ has largely died.
The rest of the article is here.
https://baptistnews.com/article/death-christianity-u-s/#.Wgw2b7aB01_
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It's Hyperbole. He's making a polemic argument rather than trying to give a dispassionate description.
It's a very long discussion in Christian thought "how can the Church be in the World but not of the World". One of the issues that started the Anabaptist tradition was the accusation that the Roman Catholic Church had become too immersed in questions of political power and wealth thereby turning away from the spiritual focus of a connection with Christ.
But no, there is no risk that Christmas is going to be cancelled this year.
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From the past few years, there are so many studies about the decline of (particularly white) Christianity in the United States, and its loss of political and social clout, that this site would crash if I were to compile a comprehensive list.
For starters:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/white-christians-now-minority-u-s-population-survey-says
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/opinion/trump-scaramucci-evangelical-christian.html
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/way-more-americans-may-be-atheists-than-we-thought/
Really, darlings, I just can't go on.
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Like most things , religion has become a big business. That's what is killing Christianity in America.
Most people don't realize it but in America, you can start your very own church from anything with any kind of idea you want. Not only do you become tax exempt but all your property becomes tax exempt also. Some of the largest holders of retail space in America are owned by church companies.
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Christianity hasn't died, but is declining. I think it'll take MANY centuries for it to truly "die".
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Christianity has changed many times over 2000 years.
At times it has been one of the most depraved religions and at others, it has been the most loving and kind. Religions are made up of its followers and how they want to believe.
Will religion decline in The United States? Not really. As people grow into old age, many see the inevitable end creeping up and seek some sort of comforting resolve to it. Religions play a big part in this. America's huge and growing elderly population will keep religions going. -
The question whether 'religion' will die in the USA is different from the question will 'Christianity' die in the USA.
The article argues that the version of Christianity that has become dominant in the USA has diverged too much from the teachings of Jesus to be considered 'Christianity". But Christians have been arguing about Heresy going back to the Nicene Council.
It's not an argument that Mainline forms of Christianity are declining in the USA (Lutheran, Anglican, Roman Catholic et al.) and are being replaced by various forms of secularism. There is an argument whether it's healthier for Christianity to be a church of the Believers rather than a church of convenience ie. It's good when people have to make an effort.
MY OPINION: institutional Christianity in the USA, and in the West in general, is being replaced by non-institutional forms of religion. Whether "spiritual but not religious' or 'I'm a Christian who doesn't belong to a church' or 'I go to an Independent church that puts on Rock concerts'; people are opting out of large communities. That's a dramatic change in the history of the Church.
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John, I agree with many of your observations. Most certainly, Lutherans deserve a shout-out for their status as poster child of declining U.S. church attendance. From the start, they suffer one huge, additional hurdle when compared to, say, Catholic churches – no substantial immigration of believers from the faith’s roots (Germany and Scandinavia).
Even as a pre-teen, I would sit in the pews of our family's Missouri Synod church (the conservative Lutherans!) and observe the tiny number of parents with children, and all the seniors, and wonder how long that particular church would survive. As it turned out, they owned enough land, in a desirable section of the city, to ensure their existence for decades – regardless of attendance and operating income, aka offerings and estate gifts. (And let's tax these, while we're at it.)
With respect, I would tend to disagree with an earlier poster's comment about U.S. organized religion sustaining its numbers going forward because people tend to "find God" as they age, become infirm, etc. This may have held some weight in past generations, but I feel that today's young and middle-aged people moving to non-belief have done so because they've given it long-term, considered thought; have access to a far greater array of relevant discourse in media, both pro and con; experience less societal "stigma"; and in general, are less likely to revert.
If I'm ever on a burning plane as the last engine explodes. I do reserve the right to have whatever religious conversion comes to mind.
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Part of where I'm coming from is (reknowned Jewish Atheist and Evolutionary biologist) Dr. Stephen J, Gould's theory of Non-Overlapping Magisteria.
He defines the term magisterium as "a domain where one form of teaching holds the appropriate tools for meaningful discourse and resolution."[105] The non-overlapping magisteria (NOMA) principle therefore divides the magisterium of science to cover "the empirical realm: what the Universe is made of (fact) and why does it work in this way (theory). The magisterium of religion extends over questions of ultimate meaning and moral value. These two magisteria do not overlap, nor do they encompass all inquiry."[105] He suggests that "NOMA enjoys strong and fully explicit support, even from the primary cultural stereotypes of hard-line traditionalism" and that NOMA is "a sound position of general consensus, established by long struggle among people of goodwill in both magisteria."
Christianity tends to define 'religion' as a synonym for 'belief in God'. They're wrong. A lot of religious communities include Atheists. Some belief systems exclude the existence of 'gods'.
If we talk about the growing number of 'Nones' only in terms of what they don't believe rather than what they do believe we're not going to understand what is going on.
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no its still alive in so many parts int eh United States..many people are still practicing christians