Current Events > U.S. church membership down sharply in past 2 decades

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://news.gallup.com/poll/248837/church-membership-down-sharply-past-two-decades.aspx

U.S. church membership was 70% or higher from 1937 through 1976, falling modestly to an average of 68% in the 1970s through the 1990s. The past 20 years have seen an acceleration in the drop-off, with a 20-percentage-point decline since 1999 and more than half of that change occurring since the start of the current decade.



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but what about Christ's milennial reign, as promised in Revelation?

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Cool.

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Good

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Feed my sheep.

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Thank God!

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Here's how Millennial killed religion.

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Hexenherz posted...

Here's how Republicans killed religion.

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Of course. Religion is seen as a joke... which is sad

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I pray for all of your immortal souls.

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Sales of fedoras

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How is it still 50%?

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ReDaZnDraGoN97 posted...

Of course. Religion is seen as a joke... which is sad

It kind of is, but when members of a congregation act hypocritically and treat people oddly or as if they don't belong, they are doing this to their religion themselves. There is no room for redemption or even acceptance in the hearts of a lot of these people and groups in the first place, which literally goes against part of what they even gather to learn and worship in the first place. Also, I can get behind some of the teachings and beliefs of religion, but others are total bullshit as there is a lot of contradiction.

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Certain factions of Jehovah's Witnesses expect you to choose to die, should you be in a situation where a blood transfusion would save your life, on the basis of their founder's very poor understanding of how blood works.

I have an otherwise very smart friend who subscribes to that nonsense. It's always a tone shift when it comes to religion.

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Religion is killing itself

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ReDaZnDraGoN97 posted...

Of course. Religion is seen as a joke... which is sad

Why is it sad?
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LethalAffinity posted...

How is it still 50%?

People lying aboit going to church is my only assumption

LethalAffinity posted...

How is it still 50%?

The question in the study is Are you a member of a church? It doesn't ask if they go as well as how often do they go. So it could just be someone saying they are a member but haven't gone since their parents took them to church as a kid.

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dolomedes posted...

lifelong atheist represent !!

I know you worship the Prince of Scarabs, Carapacian!

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ReDaZnDraGoN97 posted...

Of course. Religion is seen as a joke... which is good

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Direct correlation with a rise in crime.

dolomedes posted...

naaaaah if anyone i'd worship Arachne, who challenged the goddess Athena & subsequently was turned into a spider lol

you had to go and waifu the spider.

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Its sad that there are people in this country that dont follow any religion

I don't follow a religion. I never have and never will

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LinkScorbunny posted...

Its sad that there are people in this country that dont follow any religion

How so?

Not everyone is down to worship and follow something that says that they'd go to hell.

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Blue_School posted...

Direct correlation with a rise in crime.

False correlation you mean

Blue_School posted...

Direct correlation with a rise in crime.

If you think going to church and being religious is the only think keeping people from committing crime I really don't want to know about your personal morals when religion isn't in the room.

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Good

I say that as a Christian myself
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StarReaper13 posted...

How so?

Not everyone is down to worship and follow something that says that they'd go to hell.

Being faithless is prett bad

what will your family or future wife think

what do you answer when the thousands of people ask so what religion are you? None will get weird looks

my family, friends and gf all know I don't believe in god

when random people ask me about religion I say I'm not religious

no ones ever given me any weird looks for it except my mom and she got over it and even admitted to me that she only believes what she does because she was raised that way

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LinkScorbunny posted...

Being faithless is prett bad

Subjective

LinkScorbunny posted...

what will your family

None of their business

LinkScorbunny posted...

future wife think

Marry someone who has the same views

LinkScorbunny posted...

what do you answer when the thousands of people ask so what religion are you? None will get weird looks

"I'm not". Or "I don't believe in anything" or "I need more proof" anyway if more and more people leave the church this last scenario decreases in likeliness proportionally. Anyway even if I were religious, that's a pretty personal question if I'm not a card carrying religious person who openly practices.

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that dude must live in the bible belt if he thinks the average person around him gives a shit what religion he is anymore

if so, I'm sorry about your living conditions. it'll get better there too in a generation or two

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LinkScorbunny posted...

Being faithless is prett bad

what will your family or future wife think

what do you answer when the thousands of people ask so what religion are you? None will get weird looks

Maybe if your the bible belt,or you live in some country that still has a theocracy. Here, its not strange to admit to being another religion or an atheist, or agnostic.

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I've always felt religion (and spirituality in general) tends to be a more personal thing. If your only reason for being religious is because you were raised that way, it won't last the moment you are hit with doubt or a conflicting viewpoint.

The most consistently-religious people are those who chose it due to life circumstances, either because they have lived a tough life and are looking for a light, or have experienced some major moments of positive experiences that strengthens their faith. Personally, I fall into the latter of the two, but I can understand why people aren't religious/spiritual. I've gone through periods of doubt myself, but it's led me my own version of faith and spirituality, not the ones my parents raised me with.

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Balrog0 posted...

Cool.

Southernfatman posted...

Good

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Zanzenburger posted...

I've always felt religion (and spirituality in general) tends to be a more personal thing. If your only reason for being religious is because you were raised that way, it won't last the moment you are hit with doubt or a conflicting viewpoint.

The most consistently-religious people are those who chose it due to life circumstances, either because they have lived a tough life and are looking for a light, or have experienced some major moments of positive experiences that strengthens their faith. Personally, I fall into the latter of the two, but I can understand why people aren't religious/spiritual. I've gone through periods of doubt myself, but it's led me my own version of faith and spirituality, not the ones my parents raised me with.

it's cool that it works for you. I notice that the types of people who feel strongly about their faith because of some personal event tend to be outspoken though. fortunately or unfortunately, the vast majority (I'd even wager 90%+) of people who are religious around the world are only so because they were raised that way. it's tradition, both cultural and ethnic

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which churchs keep a membership list ? never heard of something like this

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I joined religion because I was looking for a 'light' (and also because I had an inferiority and guilt complex from being tossed out of church as a child), but then that 'light' harassed me via e-mail, voicemails, and in-person stalking, and caused me so much anxiety that I cut open one of my teeth on a plastic coffee cup

Thanks Be to God!

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Its prophecied to happen in the 2nd book of Thessalonians.

So, its coming to pass.

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marc55 posted...

which churchs keep a membership list ? never heard of something like this

Most organized churches have memberships. From Baptists, to Seventh-Day Adventists, to a growing number of non-denominational, they all keep a membership list and you are usually expected to "transfer" from one church to another when you move.

Though this usually only applies to people that go consistently, i.e. every Saturday or Sunday. Those who only go to church occasionally like Christmas and Easter are considered guests and are not counted as actual church members.

Which brings up an interesting point about this survey. Is the declining church membership suggesting that less people are religious, or that less people attend church regularly and are just considered guests?

Lastly, one more thing to consider is that millenials move a lot more and "church-hopping" has become more common. That is, a millenial may go to one church for a few weeks, then switch to another one and so on. In that case, they never become a member of one church (in that they do not get placed in their directory), but they are still going to churches consistently. I used to lead a youth group and it was common to have some of the teens and young adults to leave the church for a year to attend another one and then come back a year later, or for a someone to bring their friend from another church for a few weeks.

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marc55 posted...

which churchs keep a membership list ? never heard of something like this

Most? Like most otherwise innocuous things, churchgoing culture goes deep. I've read of struggles to maintain ancient excel spreedsheets from 95.

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People will turn their nose up at you if you said I need more proof

or or they will invite you to their church

you should come to mine

we have ave church on Sunday, Sunday school for age groups and types of people, then we go to a nice lunch

there is also worship once a week at night if you are music fan

we have small group on Wednesday for young men at someones house

Thank No God!

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Imagine still believing in fairy tales in 2020.

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EmbraceOfDeath posted...

Imagine still believing in fairy tales in 2020.

Yeah, but a lot of people want to believe in these ones, so that makes them real and logical unlike those old fairytales that people believed in and said were real.

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The sooner the world moves away from religion entirely, the better

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good.

shits evil