The Beginning Of The End For Religion In The USA?

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Miles
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The Beginning Of The End For Religion In The USA?

Post #1

Post by Miles »

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From The Washington Post

"Church membership in the U.S. has fallen below the majority for the first time since 1940



The proportion of Americans who consider themselves members of a church, synagogue or mosque has dropped below 50 percent, according to a poll from Gallup released Monday. It is the first time that has happened since Gallup first asked the question in 1937, when church membership was 73 percent.

In recent years, research data has shown a seismic shift in the U.S. population away from religious institutions and toward general disaffiliation, a trend that analysts say could have major implications for politics, business and how Americans group themselves. In 2020, 47 percent of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque. The polling firm also found that the number of people who said religion was very important to them has fallen to 48 percent, a new low point in the polling since 2000.

For some Americans, religious membership is seen as a relic of an older generation, said Ryan Burge, an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University and a pastor in the American Baptist Church. Gallup’s data finds that church membership is strongly correlated with age: 66 percent of American adults born before 1946 belong to a church, compared with 58 percent of baby boomers, 50 percent of those in Generation X and 36 percent of millennials.

. . . no matter how researchers measure people’s faith — such as attendance, giving, self-identification — Americans’ attachment to institutional religion is on the decline."




So, how should these religions go about turning things around and regain their previous following, or is it a lost cause?




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Tcg
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Re: The Beginning Of The End For Religion In The USA?

Post #21

Post by Tcg »

[Replying to Miles in post #11]

Pew Research Center has also noted the decline of religion and most specifically Christianity in the last decade or so:
In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace
An update on America's changing religious landscape

The data shows that just like rates of religious affiliation, rates of religious attendance are declining.3 Over the last decade, the share of Americans who say they attend religious services at least once or twice a month dropped by 7 percentage points, while the share who say they attend religious services less often (if at all) has risen by the same degree. In 2009, regular worship attenders (those who attend religious services at least once or twice a month) outnumbered those who attend services only occasionally or not at all by a 52%-to-47% margin. Today those figures are reversed; more Americans now say they attend religious services a few times a year or less (54%) than say they attend at least monthly (45%).

Image

https://www.pewforum.org/2019/10/17/in- ... apid-pace/
It's hard to know what is driving this decline so it's difficult to know what these religious organizations could do to stop it. I'm actually surprised Catholicism hasn't declined even more given the fact the organization has been in the news so often for not only allowing sexual abuse amongst its ranks, but actually intentionally attempting to cover up this fact.

Of course they aren't alone. Baptist and JW organizations have also been in the news for the same degeneracy. Perhaps some of this decline is a result of this, but the fact that it isn't much higher shows the power and lasting influence of indoctrination.

It is encouraging to see that many are finding freedom from religion and hopefully this trend will not only continue, but intensify. It's also encouraging to see that the number of those who identify as atheists has doubled during the time of this study. More reason for hope that rationality is on the rise.


Tcg
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Re: The Beginning Of The End For Religion In The USA?

Post #22

Post by Athetotheist »

[Replying to Miles in post #1]

Again, the media's "religion" coverage shows its Abrahamic bias. Instead of putting together an indepth, comprehensive story on the wide range of religious belief in the country, they just slap some paint over the closest spots and call it good.

I've long been annoyed by the loose, broad-brush use of the word "religion". Saying that "religion is this" or "religion is that" is like saying, "Dog is friendly." or "Dog is unfriendly." There are numerous dogs but, when it comes to being friendly or unfriendly, there is no such over-arching thing as "dog". Religions are the same way, and the way the media ignore this is, in my opinion, lazy journalism.

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Re: The Beginning Of The End For Religion In The USA?

Post #23

Post by Miles »

Athetotheist wrote: Sat May 01, 2021 9:54 pm [Replying to Miles in post #1]

Again, the media's "religion" coverage shows its Abrahamic bias. Instead of putting together an indepth, comprehensive story on the wide range of religious belief in the country, they just slap some paint over the closest spots and call it good.
No. What they're doing is appealing to their readership's religious interests, which, for the most part, happens to be Christianity. For one thing, it's a matter of simple economics, like Car and Driver magazine publishing articles on cars rather than buses.

I've long been annoyed by the loose, broad-brush use of the word "religion". Saying that "religion is this" or "religion is that" is like saying, "Dog is friendly." or "Dog is unfriendly." There are numerous dogs but, when it comes to being friendly or unfriendly, there is no such over-arching thing as "dog". Religions are the same way, and the way the media ignore this is, in my opinion, lazy journalism.
So, how would you address religion at large?


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Re: The Beginning Of The End For Religion In The USA?

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Post by Athetotheist »

Miles wrote: Sat May 01, 2021 11:30 pm
Athetotheist wrote: Sat May 01, 2021 9:54 pm [Replying to Miles in post #1]

Again, the media's "religion" coverage shows its Abrahamic bias. Instead of putting together an indepth, comprehensive story on the wide range of religious belief in the country, they just slap some paint over the closest spots and call it good.
No. What they're doing is appealing to their readership's religious interests, which, for the most part, happens to be Christianity.
Same thing.
I've long been annoyed by the loose, broad-brush use of the word "religion". Saying that "religion is this" or "religion is that" is like saying, "Dog is friendly." or "Dog is unfriendly." There are numerous dogs but, when it comes to being friendly or unfriendly, there is no such over-arching thing as "dog". Religions are the same way, and the way the media ignore this is, in my opinion, lazy journalism.
Miles wrote:So, how would you address religion at large?
By recognizing that religions (plural) are many and varied and that each is worthy of consideration on its own merits.

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