Less than half of Americans are attending church for the first time in American history.

This isn’t meant to be a “crap on religion” post. Truthfully, I don’t mind the concept of religion, nor do I want to see it go away. I think it’s an important resource for many as it can provide a quality form of guidance and assurance to those who need it. But it doesn’t come without its major flaws.

For the first time in American history, less than half the population is attending church. According to this article:

In 2020, 47% of U.S. adults belonged to a church, synagogue or mosque.

Down more than 20 points from turn of the century.

Change primarily due to rise in Americans with no religious preference

I think a lot of things factor into this. For starters, the basics:

- Increased awareness of public figures has shown us many of these religious leaders leading lavish lifestyles in huge mansions and with private jets all while saying “the lord needs me to have this so I can spread the word of God” or some other hypocritical nonsense.

- The atrocities of the Catholic Church and society learning over time just how far they’ve gone to not only cover up their crimes against children but to also protect the sexual predators living within their church walls.

- A realization that faith cannot defeat science as often as one might think. I acknowledge the power of faith but I credit that more towards the strength of the individual as opposed to the power of God. Faith, in my opinion and experience, is just another tool that helps us tap our own true potential. But I have no issues with those that lean on their faith of God.

Ultimately, I think it’s an easy argument that the behavior of church leadership around the world is the biggest influence on the current exodus from religion. Additionally, religious people who continue to use the Bible as the authority on life’s moral behaviors whilst ignoring the primitive and archaic tendencies written in the book is another major factor. Lastly, religions failure to adapt to the rapidly changing times and offer an honest accountability of some of their own disgusting crimes against humanity is likely a major turn-off for modern youth.

For me, I believe in a higher power but I refuse to believe in mankind’s modern day interpretation of what that is. By modern day I mean in any society that has used religion as a form of power or control. Which, maybe outside of Buddhism, is all of them. I think all religions come from the same central belief, but they’ve all been castrated and mutilated to fit different people, of different times, in different places. If we could work ourselves away from the influence of mans greed, we might be able to rekindle that lost connection with whatever higher power exists out there.

Time Magazine article.

a reply to: Assassin82

A very sad time indeed, this is a great turning away and has been prophesied of the world so that the true believers are the ones that shall hold steadfast even as persecution of there way of life and faith become ever more prevalent.

To be fair is this though just taking into account the ones not attending due to Covid restrictions and worry's, will this reverse when they go back to church after the crisis dies down a bit?.

But here is the real worry, many of the founding principle of your nation were based on fraternal beliefs derived from Christianity, the original words about all faith's meant all Christian and Jewish but not necessarily every faith in the world and your founding fathers most definitely did NOT mean Satanism which by it's very nature is directly opposed to there belief's.

Without a strong shared albeit varied religious base and shared principles and moral's your society will utterly implode, Atheism can simply NEVER fill that void, Humanism is most definitely lacking moral's and what moral's it claims to hold are twisted around individualism not social cohesion.

The same can be said of an imbalance in which your formerly dominant faith is overcome by growing numbers of ideologically opposed faith's.

It is most sad and I feel sad for the US because if this is the truth then your nations is truly finished without that strong moral faith and patriotic shared identity which it re-enforces.

Sadly much of the rest of the west has already long succumbed to this very decay.

There are other thing's that can bind people together but never as strongly and never giving them a TRUE sense of shared identity to rally around.


You know though attending a big building full of people and giving money to some guy that has a big house and dressed better than you is NOT really going to church, going to church is going anywhere that two or more people are gathered in the name of Christ, be that a dinner table in your own home or with a few friends around at there place or just impromptu while you are giving thanks.
Faith and trying to be a good person is far more important than a social gathering.

So when I say a sad day what I really mean is when they stop believing.

Maybe time for a revival.

With all the heresy going on in so many churches this isn't all a bad thing. I'm sick and tired of jesuit trained preachers and masonic puppets standing at pulpits telling well meaning people to come to the altar say a prayer and be saved. I've never found that part of scripture missing from my Bibles.

There are undoubtedly some good churches out there but I can't find one near me.

I sincerely believe the average person who seeks salvation would have an easier time sitting alone reading a good version of the Bible and leaving out mankinds religiouns until they learn God's truths. Or a very trusted friend or relative they know they can count on.

We are commanded to assemble together in The Lord's name, not necessarily go to church. In this dispensation of grace, we believers are the church.

I believe in God.

But you will never see me step foot in a church, a synagogue, a mosque, a temple of any kind.

God doesn't live in those places.

originally posted by: LABTECH767
a reply to: Assassin82


To be fair is this though just taking into account the ones not attending due to Covid restrictions and worry's, will this reverse when they go back to church after the crisis dies down a bit?.

The article references what people put down in a Gallup poll. So it’s not related to COVID Restrictions, but rather their affiliations with a church. Many put “not affiliated”. I think it’s symbolic to a growing distrust in modern religion but they are leaving the door open for a return should that trust be rebuilt.

I don’t know how many times I see people give money to the church, only for the church (not all churches, of course), use it for dubious purposes that don’t correlate with what their service is supposed to be offering. Especially the bigger churches. How anyone can support Catholicism right now...boggles my mind. No offense to the true and pure Catholics here...but what that church has done is reprehensible. Again, I know it doesn’t represent all Catholics, but I couldn’t put my name next to a brand that has the skeletons in the closet that they do.

So how can you follow that which doesn’t practice the moral standards it preaches? That’s a growing problem for me and many others. At Christmas this past year, my wife’s Godmother and brother-in-law were talking about religion. One of them said “ya know it’s sad when little kids get raped, but if it’s in Gods plan than it was meant to be”. I refuse to believe in any entity that truly believes it’s in Gods plan for kids to get raped. Luckily my wife heard it and saw how angry I was getting and asked me to leave the room with her.

But that’s an example of what people are sick of hearing. Bad things are either part of “Gods plan” or the “work of the devil”. That doesn’t fly with a lot of people anymore and it’s an argument that needs to be banished from believers in modern religions. Anyway...I could go on and on. But religion appeals to fewer and fewer people for a lot of different reasons. And as I said before, I’d rather have a unifying, peaceful community where religion is a positive force than one without. But the religions are what’s failing the people...I don’t see it as the people failing the religions.

Just because you don't go to church, doesn't mean you don't believe.

I don't need a special building or songs. What better place to talk to Him than sitting in a chair in my back yard under the tree, surrounded by His Creation ?

a reply to: Illumimasontruth

I'll be perfectly frank, rejecting other Christians because of denomination and your disagreements with them is simply UN CHRISTIAN, yes you can disagree and yes you can ostracize if you truly believe they are in error and are refusing to repent of it in fact you are commanded to do so, do not associate with the immoral etc.

But many of those Jesuit's are men of faith, many of them believe in Christ even more devoutly than you can measure.

They felt a calling and answered it the only way they knew how, I prefer not to judge Christians based on there denomination, I prefer not to judge at all as the judge shall be judged.

Rather I believe that as Christ said where ever two of more are gathered in his name there he is also and that is true of the catholic, the orthodox and even the protestant churches and even the Mormons despite just about everyone disagreeing with them.

If my Lord is there I see no reason to avoid that congregation, doing so is avoiding my Lord and when the day's comes he may point that out to those that do.

The same things happened in Judaism, although it's way less publicized. Many Jewish people have become disillusioned with the religion due to the numerous sex scandals involving rabbis. It gets handled "internally" which leads to kids feeling they can't trust the synagogue and it's clergy. Coupled with Israel's conflation of itself equaling Judaism as a whole (just like the Vatican believing itself equals Christianity) and the belief that American Jews should be Israel first, American second, you get a lot of Abrahamic Americans who just don't want to deal with religion and it's modern connotations.

a reply to: Assassin82

Yes, many churches are run more like a for profit private enterprise.

Christian preachers sworn to poverty are few and far between these day's, those that refuse to take from the church and use there church fund's solely to help the congregation and the poor are even fewer yet that is the original form of the church from the first and second century.

In fact if you look at a Jewish Kibbutz that is a near identical model to many of those early church group's.

The only way I'd ever go to an actual church building again is if their ledger was open for anyone to view, and they were 100% transparent in how the money is being spent. That, and they weren't engaging in politics.

That, and if the pastor wasn't just giving his opinion in his take of the bible.

But even then, I'd probably never be a regular church building goer again.

a reply to: LABTECH767

Denominations are a result of drifting from God's religion and mankind creating their own, in my opinion.

I'm not a fan of denominations and see true believers as one body, one family. And they are found in nearly all denominations, including Catholicism, even with all their occult heresy.

I don't mince words with these topics and my KJV Bible is always my final authority, even over other conflicting translations.

For those who don't get the translation arguments.
How many versions of The Truth can there be? One. I concluded this after a great deal of research and prayer.

I pretty much agree with projectvxn and DAVID64.
Churches are fine for many, and there is a sense of community attending services.
I really enjoyed services, the singing.
What got me to leave was the asking for money almost every week. I get they have bills to pay, but enough is enough.

Since Covid, I have found a renewed faith.
I pray more, I have even begun to read the Bible.

I think similar renewals of faith are more common since Covid, as people need something to believe in now that the world is turned upside down.
People had to learn to survive their faith on their own, since leaders saw fit to shut of the practice of religion.

That’s fine, I believe there are to many “Christians” pretending their faith

originally posted by: Raggedyman
That’s fine, I believe there are to many “Christians” pretending their faith

And what is a “Christian” by your definition?

a reply to: LABTECH767

Not all of this is because of atheism however, as others have pointed out it could be disillusionment with the church leadership. It could also be a higher prevalence of those that believe in a higher power, yet don't feel the need to bind themselves to a title such as Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc. I know quite a few in my age group (late 30's) that identify as agnostic, yes we believe in the likelihood of a higher power yet cannot claim to know or understand it. Is there most likely a higher power, I believe so. Does that higher power really give a crap what I do in my day to day life, I wouldn't want a higher power that had so little to do that my every action mattered to them.

As for the country going down the crapper, that's not a religion thing I assure you. It's political and always has been.

a reply to: Assassin82

A few more generations of unindoctrinated kids, and religion as we know it will be kaput. "Spirituality" is taking over with morals dictated by personal preference and a realization that the morals everyone does hold as ideal, especially when it comes to relationships, have never really been held up.

Eclectic-individualistic-spirituality is the new congregation. People are over the ever changing rules set by organized religions ("white" people eapecially), they've realized they can just keep their time and money and set their own rules.

originally posted by: AutomateThis1
The only way I'd ever go to an actual church building again is if their ledger was open for anyone to view, and they were 100% transparent in how the money is being spent. That, and they weren't engaging in politics.

That, and if the pastor wasn't just giving his opinion in his take of the bible.

But even then, I'd probably never be a regular church building goer again.

You seem to be talking about big churches. You're welcome to come to mine sometime. We are small, in a small community, but very open. Our pastor doesn't have time for politics because it's not what he was called to do. He tells it like it is - be saved before it's too late. Our members donate food and give out baskets to the needy, we help at homeless shelters, (as a church group), giving out socks and gloves in winter, and we've got a lot of friendly people. Our piano player is first rate! Come one, come all to the First Baptist Church of Norris City, Illinois.

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful. Ha ha!

originally posted by: DontTreadOnMe
What got me to leave was the asking for money almost every week. I get they have bills to pay, but enough is enough.

So, you quit church because they ask for money. Eh? I suppose you quit going to grocery stores because they ask for money, too. Eh?

a reply to: Hypntick

I completely agree with you. I'm in the age group mentioned and was raised Catholic, my wife's Family is Ashkenazi and she was raised Jewish. Neither of us had good enough experiences in our respective religions to continue being involved in them once our parents weren't making us attend.
I'd say we're both agnostic deists. We believe in a higher power and both do our best to be good people and raise our daughter to be the same, but the idea that someone good natured, honest and forthright is damned because they don't have the right parents, belief or adherence to a tribal dogma is crazy to us. Especially in context to an all powerful and loving creator. Plus all religious texts were written by people where as nature is a direct result of whatever created it. I'll place that creation and it's structure over what one of us monkeys says any day of the week.

Who needs religion when you have the state and Biden.

Yet. Somehow I am praying more than ever.