Among the single biggest favors COVID-19 did for us was to allow people to discover that church really isn't necessary. Rather a secondary result once people came out of the pandemic was that there are OTHER means of having community / fellowship / bonhomie / et cetera than in a church congregation. And, in the midst of all that, a few of those discovered some of the problematic nature of religion and decided that they had had enough.
One way or another, religion is losing traction ... and I for one think that is way overdue.
I quit going to church when they occasionally advocate young earth creation crap in their sermons and Sunday School. One day after I moved out of mom's home, I went to church one more time, left the church during the service, and never came back. I've had enough. I'd rather stay home on Sundays unless I feel like going out shopping for awhile.
Good thing I left right before they got into Trump/MAGA crap and then close the church down due to lack of attendance.
At this point, social media is taking over anything churches used to do for people and making interactions more convenient, easier to manage, and available at any time. Church isn't needed to get that sense of community anymore and who would want to get up early on a Sunday and get into their best clothing if they don't really have to?
Add to that the way any number of conservative Christians have been displaying their real goals of late, and you've got a recipe for an exodus. Hating people takes time and energy most people I talk to these days just don't really have the enthusiasm for even if they were actually interested in doing so, which they aren't. Going to church involves being guilt tripped into donating money, being told who to hate because Jesus said so, and after COVID it's only no wonder people have figure out it's not doing anything for them. Finding the door has never had so much motivation.
Let's see... people's free time is limited these days, what with work and all. Now they've discovered how nice it is to have two days off and sleep in on a Sunday, instead of getting up, dressing up, and spending your entire morning in church. Once out of that habit, they realize, WTF am I doing, giving part of my day off in church and giving money to the church. Time is tight, money is tight. Druther sleep in, have some avocado toast and take it easy. Read the comics with a leisurely cup of coffee or go get yelled at for being a sinner and made to feel awful about yourself? Not much of a choice for me, pass the butter.
I do think the pandemic played a role but mostly in giving people an opportunity to experience their life without regular church attendance. Once people realize that their life is just fine without church, the spell is broken. As far as the question of what church leaders do to bring people back, I actually think we’re at the point where they don’t have that authority anymore. They’re in a no win situation where they need to pander to the extremists who are still attending if they want to stay relevant, but at the same time that will push non-churchgoers even further away. I will of course send my thoughts and prayers to them in this difficult time.
This is pure conjecture, but I suspect there were people who figured out the preachers need them a whole lot more than they ever needed the preachers. Few things ever made me feel better than when I stopped going to church a few months out of high school.
"This is why the government needs religious freedom to force non-compliant individuals to freely exercise their freedom of religion by going to the nearest approved Christian Church, just as our founding fathers wanted." Clarence Thomas, maybe.
“Most people can’t bear to sit in a church for an hour on Sundays. How are they suppose to live somewhere very similar to it for eternity?” - Mark Twain.
We’re writing to share with you that as of tomorrow, our current commenting system will no longer be in service. After receiving and considering feedback from our most engaged commenters, we decided that Viafoura was not meeting the needs of the community.
*Gee it only took almost two and a half 𝐅𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 years of complaints ‽ ‽ ‽ 😤🤬*
As a participatory platform, we highly value our commenting community . . .
Yet no matter how low the numbers sink, the christers will keep insisting that "this is a christian nation." In his landmark "America at 1750" historian Richard Hofstadter analyzed the available data and found that fewer then 15%of the North American population attended church at all regularly at that time, yet they still insist "this was founded to be a christian nation." Myths die hard--especially in a country where people are as poorly educated as most Americans.
Among the single biggest favors COVID-19 did for us was to allow people to discover that church really isn't necessary. Rather a secondary result once people came out of the pandemic was that there are OTHER means of having community / fellowship / bonhomie / et cetera than in a church congregation. And, in the midst of all that, a few of those discovered some of the problematic nature of religion and decided that they had had enough.
One way or another, religion is losing traction ... and I for one think that is way overdue.
I quit going to church when they occasionally advocate young earth creation crap in their sermons and Sunday School. One day after I moved out of mom's home, I went to church one more time, left the church during the service, and never came back. I've had enough. I'd rather stay home on Sundays unless I feel like going out shopping for awhile.
Good thing I left right before they got into Trump/MAGA crap and then close the church down due to lack of attendance.
At this point, social media is taking over anything churches used to do for people and making interactions more convenient, easier to manage, and available at any time. Church isn't needed to get that sense of community anymore and who would want to get up early on a Sunday and get into their best clothing if they don't really have to?
Add to that the way any number of conservative Christians have been displaying their real goals of late, and you've got a recipe for an exodus. Hating people takes time and energy most people I talk to these days just don't really have the enthusiasm for even if they were actually interested in doing so, which they aren't. Going to church involves being guilt tripped into donating money, being told who to hate because Jesus said so, and after COVID it's only no wonder people have figure out it's not doing anything for them. Finding the door has never had so much motivation.
Atheism's secret advantage: Sunday mornings!
Let's see... people's free time is limited these days, what with work and all. Now they've discovered how nice it is to have two days off and sleep in on a Sunday, instead of getting up, dressing up, and spending your entire morning in church. Once out of that habit, they realize, WTF am I doing, giving part of my day off in church and giving money to the church. Time is tight, money is tight. Druther sleep in, have some avocado toast and take it easy. Read the comics with a leisurely cup of coffee or go get yelled at for being a sinner and made to feel awful about yourself? Not much of a choice for me, pass the butter.
I do think the pandemic played a role but mostly in giving people an opportunity to experience their life without regular church attendance. Once people realize that their life is just fine without church, the spell is broken. As far as the question of what church leaders do to bring people back, I actually think we’re at the point where they don’t have that authority anymore. They’re in a no win situation where they need to pander to the extremists who are still attending if they want to stay relevant, but at the same time that will push non-churchgoers even further away. I will of course send my thoughts and prayers to them in this difficult time.
This is pure conjecture, but I suspect there were people who figured out the preachers need them a whole lot more than they ever needed the preachers. Few things ever made me feel better than when I stopped going to church a few months out of high school.
I think the issue is that 34% is voting, and they are represented by 96% of congressional members.
"This is why the government needs religious freedom to force non-compliant individuals to freely exercise their freedom of religion by going to the nearest approved Christian Church, just as our founding fathers wanted." Clarence Thomas, maybe.
“Most people can’t bear to sit in a church for an hour on Sundays. How are they suppose to live somewhere very similar to it for eternity?” - Mark Twain.
OT - Just got this from OnlyShit
Dear OnlySky Readers,
We’re writing to share with you that as of tomorrow, our current commenting system will no longer be in service. After receiving and considering feedback from our most engaged commenters, we decided that Viafoura was not meeting the needs of the community.
*Gee it only took almost two and a half 𝐅𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 years of complaints ‽ ‽ ‽ 😤🤬*
As a participatory platform, we highly value our commenting community . . .
BULL💩
Yet no matter how low the numbers sink, the christers will keep insisting that "this is a christian nation." In his landmark "America at 1750" historian Richard Hofstadter analyzed the available data and found that fewer then 15%of the North American population attended church at all regularly at that time, yet they still insist "this was founded to be a christian nation." Myths die hard--especially in a country where people are as poorly educated as most Americans.
"It is not clear if the pandemic is the cause of the reduced attendance or if the decline is a continuation of trends that were already in motion."
It's not COVID. The public face of Christianity is nothing but assholes.
Life is too short to spend it with assholes.
Get attendance up again? Easy. Just do what was done during the pandemic. Fill those pews with puppets.
Of course, preachers won't get much out of them in the way of $$$ but at least they'll be a captive audience.
I'm not even going to waste my prayers on them, and if they were interested in thoughtS, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
Interesting.
Just got an email from OnlySky saying they’re abandoning Viafloura.