Numbers Dwindling...

I came across a Web site today that cited statistics that suggested that people, at least in the United States, are moving away from organized religion and from Christianity.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_prac2.htm


These figures surprised me because, in the media, I keep hearing that we are in the midst of a religious revival of sorts.

Can we be in a "religious revival" if people are actually moving away from organized religion?

I would imagine that lower church attendance would suggest a move away from organized religion or, at least, communal religion.

I've read that a lot of people are adopting a private At One With The Cosmos Creed that doesn't require absorbing doctrine or getting up early on Sunday mornings.

America--every citizen a universal expert.

Since the 2000 election the vicar of Christ lives and walks among us daily don't you know....no need for church....

Yeah well... it seems that the young people out there arent drawn into the ideas of religion nowdays. Maybe cause they are kinda old fashioned... maybe cause they portray a relatively perfect being of an example to us all... geez I dont know.

But even here in Mexico, where around 90% of the population state that they are catholic, people just seem to abandon the temple. They just say that theyre catholic out of tradition.

Boredom!
I think people aren't going to Church beacuase it bores them. I go to Christian festivals and amazing bands play and we hear from a speaker and loads of people cry, I've been on weekends away and had the most amazing experiences, and then I get back and go to Church every week and often go away from mass having gained nothing. I wish my friends wouldn't base their religious beliefs on Church and Church only.
(By the way, I've been brought up a Christian and I got to a Christian Church with my family, but at the moment I'm looking into other religions and beliefs).

Seeker-Are you familiar with this site? There is some good stuff here.

http://www.beliefnet.com/

Over on the top left in the site, there are some nice quizzes that will determine how close your own personal views are as compared with many religions. Check it out!

Thanks Pheonix! I did two, the first one told me I was a 'Questioning belieber' and the second the 26 religions my beliefs are most similar 2 - the top 3 being Neo-paganism, Mahayan Buddhism and Uniterian Universalism. Very interesting!

I'm a cradle Roman Catholic, and still practicing. I might get it right some day.

I see lots of problems. I'll list a few of the big ones.

Women feel that they are excluded from the Church because the Vatican still refuses to ordain women.

Women disagree with the church on abortion.

Lots of people disagree with the Church on contraception and figure if they disagree on so much why not find someplace where they agree with the line more.

There are more than a few who are upset at the Church for various reasons. Who the local priest will and won't baptise, marry, bury, give communion to, etc. Some of the hoops the church has erected in the last fourty years that make getting things that used to be easy done.

There are the stands the Church takes against what many people percieve to be Civil Rights rather than strong religious grounds. I already mentioned full equality for women. There is also the Church's stand against homosexuality, priestly marriage, openness of the Church's finances and inner workings -which are generally NOT open to the congregation funding all the goings on.

There is the question of relevance of the sermons/homilies to their personal lives. I know I find the priest of the parish I attend seems to harp on one subject and barely acknowledge or pussy foots around other subjects of interest I think he should speak on.

Then there is the lack of youth programs. This has been going on since I was a child, and I gather even before then. People like to go where they have fun. I know of several Protestant Churches where youth groups have get togethers, parties, dances, etc. all sponsered and supervised by the church, but they are for the children. There might be one, or several prayer sessions interspersed in the fun, but still the fun happens.

Many of the CCD classes, Sunday school to you Protestants, tend to focus on "Thou shalt nots" and not how to live your life and deal with the problems real children and teenagers are facing.

And there are those who did just figure out that not going to church on Sunday morning would not result in the roof falling in immediately, and thus decided to sleep in, and not get up until the game comes on.

And more recently those seeking some excuse not to attend have fastened on to the priest scandals as an excuse not to give to the Church monetarily, and not to go to Mass.

_________-

I don't excuse any one, but I also oppose any effort to drive people into the churches, of any religion. To me religion is how I practice my faith. Faith is my belief in God and my relationship with Him. I happen to think that, upon reading most of the Bible as a text book and not as a line by line list of inviolable instructions, we are obligated to worship God alone, love Him with all we've got, and treat others very much as we ourselves want to be treated. That last means with dignity, respect, courtesy, kindness, and patience. I don't read anywhere that I am supposed to beat people over the head with my Bible in order to get them to do things the way I think they should be done. I am required to tell them when I think they are going wrong, get some neighbors to back me up if the first warning doesn't work, and tell the authorities if I think their behavior is really that bad. But then I'm supposed to leave the isssue alone because they have had three warnings and I have done my duty. (Kind of a formal way of telling busy bodies to but out of other's affairs.) (There is one place in the Old Testament, and one in Paul's letters, where this very warning system is spelled out pretty much as I described it.

The point of the above paragraph is that I have no right to impose my religious beliefs on anyone else. I do have an obligation to live my beliefs and if others like what they see, perhaps they will be drawn to share my beliefs, but I'm not supposed to force them.

Some opinions,
Kelly

Did the Pope intercede with Roman Catholic slave-owners or with the Nazis treatment of the Jews?

So much for THEIR "Moral Imperative"...

I think he said "sorry" recently ...