So, it appears that people are leaving the churches they were brought up in and moving to non-denominational churches.
The U.S. religious marketplace is extremely volatile, with nearly half of American adults leaving the faith tradition of their upbringing to either switch allegiances or abandon religious affiliation altogether, a new survey finds.
[...]“The American religious economy is like a marketplace — very dynamic, very competitive,” said Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum. “Everyone is losing, everyone is gaining. There are net winners and losers, but no one can stand still. Those groups that are losing significant numbers have to recoup them to stay vibrant.”
The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey estimates the United States is 78 percent Christian and about to lose its status as a majority Protestant nation, at 51 percent and slipping.
More than one-quarter of American adults have left the faith of their childhood for another religion or no religion at all, the survey found. Factoring in moves from one stream or denomination of Protestantism to another, the number rises to 44 percent.
On Sunday mornings and in a smaller way, Wednesday nights, you’d never know that religion is in decline around here. But, then again, this is the buckle of the bible belt.
But, I think that much of the loses in church goers goes right back to the church. I have no studies to prove my point, it’s just an idea that it is the dogma of organized religion. As much as a pastor might disagree, the narrowness or breadth in which a church might interpreet the religious book of their faith, I believe has a lot to do with the losses of people.
I’d say that religion is comforting, and a guide for some people. But when one is chided for living by the word of one’s prophet, that person isn’t going to stay. When a person cannot reconcile the word of their prophet with the message from the pulpit (war, for example) a religion is going to lose people. When a religion does not keep up with the reality of everyday life for their parishioners, people are going to leave. When the person at the pulpit uses the prophet for profit, people will leave.
But, I also think it interesting that this article does not mention paganism and the earth-based religions, which are growing, at all.
Religion is a form of mental illness. Religions depend on people believing in magic. “Water was turned into wine! He raised the dead! You return to life after you die because a magical essence is transmitted into a new body! The sun stood still in the sky for six hours! A raven created the whole world! When you are dead, if you were a good warrior, you can live forever in a great hall with the other heroes! The god turned himself into a goose and mated with a woman!”
All of these claims have equal validity. All are about magic. They say nothing about the supernatural, but a lot about human imagination. Believing them to be true, however, is evidence of being disconnected from reality. Many people have this form of mental illness (”A magic creature controls everyone and everything in the whole world! We call it ‘god’ “), but some have it more severely than others.
Many people have this form of mental illness (”A magic creature controls everyone and everything in the whole world! We call it ‘god’ “), but some have it more severely than others.
You’ve got that right!
Don’t get the idea that those non-denominational churches are not dogmatic. People go to them in search of certainty.
I’ve heard more than one person expressing doubts about a lot of those “non-denominational” churches. They don’t spring up organically. They seem to come from organizations with deep pockets and murky motives.
deep pockets and murky motives could fit some of the reconstructionist, dominionist and other evangelical churches as well.