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Thread: Church membership is in a freefall, and the Christian right has only themselves to

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    Default Church membership is in a freefall, and the Christian right has only themselves to

    blame

    Blame the religious right. Until recently, the U.S. was largely unaffected by the increasing secularization of many European countries, but that started to change dramatically at the turn of the 21st century. And it's no mystery why. The drop in religious affiliation starts right around the time George W. Bush was elected president, publicly and dramatically associating himself with the white evangelical movement. The early Aughts saw the rise of megachurches with flashily dressed ministers who appeared more interested in money and sermonizing about people's sex lives than modeling values of charity and humility.

    Not only were these religious figures and the institutions they led hyper-political, the outward mission seemed to be almost exclusively in service of oppressing others. The religious right isn't nearly as interested in feeding the hungry and sheltering the homeless as much as using religion as an all-purpose excuse to abuse women and LGBTQ people. In an age of growing wealth inequalities, with more and more Americans living hand-to-mouth, many visible religious authorities were using their power to support politicians and laws to take health care access from women and fight against marriage between same-sex couples. And then Donald Trump happened.

    Trump was a thrice-married chronic adulterer who routinely exposed how ignorant he was of religion, and who reportedly — and let's face it, obviously — made fun of religious leaders behind their backs. But religious right leaders didn't care. They continually pumped Trump up like he was the second coming, showily praying over him and extorting their followers to have faith in a man who literally could not have better conformed to the prophecies of the christians antichrist. It was comically over the top, how extensively Christian right leaders exposed themselves as motivated by power, not faith.

    Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, Gallup's numbers show numbers of religiously affiliated Americans taking a nosedive during the Trump years, dropping from 55% of Americans belonging to a church to 47%.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ch...me/ar-BB1ffrVh
    “If we have to have a choice between being dead and pitied, and being alive with a bad image, we’d rather be alive and have the bad image.”

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    atheists have been predicting the decline of the church for 2000 years...there's only 3.5B of us left...meanwhile atheists are still afraid to admit their religious beliefs in public......
    Isaiah 6:5
    “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

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    Let's hope secularization is just one of many modern ideas that w learn from Europe.
    Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. Samuel Johnson, 1775
    Religion....is the opiate of the people. Karl Marx, 1848
    Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose. Kris Kristofferson, 1969

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    Default This is a job for a autistic person.

    Black trash bags, a mop and a mop bucket

    What did you get hired for?

    The building employees are not allowed to do work in the building.

    The Irish guys niece marries a Albanian guy. The Irish guy gets the
    Albanian guy a job with 32b. The Albanian guy gets painting jobs in
    the building. The superintendent is now mad because he's losing money
    and starts to take it out on the Irish guy. The Irish guy confronts the
    Albanian guy and tells him nice. He does what he wants. It's the people
    in the building. The Irish guy punches him right in the face. The Albanian
    guy quits and ends up divorced. The Irish guy ends up in the hospital
    from all of the stress he has with the Albanian Super.



    I'm in the ring waiting for the buzzer to sound. Some random person
    outside the ring says guys come out touching gloves. The buzzer sounds.
    The fella I'm sparring with puts out his mitt and I immediately snapped
    a jab in his face. At the end of the round the random person says. " Why
    did you do that?" The sparring partner is taking instructions from the coach.
    I said to this random person. "What are you going to tell me to do next?".

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    fake jews like guano are endangered most are becoming radical Muslims in prison

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    Maybe old abandoned churches could be refashioned as restaurants.

    "Oh, the food here is devine!"
    Personal Ignore Policy PIP: I like civil discourse. I will give you all the respect in the world if you respect me. Mouth off to me, or express overt racism, you will be PERMANENTLY Ignore Listed. Zero tolerance. No exceptions. I'll never read a word you write, even if quoted by another, nor respond to you, nor participate in your threads. ... Ignore the shallow. Cherish the thoughtful. Long Live Civil Discourse, Mutual Respect, and Good Debate! ps: Feel free to adopt my PIP. It works well.

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    Default

    Brand new temple and church here....hmmm

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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by guno View Post
    blame

    Blame the religious right. Until recently, the U.S. was largely unaffected by the increasing secularization of many European countries, but that started to change dramatically at the turn of the 21st century. And it's no mystery why. The drop in religious affiliation starts right around the time George W. Bush was elected president, publicly and dramatically associating himself with the white evangelical movement. The early Aughts saw the rise of megachurches with flashily dressed ministers who appeared more interested in money and sermonizing about people's sex lives than modeling values of charity and humility.

    Not only were these religious figures and the institutions they led hyper-political, the outward mission seemed to be almost exclusively in service of oppressing others. The religious right isn't nearly as interested in feeding the hungry and sheltering the homeless as much as using religion as an all-purpose excuse to abuse women and LGBTQ people. In an age of growing wealth inequalities, with more and more Americans living hand-to-mouth, many visible religious authorities were using their power to support politicians and laws to take health care access from women and fight against marriage between same-sex couples. And then Donald Trump happened.

    Trump was a thrice-married chronic adulterer who routinely exposed how ignorant he was of religion, and who reportedly — and let's face it, obviously — made fun of religious leaders behind their backs. But religious right leaders didn't care. They continually pumped Trump up like he was the second coming, showily praying over him and extorting their followers to have faith in a man who literally could not have better conformed to the prophecies of the christians antichrist. It was comically over the top, how extensively Christian right leaders exposed themselves as motivated by power, not faith.

    Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, Gallup's numbers show numbers of religiously affiliated Americans taking a nosedive during the Trump years, dropping from 55% of Americans belonging to a church to 47%.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ch...me/ar-BB1ffrVh

    A number of causes for this decline. Younger people are less likely to join a church. And the right wing has dominated religious institutions.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bulletbob View Post
    fake jews like guano are endangered most are becoming radical Muslims in prison
    ^ subhuman dirtbag and yes we Jews do look down on your kind bobb
    “If we have to have a choice between being dead and pitied, and being alive with a bad image, we’d rather be alive and have the bad image.”

    — Golda Meir

    Zionism is the movement for the self-determination and statehood for the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland, the land of Israel.







    ברוך השם

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    Quote Originally Posted by PostmodernProphet View Post
    atheists have been predicting the decline of the church for 2000 years...there's only 3.5B of us left...meanwhile atheists are still afraid to admit their religious beliefs in public......
    Why would non believers be afraid to state their beliefs in public?

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    Quote Originally Posted by PostmodernProphet View Post
    atheists have been predicting the decline of the church for 2000 years...there's only 3.5B of us left...meanwhile atheists are still afraid to admit their religious beliefs in public......
    And they are correct


    Organized religions grabs for power has helped it happen

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    Quote Originally Posted by TOP View Post
    Brand new temple and church here....hmmm
    Adorable dog dude


    I’m sure he’s a better man than you even if it’s a female

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    Quote Originally Posted by evince View Post
    Adorable dog dude


    I’m sure he’s a better man than you even if it’s a female
    She's great...very happy here

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    Part of it might be the "halo effect," with people faking their religious devotions. Long ago, in a book titled "Cherished Myths and Lies in American History," it is claimed that at no time has anything close to a majority of people attended churches regularly. They lied about it on surveys.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Controlled Opposition View Post
    Part of it might be the "halo effect," with people faking their religious devotions. Long ago, in a book titled "Cherished Myths and Lies in American History," it is claimed that at no time has anything close to a majority of people attended churches regularly. They lied about it on surveys.
    The Christmas crowd. We go to church regularly...every Christmas.

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