Losing faith in America: Study shows decline in religion, rise in atheism


Tiger1

Tiger1

Well-Known Member
Christianity in America is declining and the country is becoming more secular, according to a new report from the respected Pew Research Center.

While seven out of 10 Americans still identify with a religion, the number professing 'no religion' has grown to 56 million, making the 'nones' group the second largest behind evangelicals. Protestant Christians now comprise only 46.5 per cent of what was once a predominantly Protestant country.


The findings are based on the 2014 Religious Landscape Study of 35,000 people. A previous survey was conducted in 2007 and the 2014 study was designed to be comparable.

It showed that the decline in Christian affiliation was particularly pronounced among young adults, but was noticeable across all ages, all races and people with different levels of education. It represents a fall of nearly eight percentage points in the number describing themselves as Christians, from 78.4 per cent to 70.6 per cent. Over the same period, the percentage of Americans who describe themselves as atheist, agnostic or "nothing in particular" has jumped more than six points, from 16.1 per cent to 22.8 per cent. Those identifying with non-Christian faiths have also increased, from 4.7 per cent in 2007 to 5.9 per cent in 2014.

http://www.christiantoday.com/artic...decline.in.religion.rise.in.atheism/53790.htm
 



The funny part about life is those who go out of their way to claim to hate God or there is no God are the first ones in the church seats Sunday when they get old. Life is a mofo. Keep on living and check back with me when these same 18-35 year olds get in their late 40's and 50's. lol I got five on it if anyone wants to bet!!!!!!
 
The decline in Christianity and all religions for that matter can be attributed to one major factor. People are more aware of what’s going on around them mainly because of social media and the internet. If we go back about 100 years or so, to become non-religious it took a highly intelligent person with large amounts of resources many days sometimes years researching. Now, anybody can find that same information in about 10 minutes with a $10 cell phone. More people have access to more information than ever before. You can’t just tell people you are no good and the world is coming to an end and people are just going to believe it, because you can do a Google search and see people have been saying that for thousands of years. Just like the invention of the printing press gave more people access to religious doctrine with the Gutenberg Bible, at one time Christians were not allowed to read the Bible at all, no longer a system designed to keep people ignorant could last. The Gutenberg Bible let people practice Christianity the way they wanted without the costumed freak leading the way (the Pope), which led to the schism of the Protestant Reformation. Social media and the internet is going to lead another shift in Christian practices or its demise all together.
 
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CEE DOG said:
The funny part about life is those who go out of their way to claim to hate God or there is no God are the first ones in the church seats Sunday when they get old. Life is a mofo. Keep on living and check back with me when these same 18-35 year olds get in their late 40's and 50's. lol I got five on it if anyone wants to bet!!!!!!
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Not sure if serious. It's about time more folk started using common sense and stop letting other people think for them anyway. Ironically, crime is at the lowest point since the 60's yet churches would have you to believe that everything now is a "sign of the times." Pretty amusing.
 
unknown1 said:
Not sure if serious. It's about time more folk started using common sense and stop letting other people think for them anyway. Ironically, crime is at the lowest point since the 60's yet churches would have you to believe that everything now is a "sign of the times." Pretty amusing.
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If I had a dollar for everytime I see folks in my age group or older who didn't believe now at church I'd be rich. Like I said keep living and see how many go to church in their 40's and 50's.
 
CEE DOG said:
If I had a dollar for everytime I see folks in my age group or older who didn't believe now at church I'd be rich. Like I said keep living and see how many go to church in their 40's and 50's.
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I’m 52, so you won’t get a dollar for me. Once the industrial age baby boomers like myself die off Christianity will either change its message or no longer exist. From the First Jewish revolt to the debatable “Fifth Great Awakening”, it has happened too many times over the course of history.
 
I think the decline in religious believers among that age group has to do with them seeing such practices as antiquated, rigid, restrictive and lacks evolution as societal behaviors have changed over time.
 
Kendrick said:
I think the decline in religious believers among that age group has to do with them seeing such practices as antiquated, rigid, restrictive and lacks evolution as societal behaviors have changed over time.
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You make a good point, however religion has always been as you say antiquated, rigid, restrictive, and lack of evolution because it was designed to be that way through fear and ignorance to control large numbers of people. Most religious practices in Western civilization of today, especially the “Vicar of Christ” concept, was started in the 1st century under the Roman Flavian dynasty as a way of controlling people without spending money on armies. It’s “do as I say because God said so.”
 
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bigmanofds said:
I’m 52, so you won’t get a dollar for me. Once the industrial age baby boomers like myself die off Christianity will either change its message or no longer exist. From the First Jewish revolt to the debatable “Fifth Great Awakening”, it has happened too many times over the course of history.
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You do know that out of ten people who try cocaine, two will never get hooked right? lol Everything in life has an exception.
 



Blacknbengal said:
The bible said that these things will happen and many will fall away from the faith.
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lol I hate when people do this. That's why the BIble was written the way that it was, circular, so any time something like this happens there's something in there that you can point too and say "oh look, it's right here in this scripture!" People were probably saying this SAME thing the last 50 times people started leaving organized religion 1000 years ago. Anything to keep yall paying those tithes.
 
unknown1 said:
lol I hate when people do this. That's why the BIble was written the way that it was, circular, so any time something like this happens there's something in there that you can point too and say "oh look, it's right here in this scripture!" People were probably saying this SAME thing the last 50 times people started leaving organized religion 1000 years ago. Anything to keep yall paying those tithes.
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No one cares what YOU hate. The Bible was written hundreds of years before you was born and said/predicted that this would happen. So I'll rather believe what was written in it rather than what YOU hate.
 
As far as being black, I've seen a decline in religion, but I have seen an uptick in spirituality. Churches and religious institutions have morphed into something else(i know there are exceptions, but I'm talking generally) outside of there original purpose. I know many brothers and sisters who sidestep church, but are very much in real contact with what they know God to be and not what someone tells them. I don't think spirituality is in decline, but people obtaining it through someone else's dogma or institution is. I think that is a good thing. I myself am an atheist but I can understand anyone's approach to what they believe God is whether they do it through traditional religion or through themselves.
 
No disrespect to anyone directly, but I'm finding that a lot atheism is much like a lot of homosexuality. It's becoming or became a "Fad". To believe that you rule your own universe and no One other than you is in control of your destiny. It makes a good story to say that you pulled yourself up by your own bootstraps with no One's help. But the reality is, He STILL loves everyone and is giving them ample enough time to accept Him. And the truth is, most don't come until they hit a detrimental point in their lives which usually leads up to some kind of terminal death. Sadly.
 
I worked with this lady at Fulton County who didn't like to believe in Jesus and would argue me if I said "anything" about Him. I didn't even have to be talking to her. If she heard me talking about Him to someone else, she would go into a rage and want to argue me down about Him not existing and what not. It just amazed me how she found Him shortly before she was diagnosed with terminal cancer and died. Her perception of life, religion, existence, took an amazing 180' turn before she passed.
 
Blacknbengal said:
No disrespect to anyone directly, but I'm finding that a lot atheism is much like a lot of homosexuality. It's becoming or became a "Fad". To believe that you rule your own universe and no One other than you is in control of your destiny. It makes a good story to say that you pulled yourself up by your own bootstraps with no One's help. But the reality is, He STILL loves everyone and is giving them ample enough time to accept Him. And the truth is, most don't come until they hit a detrimental point in their lives which usually leads up to some kind of terminal death. Sadly.
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None taken. I can say in my case, it's not a fad, I've never believed in anything.
 
Blacknbengal said:
I worked with this lady at Fulton County who didn't like to believe in Jesus and would argue me if I said "anything" about Him. I didn't even have to be talking to her. If she heard me talking about Him to someone else, she would go into a rage and want to argue me down about Him not existing and what not. It just amazed me how she found Him shortly before she was diagnosed with terminal cancer and died. Her perception of life, religion, existence, took an amazing 180' turn before she passed.
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I never understand people who say they are atheist but take offense to someone practicing their religion. I'm one, but my own wife is Christian, heck we had a Christian wedding. My son is being raised as one. I have nothing against any Christian. I understand totally why anyone else would choose to believe as they do. I think the community at my wife's church is a wonderful group of people. The Montessori my son attends was founded by a black Christian couple from her church and is very grounded in theology. I think that's a good thing. I just don't believe in God or any form of spirituality.
 
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