It cannot go unnoticed that huge numbers of Churches, Synagogues and other religions places of worship are closing down at an unprecidented rate. As such neighborhood churches and other close the properties are sold off by various Religious Leadership and memberships are consolidated down to remaining places of worship. Why? Well...it is fairy obvious. In this modern era of High Technology and Scientific Discovery....it is difficult for a Preist or Minister or Rabbi or what have you....to convince the Youth to just hand over their hard earned money to support such institutions...TAX FREE I might add. It would seem nowdays that such places only have the older crouds visiting them on Sunday or Saturday. AboveAlpha
This country was bristling with active churches up until about the 1970's. The vast majority of those still standing are now private homes, cafes, galleries, sports clubs, etc. A delicious fact - problems only arise (for redevelopment) when there is a cemetery attached. BOO !
Actually it is more about people wanting something just not what has always been. There are plenty of growing religious experiences that exist that aren't the old church and synagogue models. (Mosques are actually growing). People are feeling they can be religious alone. I disagree totally that it is about modern science. There is no evidence for it.
Marty: The last time Tap toured America, they where, uh, booked into 10,000 seat arenas, and 15,000 seat venues, and it seems that now, on their current tour they're being booked into 1,200 seat arenas, 1,500 seat arenas, and uh I was just wondering, does this mean uh...the popularity of the group is waning? Ian: Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no...no, no, not at all. I, I, I just think that the.. uh.. their appeal is becoming more selective. ---"This Is Spinal Tap"
You can spot two trends that don't bode well for church attendance. 1. The rise of the mega-churches. If the "Wal-mart" Churchs are taking over, it means the smaller ones (like small businesses in a town with WM) will go out of business. 2. The mailer, radio, and TV advertising that churches are now engaging in. Can you remember growing up where a CHURCH had to advertise to get members???
we knew the Churches were failing when bush started faith based initiatives to bail them out.... http://rationalrevolution.net/articles/history_of_the_separation_of_chu.htm "When a religion is good, I conceive it will support itself; and when it does not support itself, and God does not take care to support it so that its professors are obliged to call for help of the civil power, 'tis a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one. - Benjamin Franklin: in letter to Richard Price, October 9, 1780"
the only place I have heard that Mosques are growing is by the thousands is Louisiana and that is because of religious vouchers http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/07/06/1106793/--Vouchers-can-be-used-for-Muslim-Schools-OOPS WATSON — Rep. Valarie Hodges, R-Watson, says she had no idea that Gov. Bobby Jindal’s overhaul of the state’s educational system might mean taxpayer support of Muslim schools … 'I liked the idea of giving parents the option of sending their children to a public school or a Christian school,' Hodges said. Hodges mistakenly assumed that 'religious' meant 'Christian.' HB976, now signed into law as Act 2, proposed, among other things, a voucher program allowing state educational funds to be used to send students to schools run by religious groups … 'Unfortunately it will not be limited to the Founders’ religion,' Hodges said. 'We need to insure that it does not open the door to fund radical Islam schools. There are a thousand Muslim schools that have sprung up recently. I do not support using public funds for teaching Islam anywhere here in Louisiana.'" .
FBI was a pay off to the Religious Right for supporting Dubya, despite lingering suspicious about the Bush Family....who until Reagan....were pro-choice.
If any are interested in the belief to non-belief tipping point. [video=youtube;CifaS8fPxG8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CifaS8fPxG8[/video] Regards DL
Well....most of the Agnostics and Atheists I know who were formerly Christian's, Jews or Muslims basically have said the same thing to me that being....It's just a big business.....The Bible, Torah, Koran...etc....talks about obvious Scientific Impossibilities.....and EVERYONE say's....THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS GOD'S PLAN! The last one rings a bell with everyone. AboveAlpha - - - Updated - - - It goes to 11. AboveAlpha
Here in North America when Christian Theologians over come their fear of a teenager like Colton Burpo....... I suspect due to his having better answers on just about any question related to scripture than any of them even with ten years of study at a seminary tend to have........ Then churches here will be ready for a new awakening of sorts....... There is good news in Israel..... a fifteen year old Israeli teenager who had a near death experience back in 2015 is being listened to by large audiences of Orthodox and Chassidic Jews and...... even Agnostics and Skeptics......
Too bad Jesus isn't actually real, since if he was he'd have come down w/in the last 2000 years and educated people that he's actually real, and that would mean far less attrition, so fewer people would need to be tortured in hell when they die. But, since he's not real, or doesn't give a crap about humanity, he hasn't done that. So much for a loving, compassionate "son of god".
Personally... I think that one of the probable implications of Multiverse Theory...... as put forward by AboveAlpha...... that seems to fit with some evidence from parapsychology....... is that Eventual Universal Salvation...... is going to be worked out somehow.....
Yes, we can be "saved" (i.e. receive some benefits in an afterlife, say) even w/out believing in illogical, immoral, outdated books/gods/prophets.
True...... i highly, highly recommend the off the scale intelligence of that being of light of NDE fame...... http://www.politicalforum.com/index.php?threads/the-being-of-light-of-nde-fame-g-d-or-satan.445248/ The being of light of NDE fame, G-d or Satan? ....
At this time in my life I believe that one of the most important potentially negative events that we can get saved from....... is the danger of our being intimidated or tempted off into a very low level of consciousness in the Afterlife........ http://www.near-death.com/experiences/notable/christian-andreason.html#a09
All it takes for a resurgence in the faithful are hard times, like we saw in the great depression. When people become hopeless, with no help from other human beings, they look beyond. It is human nature. Likewise many of our social problems today are caused by people not having to struggle just to survive. When you have to struggle just to survive, you don't have the time or energy for the silliness. I can remember when one labored hard from the time they crawled out of bed to build up the fires to keep warm and fire up the stove to cook breakfast, as you milked your cow, all before you went to work for 5 dollars a day, hard labor. We didn't have time for the nonsense back then, and this also created an environment where people helped one another, just to survive. It is like the furnace which burns away the dross.
In the US the liberal churches are shrinking fastest.... why is that... movement from far left to spiritual.
Yes... and three year old near death experiencer Colton Burpo is playing a significant role in that as he tells his story...... He is actually a teenager now.... and truly convincing. He is in the movie and book "Heaven is for Real."