Young Christians Desert US Churches

[marmar]

from Consortium News:



Young Christians Desert US Churches
By the Rev. Howard Bess

November 28, 2010


Editor’s Note: While the U.S. news media tip-toes around the issue of American religiosity and its use to justify social injustices, many idealistic young Americans are voting with their feet, abandoning established churches in droves.

This phenomenon has been measured by religious-oriented polling groups and has perplexed ministers of nearly all denominations, but the exodus suggests that many young people are simply tired of the old dogma and the enduring hypocrisies, as the Rev. Howard Bess notes in this guest essay:

Chances are that if you are in your 20s or 30s, you are not hanging around a church.

Polling is now a highly sophisticated industry, and religious organizations are being fed some irrefutable numbers about what is happening among their constituents.

In a single generation, the Christian church dropout rate has increased fivefold. The Barna Group, a leading research organization focusing on the intersection of faith and culture, says 80 percent of the young people raised in a church will be “disengaged” before they are 30.

In the past 20 years, the number of American people who say they have no religion has doubled and has now reached 15 percent. Those numbers are concentrated in the under-30 population. The polling data continues to show that a dramatic exit is taking place from American Christian churches.

Beyond those numbers, denominations across the board are acknowledging loss of membership, but it is worse than they are reporting. Many churches report numbers based on baptized constituents, yet actual Sunday morning attendance doesn’t come close to those numbers. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.consortiumnews.com/2010/112810a.html

[CanonRay]

1. I've always wondered if the Catholics still count me

I quit when I was 7. 52 years ago.

[HillbillyBob]

2. I quit when I left home. Being outted as gay and hiv on easter was

the last straw. I wasn't there at the time I was giving my service to the country via USNavy where I was outed and lost my career and had to do crap jobs ever after. What some cannot understand was that I lost all va benes, I had to work 2 3 jobs to eat and there was not time for school nor $ or help.
and bastards like w and cheney get to go awol and deferments yet they get rich while folks like me languish on SSD after otj injuries then sick on 10g per year...to say I f ing resent it and them would be a huge understatement. I do what I can to get through the day and not be bitter but its very difficult.

I despise these religious cults, they need to be broken up and deprogrammed , most of the grief in my life has been caused by kreestians.
Maybe these young folks will be able to help get a handle on the religious hysteria and bring back a little sanity..but I am afraid it would be just more apathy. I hope I am wrong.

[Merlot]

31. That is such a a sad story - what they did to you and how it affected your life.

You know, apathy towards religion is not such a bad thing. The crazies are so overwrought emotionally that having a little apathy thrown their direction might just be good for them.

[formercia]

7. They own you

or, at least, that's what they think. I had to put up with it until I was 14, when parents sent me to a Church run 'Re-education' Camp. It just pissed me off and they have never seen me voluntarily since.

[StandingInLeftField]

3. I can't for the life of me figure out why?

Oh.........riiiight.

[patrice]

24. Did you ever see whats-er-name there do a little dance with the dolls of herself that she was

giving, one by one, to the little Black "Christian" villagers somewhere in Africa?

I * could * NOT * believe * my * eyes.

[StandingInLeftField]

25. Thankfully, the Lord spared me that.

I can only imagine....!

[patrice]

27. To be honest, the woman probably did some good, but, also to be honest, that NEVER

excuses any of us from asking "at what cost" in order to identify what is REALLY going on.

[southernyankeebelle]

4. I left because the church has gotten invovled in politics. I don't want to go to church

church and be lectured.

[LiberalFighter]

5. Yea!!!!!!!!!!

[bulloney]

6. The Toledo Catholic Diocese is in a PR campaign calling on dropouts to come back to the RC church.

Billboards everywhere in the diocese asking former Catholics to come back.

This campaign may be nationwide, but I know this is what they're doing in my neck of the woods.

The church is not changing its stand on the issues which may have led to people dropping out of the church. The campaign is implying that you may have done something without thinking it through when you dropped out, so we're letting you back in.

[Pacifist Patriot]

8. So how do I get the mailing list and invite them to try out the UUs in their area?

:)

[msongs]

10. most religion lovers need to be told what to do and believe instead of do their own search nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. To all the anglo-American kids who have left their restraining churches:

God bless you all for following your heart and conscience. God is not chained to any church or any building. You will find him wherever your path leads. And remember, we were told never to follow false Gods, so anybody who tells you that your minister or priest is like your father and you must obey him, was wrong to begin with.

[Bluenorthwest]

16. Gee that article did not seem to address 'anglos' but simply

American youth. Nothing in the text suggests that this was a study of Anglo-American youth. Nothing at all. The African American churchs and other minority congregations are having the same youth fall out, for the same reasons, the churches are all about hating gay folks, while they play hand maiden to the war machine.

[The Backlash Cometh]

17. I specifically wrote to address anglo-Americans youth, because this is the

base that would feed into the conservative base that votes Republican.

[Bluenorthwest]

26. And I pointed out that this article does not address only whites

because it is not only Anglo churches that teach right wing crap, particularly from the point of view of those of us who believe in equality for all people as opposed to just for straight people. Sorry to break it to you, but voting Republican is not the only way churches do harm to their neighbors to increase their power and income. They also openly slander and harass gay people, hound us and oppose our basic rights, and it is deeply incorrect to claim that is an 'Anglo-American' problem. Deeply incorrect.

[tularetom]

11. I think it's a worldwode phenomenonenon

The availability of information has severely impacted the ability of organized religion to frighten people with threats of eternal damnation.

The flight of young adults from the church is greatest in countries that have the most education.

[Merlot]

30. You're right about that.

The more education people get, the more they question religion.

That's why conservatives and right wingers rail against academics, "elitists," and higher education in general.

[eleny]

12. It's about time for a backlash

[Joanne98]

13. Christianity is a dying faith! They worship Mammon now. It's over!

Let a NEW religion RISE! One that isn't selfish, greedy, capitalism lovers!

[patrice]

22. +1~ It's weird: they are so far away from that there Bible that they thump so much.

Just flip open Isaiah or Jeremiah to anything, not to mention the New Testament. It's ALL about Social & Economic Justice.

In their own jargon, "Christians" are going to hell.

[Merlot]

32. Problem is the "new" religion would be corrupted by people just like the

old ones have been. What we need is individual spiritual beliefs. Find our own answers, share them or not. Everyone finds their own path.

[Tsiyu]

14. I know I proudly abandoned the faith in which I was raised

After seeing how Episcopalians treated "the least of these" I realized that all of their rhetoric about "social justice" was only bullshit.

Sure, they spout off about Sudan and Haiti and every Third World country's issues, yet they continue to exploit and disenfranchise their poor neighbors with complete and total impunity. They are "the brood of vipers" about whom we were warned.

"Who would jesus imprison, whose rights would he take away for nothing, from whom would he steal and about whom would he bear false witness?"


Around here, the Episcopalians answer, "Why the least of these, of course! They weren't born into our Episcopalian Lucky Sperm Club! Why not!"


It doesn't matter how much you send overseas or how many soup kitchens you run (and heavily advertise that you run.) When you opress the poor down the road and cause them to be poor, your "good works" are merely show.

That's why all of the poor on this mountain tell me they "hate Episcopalains."

The exodus is awesome to behold.

Our young people know its all bullshit, in every Christian church.

[Uben]

15. Believers are getting fewer and fewer

I never belonged to a church and I never attended one regularly because I knew at a young age religion was bullshit. It was all about control. Organized religion is a business, not a belief, unless you believe in organized behavioral control.

But, I did believe in GOd, for most of my 56 yrs. I built a chapel for my wife to pray in when she got cancer. It's what she wanted. It's been eight yrs now, and both of us no longer have the faith we once had. Now, I belive in reality, and reality is, we are on our own. No god is gonna swoop down and take us home. No god is gonna supply monies to pay the bills, and tithing on Sunday is only going to make you poorer and the church richer.

I can't say religion has made the world a better place to live in because of their propensity to start wars and kill people in the name of their god.

I have a logic based brain with a high IQ. It will not allow me to belive in something I cannot see or touch.

Today, I see the religious masses believing and voting against the very things their religion stands for because they have been told to by their pastors, priests and rabbis who want their money so they can make a good living preaching the gospel. Poor folks who need every dime to survive, yet they are willing to give to religion in hopes someday they will receive salvation. It saddens me.

I never belived in a god who said one religion was better than another, and most of them do.

So, now I don't believe in God, I believe in good. I donate to non-religious charities, mostly child related causes such as CASA.
I organize food and clothes drives for the needy because I do believe as a civilized society we must take care of those who can't take care of themselves. I believe in the death penalty, too. I do not see one's life being precious if they live it taking advantage of others and I'm not willing to pay to keep them incarcerated for life, when those monies could feed those who chose to obey our laws but are hungry or needy. They can die and I will feel no remorse. My brain says it's the logical thing to do.

I now believe in me. I believe I can make a difference in the lives of others. I believe we can live in harmony but we do need to rid the world of thieves and murderers and cheaters.

We are all gods. We can all make a difference and help. All you have to do is believe in yourself!

[Merlot]

33. You said it well.

A lot of the reason the younger ones are leaving is they are seeing the hypocrisy. Before this internet thingy, people really didn't have a way to connect, to know that others felt and saw the same things.

Children of the information ages can't have the wool pulled over their eyes!

[elocs]

18. In Christianity the "Church" is really the body of believers and not the organization or building.

Not belonging to or attending a church does not need to have anything to do with not believing.

[MedicalAdmin]

28. Yes, the church leaders do say that.

But to me saying that the church is the body of believers is right up there with that loon who ran for senate with the slogan of "I'm you."

You gotta be pretty stupid to buy that bullshit. What the church is, is a mechanism to aquire wealth and stature for those in control. It's tax free, legal theft on a massive scale. And it's BS is driving the sheep away. Fewer sheep to shear. Yah.

[elocs]

29. No, church leaders don't say that, the Bible does, but you'd need to have read it to know that.

The "church" is the Body of Christ, believers. I lean toward agnostic although I am familiar with Christianity, but I don't blame god or Jesus for how Man has corrupted Christianity. Besides, it was never the intention of Jesus to found a new religion. In the New Testament the only division of churches was by geography, not doctrine, like the church at Corinth or the church at Ephesus.

[yellowcanine]

19. Well let's see..... many churches are gay-phobic and supported the Bush wars,

What's not to like about that for young people?:sarcasm: :banghead:

[JNelson6563]

20. Good. Maybe they will read the bible on their own

and realize it is about un-enlightened as it gets.

Julie

[bemildred]

21. Nice piece. Props to Rev. Bess. nt

[patrice]

23. Young Americans are a lot smarter than they've been given credit for. Parents+Education may have fai

led in seeing to it that their aptitudes are developed as well as they should be, but their innate intelligence is waaaaaaaaaaaaay better than people assume. This, and the litigious culture that we live in, has provided them with a very high degree of skills for social manipulation, which said abilities make them absolutely hyper-sensitive to hypocrisy, even if they can't articulate that very well. Hypocrisy is the grist of the mills of their interactive relationships within the institutions in their lives, parents, school, law, culture, society and . . .

They have seen up close and personal - personal to the point of seeing their intimate friends go off to foreign places and get blown to bits - they have seen up close and personal who it was that was beating the IRAQ WAR drums on "Christian" airwaves and in their congregations. They know who Jesus is and they know what they have seen is Wrong. They have seen up close and INTIMATELY personal the suffering of those who are scapegoated for whatever the crucifixion du jour is about: sexual orientation, geo-political business, race, non-Christian faith, economic class . . . .

Caught in the very same DYS-functional social nets that drive whole cohorts into one form of frustration or another, Young Americans know what it's like to be on both sides of this painful painful American dynamic: torturer:tortured.

Many young Americans were raised on the sugar-tit of the Middle Class, but they have grown weary of the menu. The old "meat powder" treats, that their parents are enslaved to, don't reinforce the capitalist brainwashing anymore for this generation. They've pretty much had it with how "we" are. They can't help but notice that it is our churches that claim the authority and political power to define our "morality" and it's more than just a little obvious that the churches have completely FAILED.

[Recursion]

34. On a side note: if you're on the rolls and not attending, you cost your church money

Most denominations assess from congregations based on their membership rolls, even if people aren't going to church. The church my mom is pastor at has a big problem with that. So, if you really just don't want to go to church anymore make sure you inform your rector/deacon/whatever so that the church can use that money for something else.