If you haven't heard the news going around apparently "There are now as many Americans who claim no religion as there are evangelicals and Catholics, a survey finds"
Also nones are not just atheists but also believers who don't affiliate with any religion. But what's the point in being a none & a believer? Isn't the whole point of belief to connect with other people by singing songs, having holy meals, being part of the community and not a lone wolf?

(April 17, 2019 at 4:05 pm)Fake Messiah Wrote: If you haven't heard the news going around apparently "There are now as many Americans who claim no religion as there are evangelicals and Catholics, a survey finds"
Also nones are not just atheists but also believers who don't affiliate with any religion. But what's the point in being a none & a believer? Isn't the whole point of belief to connect with other people by singing songs, having holy meals, being part of the community and not a lone wolf?

I just didn't care for church much for most of my years as a believer. I checked "None" for religious preference the few times I recall it being asked on medical/hospital admission forms to ensure I wouldn't be pestered by some yammering chaplain.

(April 17, 2019 at 4:56 pm)Thena323 Wrote: I just didn't care for church much for most of my years as a believer. I checked "None" for religious preference the few times I recall it being asked on medical/hospital admission forms to ensure I wouldn't be pestered by some yammering chaplain.

Yeah this is something that I was thinking: most of Christians are affiliating as nones because they are becoming aware that Christian leaders are insane.

But they should also ask themselves what makes them insane?

(April 17, 2019 at 10:46 pm)Fake Messiah Wrote:

(April 17, 2019 at 4:56 pm)Thena323 Wrote: I just didn't care for church much for most of my years as a believer. I checked "None" for religious preference the few times I recall it being asked on medical/hospital admission forms to ensure I wouldn't be pestered by some yammering chaplain.

Yeah this is something that I was thinking: most of Christians are affiliating as nones because they are becoming aware that Christian leaders are insane.

But they should also ask themselves what makes them insane?

The voices.

After a long feud the voices claiming to be Jesus have stopped talking to each other.

When I see these kinds of articles, a question arises...how much is religion in decline (I do not doubt it is in decline) vs. how much is evidence of people simply letting go of theoretical (non-operating) beliefs as they are challenged or as they collide with values, cultural shifts, etc. ? People hold a lot of theoretical beliefs of all kinds, but their behavior is primarily shaped, ultimately, by what they believe to actually be real.

Abandoning the religious institution of the Abrahamic religions with all its variations is a logical must in my opinion.

The institutions were always corrupted and they always started war or supported dictators and warlords. Take the Church and the Crusades, or Wahhabies and the rise of the Sauds, or Jews and the invasion of Palestine.

It became a constant that every dictator must have a religious institution of some sorts by their side.

I would say that some of the people abandoning religion -even some of the atheists here- are not turning their backs on God: they are actually turning their backs on the corrupted religious institution.

(April 18, 2019 at 4:19 am)AtlasS33 Wrote: I would say that some of the people abandoning religion -even some of the atheists here- are not turning their backs on God: they are actually turning their backs on the corrupted religious institution.

Lol...There's a term for that, and it's not atheist. 
I believe it's called "Spiritual, Not Religious", or irreligious theism.

For the record, that's not where I'm at in terms of belief. Nor is misotheism. 
I haven't turned my back on God. I don't think a God or gods are probable.

Though I did casually believe at one time, I harbored many, many doubts. I didn't ponder them for too long because it was uncomfortable and I did get the sense that my belief was a reasonably effective means of maintaining emotional well-being, at the very least. So I pushed them aside, until I felt I no longer needed to.

Once I began entertaining those doubts more consciously and honestly, the belief diminished and fell away.


Or as holly-rollers prefer to put it...the Devil made me do it.

No doubt that parishioners of these two pastors will soon be declaring themselves as nones