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RE: Churches losing membership four times faster than they are gaining it
March 25, 2015 at 7:16 pm
(This post was last modified: March 25, 2015 at 7:17 pm by Pyrrho.)
(March 24, 2015 at 1:42 pm)Minimalist Wrote: The old coots will be beating each other over the heads with their canes and walkers in the name of jeebus.
Careful. I have been an atheist longer than many of the posters here have been alive. You don't seriously imagine that atheism is something new, do you?
(March 24, 2015 at 11:34 am)robvalue Wrote: Big time. After doing no research I firmly conclude the Internet is a massive factor. Being able to check stuff you are told instantly makes it so much harder to insulate children from reality and scientific knoweldge.
That is hilarious, and good.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
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RE: Churches losing membership four times faster than they are gaining it
March 26, 2015 at 4:38 am
(March 24, 2015 at 11:19 am)Mister Agenda Wrote: Not a recent article, but I think it shows some insight:
http://www.alternet.org/story/151947/goo...generation
It doesn't mention that Gen Y-ers are also growing more skeptical of religion as they get older, a significant difference from previous generations, which is likely to have an accelerating effect.
The article also has a plausible explanation for why both fundamentalist churches and the GOP are getting crazier and crazier, and why THAT is an accelerator for people leaving.
I really think its a combo of things anymore. Church's teaching hate for one. Second, they spend so much time in school and with homework and things... Who wants to sit through 1-4 hours of church every Sunday? I think its progression.. It's good... The young people are *starting* to think for themselves not what they are taught. But, There are still a long ways to go and the bigot church's and teenagers are still out there.
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RE: Churches losing membership four times faster than they are gaining it
March 26, 2015 at 10:25 am
Another thing is that we are more and more becoming a global society. That means a diversity of religious beliefs. Dogmatic religions like Christianity (our way or go to Hell) have to be seen as less practical in that setting.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
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RE: Churches losing membership four times faster than they are gaining it
March 26, 2015 at 8:07 pm
Abrahamic religions and i mean all of the Abrahamic religions are incompatible in today's society.
More or less we are becoming more peaceful if anything with one another.
Atheism is a non-prophet organization join today.
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RE: Churches losing membership four times faster than they are gaining it
March 27, 2015 at 1:57 am
(This post was last modified: March 27, 2015 at 1:59 am by Cephus.)
(March 24, 2015 at 11:19 am)Mister Agenda Wrote: The article also has a plausible explanation for why both fundamentalist churches and the GOP are getting crazier and crazier, and why THAT is an accelerator for people leaving.
Actually, I think it's the opposite. Most reasonable people have left the fundamentalist churches, leaving only the crazed fanatics behind. The reason they are getting crazier and crazier is because the moderating influences have realized just how ridiculous the churches are and have headed for the hills.
(March 24, 2015 at 11:22 am)Alex K Wrote: Do you think we get better at critical thinking, or is old time religion just not cool any more?
Studies have clearly shown that the more educated one is and the more intelligent one is, the less use people have for religion. Religion works great when people are stupid and ill-informed but today, most people, especially most young people, pursue college degrees, most often in secular universities where religion is not taught. It's no wonder that as they get smarter and understand more about the world around them, they don't feel the need to cling to the delusions of their parents.
There is nothing demonstrably true that religion can provide mankind that cannot be achieved as well or better through secular means.
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RE: Churches losing membership four times faster than they are gaining it
March 27, 2015 at 3:55 am
(This post was last modified: March 27, 2015 at 3:56 am by robvalue.)
Yeah, I remember hearing the opinion that we will see more and more polarisation. Theists will drift towards very liberal interpretations or else double down on the absolute crazy reality denial. That seems quite plausible to me, and the crazy ones will die out being replaced with far fewer new crazies. Hopefully.
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RE: Churches losing membership four times faster than they are gaining it
March 27, 2015 at 12:40 pm
(March 27, 2015 at 3:55 am)robvalue Wrote: Yeah, I remember hearing the opinion that we will see more and more polarisation. Theists will drift towards very liberal interpretations or else double down on the absolute crazy reality denial. That seems quite plausible to me, and the crazy ones will die out being replaced with far fewer new crazies. Hopefully.
The thing is, crazy religious fanatics often have lots of children. And they are more likely to home school their children, which keeps "bad ideas" away from them to a great extent, at least during their formative years.
More educated, and more intelligent people tend to have fewer children.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
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RE: Churches losing membership four times faster than they are gaining it
March 27, 2015 at 1:27 pm
Good point, that is a problem. It's weird how the general IQ hasn't plummeted as in Idiocracy.
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RE: Churches losing membership four times faster than they are gaining it
March 27, 2015 at 3:07 pm
(This post was last modified: March 27, 2015 at 3:12 pm by Mister Agenda.)
(March 27, 2015 at 1:57 am)Cephus Wrote: (March 24, 2015 at 11:19 am)Mister Agenda Wrote: The article also has a plausible explanation for why both fundamentalist churches and the GOP are getting crazier and crazier, and why THAT is an accelerator for people leaving.
Actually, I think it's the opposite. Most reasonable people have left the fundamentalist churches, leaving only the crazed fanatics behind. The reason they are getting crazier and crazier is because the moderating influences have realized just how ridiculous the churches are and have headed for the hills.
I ikind of intended that to be a lead in to the part of the article I was talking about, which is pretty much what you said. The moderates leaving is why the remainder get crazier, which in turn leads to more moderates leaving.
(March 27, 2015 at 1:27 pm)robvalue Wrote: Good point, that is a problem. It's weird how the general IQ hasn't plummeted as in Idiocracy.
Idiocracy had a very over-simplified view of IQ heritableness, and did not take into account that most population growth in the next forty years will be in South America and Africa, places where it's much easier to die from your own stupidity and where having a large family is still an economic necessity in many places.
I'm not anti-Christian. I'm anti-stupid.
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