Decline of Religion in the west

[Gawdzilla Sama]

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?

No, it's to take care of their own souls without having to interact with people who have imaginary friends. Like they do.

[WinterHold]

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.

If the devil had an organization it would be the religious institution to be fair with you. So it is the devil's action that caused you to disbelief

But you doubt the existence of God, so that doesn't make you an "irreligious theist":

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreligious_theism

Irreligious theism is the belief that there is a higher being, but doesn't follow organized religion

I personally believe that a religion was already revealed by a higher being -it was a series of revelations across history that ended with Islam's Quran-.

I was pushed though to the edges of non-belief but the design of the universe kept a lot of question marks active with no explanation but this: there's a high, intelligent God moving the strings, and he didn't forget about us here on earth, and sent us a long chain of prophets preaching his message to us.

That's not irreligious theism.

[Amarok]

Below is TED lecture arguing religion, esp.Christianity is in decline in the 20 odd 'modern' countries.

The argument seems reasonable to me. However, I will need a lot more evidence before being able to take informed position.

I post for interest of members, not to take a shot at our resident apologists.  There is no need, they already expert in collectively shooting themselves in the foot .

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_q...jreload=10

Define the west

[Athene]

But you doubt the existence of God, so that doesn't make you an "irreligious theist":

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreligious_theism

Irreligious theism is the belief that there is a higher being, but doesn't follow organized religion

Yes, I know that, Atlas. That was my point.
You had mentioned that some of atheists here probably haven't turned their backs on God; Only religion.

I was simply telling you that what were describing is not an atheist at all.

[Lemon Curry]

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

I think that it's a great pity that it's now illegal to feed christards to the lions, but, sadly, times move on.

It looks as if christard fundies haven't yet moved on, judging by the contents of this vid. Hey ho.

[Fake Messiah]

Germany's Protestant and Catholic churches predicted to lose millions of members

The main reasons for declining membership in the German Catholic and Protestant churches include adults leaving the church, fewer baptisms and an aging population, researchers at the University of Freiburg said.

The study, which was commissioned by the Catholic German Bishops Conference and the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), predicted the combined membership in the two churches will drop from about 45 million now to 34.8 million by 2035 and 22.7 million by 2060.

Members of the Catholic and Protestant churches pay up to 9% of their taxable income to the church, generating around €12 billion ($13.5 billion) in income in 2017.

The income is predicted to remain the same in 2060, but with inflation, rising maintenance costs and salary increases the two churches will need €25 billion, according to the study.

The projected budget shortfall is a wakeup call for the churches after years of low unemployment and economic growth boosted their coffers.

https://m.dw.com/en/germanys-protestant-...a-48578035