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Washington's Blog reports
The Pew Research Center on Religion & Public Life is reporting, in their poll of 35,000 Americans, that during the seven years from 2007 to 2014, the numbers of religiously "Unaffiliated" were soaring, the numbers of Christians were plunging, and the numbers of adherents to non-Christian faiths were rising substantially but not nearly as much as were the numbers of "Unaffiliated".
This report, issued on May 12th, is headlined, "America's Changing Religious Landscape: Christians Decline Sharply as Share of Population; Unaffiliated and Other Faiths Continue to Grow".
It shows that: the percentage of Americans who are unaffiliated rose from 16.1% in 2007 up to 22.8% today.
[...][The USA] is becoming a less [religious], and a more religiously diverse, country.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Grishnakh on Thursday May 14 2015, @03:09AM
Just look at how Christians in this country are behaving these days. All they do is sit around and talk about how much they hate homosexuals, that there's a "gay agenda", that "the Rapture" is going to happen any day now, how God loves rich people more and that's why they're rich, that corporations are people, that we don't need social programs, I could go on and on. Every other day I see a post on Reddit from some poor teenager who's being thrown out of his home and disowned because his parents found out he's gay. Basically, Christians in this country are a bunch of loony Objectivism adherents with some wacky doomsday prophesy thrown in, plus a bunch of rabid homophobia. It's no wonder a lot of younger people are looking at this lunacy and running the other way.
Now what's really interesting is if you look at the numbers: most of the decline is coming from the mainline Protestants and Catholics, not the Evangelicals. It's the latter group which is the home of almost all the nuttery I listed above. The decline in mainline Protestants is fairly easy to explain: they're dying off. The people going to those churches are elderly. The young people (20s-40s) are all going to evangelical churches. So maybe the kids (or grandkids) of the mainline Protestant people are seeing the evangelical nuttery and leaving Christianity altogether. With the evangelicals, they have so many kids that they keep their numbers stable that way, though obviously they're losing all their gay kids since they treat them so horribly.
And finally, look at the absolute numbers: evangelicals comprise over 25% of the American population. That means that 1 in 4 of the people you see around you is a nutcase who really thinks the Rapture is about to happen. Think about that for a second.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by goody on Thursday May 14 2015, @03:39AM
I've theorized for awhile that about 25% of the US population is batshit crazy. That's about the same percentage in polls that thought George W. Bush did a darn good job as president.
(Score: 2) by compro01 on Thursday May 14 2015, @06:41AM
Yeah. It's also fairly consistent. 27% of Illinois voted for Keyes in 2004. [rationalwiki.org]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by GungnirSniper on Thursday May 14 2015, @03:40AM
It's not the gay-away attitudes that are growing the evangelicals but the breeding-is-women's-duty attitude. You see the same thing among Orthodox Jews.
Tips for better submissions to help our site grow. [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2, Interesting) by kurenai.tsubasa on Thursday May 14 2015, @01:10PM
I've observed both. *In before SJW patriarchy crap.* There are plenty of cisgendered women who are in love with the idea of being nothing more than a baby factory. $diety [ironically], I need to get out of flyover country. Great scenery, miles upon miles of wide-open spaces I've come to love, low cost of living, but for crying out loud, good job redneck cisgendered women, just go ahead and flush down the toilet everything that feminism proper did for you. At least the Orthodox Jews have some class about the matter.
Where I live there are two major hospitals who pretty much own all clinics and practices in the county. One trans woman I know was able to find a GP but was unable to see an endocrinologist to get a prescription for meds due to religious objection. She ended up needing to drive 4 hours to Chicago to an informed consent clinic. Another who had previously seen a doc that's since retired got sandbagged at the scheduling desk attempting to find a new GP just because she mentioned she takes an estrogen.
And the state I live in recently attempted to have a “we're cool and hip!” campaign to attract young folks. Well, the brain-drain's their own fault! Egh.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 14 2015, @02:42PM
If you had the skills, smarts or talent to hang on the coasts you'd already be here. Please, stay with the corn fed proles where you belong. The last thing we need is another dependent when you can't make it in the job market here.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by LaminatorX on Thursday May 14 2015, @07:56PM
Some of us stay in the Midwest because we prioritize proximity to friends and family over the job opportunities that larger markets might offer. Competence is really orthogonal to that decision.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 14 2015, @10:37PM
In before SJW patriarchy crap
cisgendered
Come on, you fail on the 5th word. If you want to pass for "non-SJW", then I suggest you stop using SJW keywords such as "cisgendered", nobody in the real world uses them.
Oh and welcome to the world outside your echo-chamber, I hope you enjoy your stay here.
(Score: 1) by dboz87 on Monday May 18 2015, @08:35PM
So basically all women have the right to choose unless you disapprove of that choice. SMDH.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 14 2015, @03:57AM
Just look at how Christians in this country are behaving these days. All they do is sit around and talk about how much they hate homosexuals...
I'd just like to point out that Christians are still in the majority yet more and more states are allowing Gay Marriage. Perhaps your generalization is too broad.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 14 2015, @05:56AM
more states are allowing Gay Marriage
More states are having their prejudicial laws being declared unconstitutional by federal judges.
FTFY
-- gewg_
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 14 2015, @04:34AM
> Christians... Objectivism adherents
Those are two group that I would not expect to have a very large overlap. Why do you suggest this?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Thexalon on Thursday May 14 2015, @11:28AM
There are at least 2 good reasons for that:
1. When you look at the very public Ayn Rand acolytes out there (e.g. Rand Paul, Paul Ryan), they're proudly trumpeting their Christianity. What I'm not entirely clear on is whether they actually believe it or are merely using it as a strategy to gain power.
2. Both conservative Christianity and objectivism have as part of their mindset the "just world hypothesis", which states more or less that everybody gets what they deserve. In the conservative Christian worldview, you're supposed to walk by somebody begging for food because their condition must be caused by their own moral failings and starvation might help them rethink their lives and get right with God. In the objectivist worldview, you are to walk by somebody begging for food without helping them, because objectively they've failed in their basic mission to provide for themselves and are therefor a worthless human being. So these are two different philosophies, but they arrive at the same moral conclusions so many who believe the one also claim to believe the other.
Of course, those who don't follow those philosophies just see really complicated excuses for being a complete jerk.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Sir Finkus on Thursday May 14 2015, @12:17PM
I suspect the Pauls aren't as religious as they claim to be. It's very difficult to be elected to political office without making clear some kind of religious affiliation, especially when you're going for Republican votes.
I'm not saying they aren't religious, just that everybody kind of has to play up the "Christian" bit to win voters.
Join our Folding@Home team! [stanford.edu]
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Thursday May 14 2015, @06:48PM
It's clear to me that they want power. Nothing in the bible backs up their twisted views and most of it is 100% against them.
Why do right wing so-called "Christians" bitch about taxes when Jesus said "render unto Caesar that which is Ceasar's"? The bible itself says to pay your taxes!
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 3, Interesting) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday May 14 2015, @04:49AM
My close friend Thomas Leavitt is an openly bisexual political activist. And yes he's completely cool with my naming him as a bisexual on the Internet. His father - who I think has passed away - was a minister. I never knew thomas' father but thomas always speaks highly of him. Thomas himself studied theology at Occidental College in Eagle Rock, California.
I myself was raised as a Presbyterian. My take on religion is hard to explain, I'm not what most would call a Christian however I do attend church from time to time. For example I've only taken Communion just twice in a Presbyterian church, but sometimes go to Catholic churches because they take Communion at every service. When I was in Rome all I wanted to do was to hang out at the vatican.
I met a woman on the light rail in Portland, who told me that a formerly homeless man was living in her basement. "We took him in because we are very Catholic." That's not what most people regard as "very Catholic" but in my experience, it is.
I know all about the Evangelicals as I was once madly in love with one, I even attended an Evangelical service with her. My gripe with her was that she wanted a husband who would share her faith while I wanted a wife who would respect mine.
There is a homeless shelter and a homeless day center in san luis obispo, california. Three squares a day, breakfast lunch and dinner, are prepared in church kitchens then brought to the shelter and the day center where it is served to the poor by Christians.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 14 2015, @10:20AM
[quoteMy take on religion is hard to explain ... For example I've only taken Communion just twice in a Presbyterian church, but sometimes go to Catholic churches because they take Communion at every service. [/quote]
So basically you're all about the free wine.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday May 14 2015, @02:46PM
Of my two Presbyterian Communions, one was with grape juice.
Tom Lerher discusses Communion in "The Vatican Rag". You doubt it's on YouTube.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Thursday May 14 2015, @06:51PM
Also, the cups are so small if it were wine it wouldn't give a mouse a buzz.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 3, Informative) by dcollins on Thursday May 14 2015, @05:27AM
"And finally, look at the absolute numbers: evangelicals comprise over 25% of the American population. That means that 1 in 4 of the people you see around you is a nutcase who really thinks the Rapture is about to happen. Think about that for a second."
Well... that assumes they're uniformly distributed, which they almost surely are not. You've got some regions where practically 100% of the community are hardcore religious of some sect (which, I think, is how it's sustainable... you basically need everyone around you saying you're crazy if you don't believe). Meanwhile here in NYC evangelicals are less than 4% of the population. (http://www.gothamgazette.com/index.php/demographics/3881-a-religious-city).
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Thursday May 14 2015, @01:47PM
Don't worry unless you live in the South. Evangelicals are heavily concentrated in the South. My own theory is they're that way because it's a somewhat socially acceptable cover for hating Yankees, gays, blacks, women, science, and furriners; it really has nothing to do with Jesus, Christianity, or love. And it's not limited to a particular denomination, like, say, Southern Baptists. I'm a Presbyterian and have known the denomination all my life as a calm, accepting, put-your-faith-into-your-actions branch of Christianity, but when I meet Presbyterians from the South they alarm the crap out of me.
So, to sum up, the Southern evangelicals ruin Christianity, civilization, and pretty much everything else for everyone else. :-)
Wow, that's gotta be a personal best for a flame/troll post.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by dcollins on Thursday May 14 2015, @02:38PM
I think that's insightful.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Hairyfeet on Thursday May 14 2015, @11:16AM
Want to see them scream and gnash their teeth? Point out there is absolutely no difference between what they are doing with gays now and what churches supporting Jim Crow did in the 50s, even down to pulling out bible passages showing "God wants you to keep them darkies in their place". The bible passage BTW? The Curse Of Ham. For extra yucks point out nowhere does it say "And the lord says you can ignore any parts you don't care for for the book is but a salad bar" and then point out how many passages Christians are ignoring, such as not condemning...
1. Divorcees. Matthew 19:9: “And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, commits adultery.”
2. Anyone who has ever read their horoscope or called a psychic hotline. Leviticus 20:6: "As for the person who turns to mediums and to spiritists, to play the harlot after them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people."
3. Anyone with a tattoo. Leviticus 19:28 "You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the Lord."
4. Anyone born illegitimately. Also, anyone who, back to ten generations, is descended from someone born illegitimately. Deuteronomy 23:2 "No one of illegitimate birth shall enter the assembly of the LORD; none of his descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall enter the assembly of the LORD."
5. Anyone who makes a practice of praying aloud, or in public. Matthew 6:5-6 "When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you."
6. Any woman with braided hair or gold jewelry. Just to be on the safe side, NO jewelry at all. 1 Timothy 2:9 "Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments."
7. Any man who has ever, by accident or not, had his genitals damaged. (Current interpretation of this scripture is under debate, so just to be safe, if you've had a vesectomy, or testicular cancer, you lose.) Deuteronomy 23:1 "A man whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off may never join the assembly of the Lord."
8. Please don't let kids in church if they have a bowl cut. Leviticus 19:27 reads "You shall not round off the side-growth of your heads nor harm the edges of your beard."
For those of you complaining that some of these scriptures are from the Old Testament, and that Jesus came to redeem us from these laws, I refer you to Matthew 5:17-19, where Jesus himself says: "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven"
So as you can see its quite easy to point out how they are giant hypocrites who simply pick and choose what to believe to conform to their own prejudices.
ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday May 14 2015, @01:55PM
Good post. I have a cousin who fits your description pretty well. He's an evangelical Christian (Dutch Reformed Church) who won't speak to his Methodist parents because they're not devout enough, and who eschews the consumption of pork because it's "unclean," who has committed serial adultery, gotten divorced, consults psychics, prays loudly in public every chance he gets, and has a bowl cut. Strangely enough when you point out his hypocrisy he gives himself an instant free pass, "Yes, I'm a wicked sinner (but he's a Christian so it's OK)."
I seem to recall from the misty distant pasts of my own Christian education that that's a form of heresy, basically that you can commit any evil and do whatever you want but you get a free pass through Christ, but can't recall the name for it at the moment.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Funny) by everdred on Thursday May 14 2015, @03:29PM
Ugh, a bowl cut.
(Score: 2) by jasassin on Friday May 15 2015, @09:06PM
I'd like to soccer kick anyone with a bowl cut directly in the testicles, but according to the other comments they already have one strike against them. Besides, if they already have a bowl cut I don't think a kick to the nuts would make things much worse.
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 14 2015, @03:49PM
You left out the glorious Leviticus 11:9-12 aka God Hates Shrimp. [godhatesshrimp.com]
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Thursday May 14 2015, @06:57PM
I'd mod you up but you're already at a 4 so I'll point out that those passages are the old covenant, and the sins they describe are forgiven you, paid for in Christ's blood and torture. But you have to regret doing it, which is the hard part.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 14 2015, @09:00PM
> so I'll point out that those passages are the old covenant, and the sins they describe are forgiven you
Read the last part of his post. Jesus explicitly contradicts that interpretation.
(Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Friday May 15 2015, @07:09AM
I take it you ignored the last part? Matthew 5:17-19, where Jesus himself says: "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven"
So sorry Charlie, you can try all the irrational rationalizations you want, but either you follow ALL the laws or you follow NONE of the laws, Jesus himself said so....which just FYI there is zero proof that the person called "Jesus" ever lived, and whole parts of the so called "story of Jesus" are lifted from Zoroaster, complete with raising the dead and turning water into wine, HAND.
ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Sunday May 17 2015, @03:58PM
Much of the old testament wasn't God's law, but Jewish law. 12:31 -- "All manner ofsin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto me." John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
That is the foundation of the religion, that as long as you repent your sins you will be forgiven.
As to the existance of Jesus, historians disagree with you. The Bible isn't the only historical account. [wikipedia.org]
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 15 2015, @12:54AM
Yea, I completely see your logic, "Hi, I like to have sex with other men, which exactly the same as you being black and Jim Crow."
See how stupid that sounds?
Take a look at what is happening. The "right" to marriage has more attached than two people sharing inheritance or hospital visits. With the "right" to marriage comes the "right" to start a family. I'm not the one saying this, it's the gay lobby that is pushing this. How do they get those children, given that gay couples by nature cannot have them? They buy them of course. Be it by paying the most to get one via adoption or by getting one via surrogacy or by getting the best divorce lawyers to cut out the other parent.
Let that sink in for a moment.
True that heterosexuals first started the practice when IVF was invented, but gays are mainstreaming the practice of turning children into property that is bought and sold like chickens and pigs in the booming baby farming surrogate industry. (Which is why most of the developed world has banned surrogacy to various degrees as a form of human trafficking.) Gays don't want people to tell them who to love, but they have no problem telling that to a child once they've discarded that child's birth-mother like a rented oven.
I've known plenty of people who have lost a parent through death when they were young, it's traumatic to lose a parent. People who were given up for adoption spend years searching for their birth parents, as only a couple of years ago my family learned of a cousin that my aunt gave up for adoption when she was young.
Now we have children bring raised by people who claim to "love" them but who have gone out of their way to completely erase half of that child's history and ancestry. In essence, they only love half of the child, the half that is theirs. I've seen that done to children by heterosexual parents in divorce, and it is an extremely cruel thing to do. Now there are people trying to protect that form of abuse by law.
Don't take my word for it, read the briefs submitted by children of gays, some of them gay and/or bisexual themselves, to the supreme court telling their side of the story.
Here is the joint brief filed by Dawn Stefanowicz and Denise Shick:
http://x.vindicosuite.com/click/fbfpc=1;v=5;m=3;l=401071;c=776283;b=3368032;dct=http%3A//www.supremecourt.gov/ObergefellHodges/AmicusBriefs/14-556_Dawn_Stefanowicz_and_Denise_Shick.pdf [vindicosuite.com]
Here is the joint brief filed by Katy Faust and Heather Barwick:
http://www.supremecourt.gov/ObergefellHodges/AmicusBriefs/14-556_Heather_Barwick_and_Katy_Faust.pdf [supremecourt.gov]
Here is the joint brief filed by me and B.N. Klein:
http://www.supremecourt.gov/ObergefellHodges/AmicusBriefs/14-556_Robert_Oscar_Lopez_and_BN_Klein.pdf [supremecourt.gov]
Want even more examples? Check out "Jephthah's Daughters: Innocent Casualties in the War for Family 'Equality'"
http://www.amazon.com/Jephthahs-Daughters-Innocent-Casualties-Equality/dp/1505810787 [amazon.com]
Here is a couple videos of that author speaking. A gay, now bisexual, man who was raised by his mother and her lesbian partner. He's not some religious nut spouting bible quotes, but someone who has lived the life the gay lobby wants paint as just as good as heterosexual marriage. For him daring to speak the truth about his experience, the Human Rights campaign labeled him an "Exporter of Hate" and have tried to get him fired like they have done to other children of gays who speak about their experience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4wJz5c5GXo [youtube.com]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrMeVhhL7m4 [youtube.com]
Gays are not fighting some noble battle against "The Man", they ARE "The Man". The gay lobby gets tens of millions of dollars a year to lobby with, but the people hurt by them are starting to fight back and speak out.
Note how no bible verses were used in this post, so ranting against religion is gonna get you nowhere.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 14 2015, @11:21AM
True enough, reactionary social issues seem to dominate Christian political doctrine, but some issues have no unique religious identifier. To use your example, I'm pretty sure there are a lot of people, including atheists and sub-genii, who are not necessarily anti-gay but are fed up or just plain bored with all the fairy whining, rainbow parades, and bakery lawsuits.
(Score: 1) by kurenai.tsubasa on Thursday May 14 2015, @03:39PM
fairy whining, rainbow parades
At some point, one has to put one's foot down. Straight folks' love life is acceptable water cooler conversation, and sometimes it gets tiring listening to it.
and bakery lawsuits
This I truly don't comprehend. If I ever find my Prince Charming and settle down to have kids, why the hell would I want to hire somebody to bake the wedding cake who's going to flip out because my official records list me as male?
Yet here we are. Some friends and I are thinking about going to an all you can eat wings place in Indiana in the next week or so, and now I'm wondering if I should give a call ahead just to make sure we won't get booted if I order a beer and the waiter notices that there's an M on my CDL.
If you look into it, the law you're talking about isn't even necessary from the perspective of denying service. All it does is protect nutters who don't want to be a part of LGBT weddings from those lawsuits, so overall it's probably a good law. My main gripe is that there needs to be a way for these businesses to communicate to potential customers who's welcome and who's not. Maybe they could take a cue from the Jim Crow era.
This is an unfortunate side-effect of the aforementioned greater legal acceptance of LGBT folks. Other folks go full retard with religion as their excuse out of some sense of persecution of their identities. They're free to do what they want, I just want to keep my money away from them and enjoy some beer and hot wings in peace.
See? Sometimes the free market does work out!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 14 2015, @04:28PM
"At some point, one has to put one's foot down. Straight folks' love life is acceptable water cooler conversation, and sometimes it gets tiring listening to it."
In a pluralistic society, everyone has the opportunity to be bored.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Thursday May 14 2015, @06:43PM
Nice lumping everyone together. As a Christian, I have to point out to the less intelligent Christians that we're not supposed to hate ANYBODY and a gay's sins are no worse than mine. There is a "gay agenda", which is simply to get everyone to accept homosexuality as normal. Being homosexual isn't a sin, acting on impulse is, whether one is gay or straight. As I pointed out to a Lesbian friend who said she wished she were straight so she wouldn't go to hell, it's no more a sin for her to eat pussy than is is for me to. I also pointed out that since she was regretful, she was forgiven. FORGIVENESS IS WHAT THE RELIGION IS ABOUT!
As to the rapture, there's nothing biblical about that. Too many believe it, though.
The "God loves rich people more and that's why they're rich" is bullshit, too -- and like "God hates fags" is completely the opposite of what the Bible teaches. "The love of money is the root of all evil" (1 Timothy 6:10). [mcgrewbooks.com] "Blessed are the poor" (Luke 6:20) [mcgrewbooks.com]. And there's the story of the rich man and the poor man who die (Luke 16:19). [mcgrewbooks.com]
We are also warned of false prophets and wolves in sheep's clothing.
that corporations are people, that we don't need social programs
I don't know what kind of "Christians" you're hanging around with, but no Christian I have ever met has said anything resembling that, with the exception of rich Republicans. Here's a hint: anyone who wears a necktie should be suspect as a Christian, because the tie is the symbol of wealth and power, the symbol of everything Christianity is against. I call a necktie "Satan's Leash" and refuse to attend any service where the preacher is wearing one, and once walked out in the middle of a sermon because the preacher was lying about the bible.
Christianity isn't dying, but the number of Christians affiliated with major religions are. The nondenominational church I attend far less regularly than I should is growing by leaps and bounds, and I see far more young faces than old.
Don't forget, "Where two or three are gathered in my name, I will be there" (Matthew 18:20) [mcgrewbooks.com]. I've seen church take place in bars, without anybody directing it.
Your interpretation of the 25% is faulty; there are over 300 million people here scattered over thousands of square miles. Almost all those evangelicals are in the south. If you live in, say, Tennessee, I can see why you see things as you do.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 3, Insightful) by naubol on Friday May 15 2015, @05:25AM
The fact that you implied being gay is a sin is enough to lump you in.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Sunday May 17 2015, @03:58PM
I implied no such thing. BEING gay is no sin, "gay" is how you're born. There are gays in heaven. When they fall to temptation, it's no different than when I fall to temptation. We simply have different temptations.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org