The Misunderstood Reason Millions of Americans Stopped Going to Church

www.theatlantic.com

The book suggests that the defining problem driving out most people who leave is … just how American life works in the 21st century. Contemporary America simply isn’t set up to promote mutuality, care, or common life. Rather, it is designed to maximize individual accomplishment as defined by professional and financial success. Such a system leaves precious little time or energy for forms of community that don’t contribute to one’s own professional life or, as one ages, the professional prospects of one’s children. Workism reigns in America, and because of it, community in America, religious community included, is a math problem that doesn’t add up.

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- It's disgusting. I went to my grandma's church a year ago or so and the pastor literally told us all to pray for: The fucking military... the fucking police... and the fucking politicians... yet we didn't pray for the poor or the war-torn or the suffering homeless population.. Like wtf. This isn't Christianity, this is unironic Satanism lol. Everyone worships the capitalist state. I jut don't know what is to be done about the state of the church. We need a reformation or something smh..
I grew up Methodist, but once my parents started working weekends, that just stopped entirely.
I feel like the internet is replacing the function of what churches used to be, which were the primary social activity of any given location. They were where you'd find work, find a spouse, make friends. They were a genuine third location to have some connection to your community.
They were also places for kids to get abused and for insane reactionaries to feel validated. I guess it's a mixed bag. But churches just aren't operating as that third location anymore. People can go online for community at this point. Is that better? Probably not.
I guess it's also easier now to research alternate religious opinions, or to see them at least. My cousins who grew up fundamentalist had no clue other religions existed until everyone became Islamophobic after 9/11.
- Before 9/11, I thought the only 3 religions were Judaism, Christianity, and Asian.
  And I thought Christianity was about a guy named Christian.
- They were also places for kids to get abused and for insane reactionaries to feel validated
  damn the internet really has replaced them completely then huh
I also think the behaviour of the church and the way it inexplicably tied itself to right wing politics and the monarchy (in my country) is a big part. They ask why have people stopped coming - come on man you know why you just don't want to address it because you worship capital before God
- Yeah there's currently a huge split among American Methodists right now, which was a church founded to basically be "normal default Christians" and not embroiled within deeper theological or political questions.
  They're tearing themselves apart over gay and trans issues. Half of the Methodists want to just stop hearing/talking about it, the other half want to start their own explicitly conservative version of Methodism. It's making a lot of people simply disinterested in going to church, going from what I'm hearing from Methodists.
- I live in a very liberal area at the moment, and there's a Church near me with a sign saying "everyone welcome" and the gay/trans pride flag on it. Most people obviously still don't attend weekly, but I've talked to people that say they would never have attended for Easter or anything in the first place if it wasn't for the church making it clear they preach tolerance.
IMO the main reason the church has spectacularly failed is because the true and revolutionary message of Christ has been utterly inverted into Unironic Satanism; the worship of capital, military, police, politicians, and state institutions. Reminds me of a quote from Nietzsche (I know cringe, but bear with me): "As soon as a religion becomes dominant, it has at once as its enemies those who would have been its first followers." Now, what does this mean? It means that Christianity was never meant to be a mainstream religion, it is a slave religion for the oppressed and a tool to escape the shackles of oppression. It was never meant to intermingle with those in the heights of worldly power. The coopting of Christianity by Emperor Constantine of Rome was the worst thing that could've ever happened to Jesus' message. Christianity was never meant to be imposed on other or used as a nationalist symbol. Just as Lenin spoke of revolutionaries and how reactionaries would dull their message and soften their image, and present that image to the people to appease them (think of MLK).
I found what I think is the true nature of the original church in rehab of all places. The culture of my 30-day rehab was one of acceptance and understanding. There were people from all walks of life and class, but we were all brought low by addiction, rendering us equal in sin. It produced a humility and openness that doesn't exist in the outside world. I believe the sacrament of Confession was originally meant to be like sharing in AA or NA. We admit our sins to each other, not to a priest. In this way, the rehab culture reminded me of a socialist society and God I miss it so much. It was the only time I ever really felt apart of something. Anyway, We need to build a new church, yes we need a reformation and it will be a fight against the reactionaries who will call us false Christians, but didn't Jesus fight the Pharisees? It is our duty now to denounce all reactionary Christians as what they are: Pharisees.
I find it incomprehensible how Christianity can be such a dominant religion considering how many others exist combined with the age of ubiquitous information we live in

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