Which of the following is true in terms of changes in religious life in America?

Which of the following is true in terms of changes in religious life in America?


A. Both ';new age'; and fundamentalist religious groups are thriving.


B. New immigrants are bringing the same familiar religious activities to the United States.


C. America is becoming a less religious country.


D. None of the answers are correct.Which of the following is true in terms of changes in religious life in America?
My local Episcopal church has brought in a series of experts during the past two or three years on this kind of thing.





Here's what we're finding.





About the time the WWII generation started having kids, interest in attending church soared. Parents that didn't attend church, started attending for their kid's sake, because they wanted the kids to be raised ';right'; in a church.





This surge continued to grow until the kids became old enough to decide they didn't want to go to church anymore, in their late teens and early adult hood (college age). This occurred in the late fifty's to early sixties, and has been dropping steadily in all denominations ever since. Once their kids stopped attending, the parents stopped coming within a few years, too.





There are great debates within the denominations about this: the decline is because of women being ordained (1972 in our church) or because gays were admitted (late 70's and 80's). It's none of these, it's just demographics. Not everyone is mesmerized with sitting on a hard pew every Sunday, simple as that.





But there's a funny thing with religion. When pollsters ask, are you religious, the vast majority say yes (especially Christians.) Be aware that certainly doesn't translate into actual church membership.





At a recent soul searching meeting at our parish, a retired deacon challenged us by asking how many members the church actually had. He knew what the answer was, and it made us think.





Both of the following are correct:





1. About 400. Winter visitors, about half. So actual attendance goes from 120/130 in the summer (I'm an usher and we do the counts) during the hot summer here in Tucson, to all time highs of 400-450 when the church is crammed to capacity at Christmas and a bit less at Easter.





2. About 1000. All the people that say they are members, which includes people that haven't sat in a pew in years. Saying you're a member and showing up and paying tithes are two different things entirely. What one person says about being a ';member of their church'; and what another would say about the same person, is a pretty broad spectrum.





Sometimes we are asked to hold a funeral service because the bereaved family member tells us ';He was such a devout member of the church.'; Often that means no one has heard from him in at least several decades and death is the final excuse to show up one last time for a service.





So to answer your question, no one is thriving. You would be shocked at the number of people that go in the front door of your local mega church, and right out the back door a bit later. It's a lot of churning. New immigrants are bringing their religion with them, but don't count on it doing much here. Were they all that religious in their own country? Probably not. If that were the case, with Latin American migration being what it is, the Catholic church should be booming, and it is not. They're having to close churches in many places. My former Baptist church where I grew up, is now a community mental health facility, and the remnants of a huge church now are down to about 15 or 20.





These are the facts as best we can determine them and it certainly explains the wild poll numbers. Calling yourself ';Christian'; when the pollster asks and not attending in twenty years doesn't create a ';Christian nation'; despite what the hard core would desperately have you believe.Which of the following is true in terms of changes in religious life in America?
C. more and more with the ugly picture that is painted when you decribe the history of the mainstream christian faiths, you'll find more people reject them on that basis alone. Also, our society is anything but religious overall, our obsession with sex and the material world I think makes it difficult for people to truly understand what spirtuality is... rather than taking time for example, to contemplate the world and their place in it most people give in to the immediate gratification of drinking, sex, drugs, video games, television, fashion, etc... basically all the things which are the exact opposite of religion. Take into account also the very nature of people, their cliquishness, their cruelty, the tendency towards popularity rather than defending one's beliefs. New age religions are really just stopping points for people who don't want to be christian or jewish, but don't agree with atheists, they're fads in most cases. As far as immigrants bringing things to this country, who says immigrants are all religious ? Fundamentalist groups like catholicism never really practice their 'faith', most people in general who call themselves christian are only sunday morning christians, its a way for them to feel less guilty about themselves, not true devotion.
C





and thank goodness for it!!!











EDIT: Sorry you didn't like the answer, but it's the truth. I, for one, and very happy stupid religions are starting to die off.