Hi there! I was just a Germanic Heathen passing along these threads, simply seeing what was in here (I've never been to the Syncretic DIR). I saw a thread that was titled something to the effect of "Is UU dying?"
I hope to not revive that one but discuss a different topic, which is still yet connected to the previous. I'll start with Christianity.
Christianity is dying, at least in North America and most of Europe (I'm going to be specific to The US). Some of the Christian right will present "evidence" that it's not. This evidence includes various churches and how much their numbers have grown, which shows that although total numbers have gone down, they are about to spike!... These leaders are scared and lying through their teeth.
The first symptom is a rise in skepticism and fundamentalism. Skepticism makes sense, but why the latter? When an ideology falls back on fundamentalism, it's an ideology in crisis and its leaders know it! Conservatism also is being looked at more and more unfavorably, so what we would call "fundamentalists" are pushing their ideology and quoting Reagan now more than ever!
How does this crisis happen? What causes the decline?
There are four types of churches, two of which really are growing. The first is the Catholic. Well yes, they're growing, and really well actually, peculiarly in the southwest. This answer can be answered simply: Mexico. Hispanic Immigrants are moving to the US, obviously most of them are in places like California or New Mexico, and most of them are also Catholic. This number will drop sooner or later. There are only so many Mexicans in the world, and fewer which desire to or can move to the states. They also will become assimilated into American culture and will most likely follow The Americans' lead.
The second one that's growing is the group of enormous super churches. The Third group of churches being the small town, Baptist, Church of Christ, conservative, rural, fire-and-brimstone congregations are dropping like flies, including the one from my childhood (of which I was one of the first to leave for Paganism. Apparently once the members found out that there are other gods and some people still believe in and worship them, a good chunk followed my lead for polytheism and witchcraft. Oops! Sorry Pastor Mike!). The most of the ones who don't go to Paganism, which is still a good chunk, are leaving but giving Christianity one last shot. They're finding a different church, but all the others are either in the same denomination have either the exact same attitudes, drama and dogma or they're gone. Those are dead, and they foreshadow the fate of the cross. The best of the very few options is to go to the mega church. These churches, which are so big, beautiful, wealthy, friendly and charismatic are most of these people's last hope for Jesus. After these churches' numbers spike from the influx of attendance, they will drop dramatically as the people find out that it's just a bigger, wealthier, more well choreographed version of their old church. When they leave, some in the church will hear about why, realize what's going on and leave too. The problems, overbearing dogma and drama are still there, and maybe even in larger portions, but it's all just swept under the rug much better. The church has a decrease in population.
So we've met end of the life cycle of the adventurous and intellectual Christian, but where do they go from here? Those who are still Christian? The ones who are truly Universalist, salvation to all regardless of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation? Who have a liberal interpretation of holy texts? Who view other religions as insightful and maybe even just as truthful, and not as Satanic Demon Worshipers or Heathen, Middle Eastern Terrorists? They may go to the fourth group, the liberal churches, if one can be found, as most Christians give up by the second, usually by the third, branches. As the for the few who've made it this far but are hard headed in finding a church that fits the views listed above, where do they go? At this point they've probably heard of Odin, The Horned God or Zeus and respect them but aren't interested. So where do they go if not paganism? Something Christian but at the same time not.
Unitarian Universalism has grown more than 15% in the last decade, I'm sure you know. Also the faster religions grow, the faster rate they tend to have (via word of mouth, education, sometimes but not necessarily proselytization; actually numbers tend to go up faster without it). With UU churches replacing the old groups of congregations, they'll grow and social Darwinism will take over. UU will likely come out above Liberal Christianity, because although UU has Liberal Abrahamic roots, it's the latter which is most associated with all the things this increasingly liberal culture dislikes: racism; genocide; slavery; homophobia; sexism etc. So Christianity is very likely dying in the US. Before you guys came, it could've had a chance with the progressive branch, but you beat them to the punch and you have better connotations and associations for the culture of the future generations.
Along with my community, the pagans, the other really quickly growing religion (I'm not sure which of us will be more popular, but it doesn't matter anyway) we can make a new set of spiritual resources for Americans. Paganism, being a group of polytheistic religions which embrace cultural and ethnic background and heritage, being the dominant alongside Unitarian Universalism, the self proclaimed "liberal" religion embracing any belief system and any point of view while scolding colonialist traits of religion. It's Pat Robertson's worst nightmare!
I'm sure that also we can fully reinvent religious terminology like prayer, religion, god etc. Christianity has left the liberal, oppressed and intellectual with a bad taste in their mouth, but I believe that we can make them into words carrying connotations of multiculturalism and the love of the divine, in whichever form any human being perceives it.
The future of worship looks bright :rainbow:
I hope to not revive that one but discuss a different topic, which is still yet connected to the previous. I'll start with Christianity.
Christianity is dying, at least in North America and most of Europe (I'm going to be specific to The US). Some of the Christian right will present "evidence" that it's not. This evidence includes various churches and how much their numbers have grown, which shows that although total numbers have gone down, they are about to spike!... These leaders are scared and lying through their teeth.
The first symptom is a rise in skepticism and fundamentalism. Skepticism makes sense, but why the latter? When an ideology falls back on fundamentalism, it's an ideology in crisis and its leaders know it! Conservatism also is being looked at more and more unfavorably, so what we would call "fundamentalists" are pushing their ideology and quoting Reagan now more than ever!
How does this crisis happen? What causes the decline?
There are four types of churches, two of which really are growing. The first is the Catholic. Well yes, they're growing, and really well actually, peculiarly in the southwest. This answer can be answered simply: Mexico. Hispanic Immigrants are moving to the US, obviously most of them are in places like California or New Mexico, and most of them are also Catholic. This number will drop sooner or later. There are only so many Mexicans in the world, and fewer which desire to or can move to the states. They also will become assimilated into American culture and will most likely follow The Americans' lead.
The second one that's growing is the group of enormous super churches. The Third group of churches being the small town, Baptist, Church of Christ, conservative, rural, fire-and-brimstone congregations are dropping like flies, including the one from my childhood (of which I was one of the first to leave for Paganism. Apparently once the members found out that there are other gods and some people still believe in and worship them, a good chunk followed my lead for polytheism and witchcraft. Oops! Sorry Pastor Mike!). The most of the ones who don't go to Paganism, which is still a good chunk, are leaving but giving Christianity one last shot. They're finding a different church, but all the others are either in the same denomination have either the exact same attitudes, drama and dogma or they're gone. Those are dead, and they foreshadow the fate of the cross. The best of the very few options is to go to the mega church. These churches, which are so big, beautiful, wealthy, friendly and charismatic are most of these people's last hope for Jesus. After these churches' numbers spike from the influx of attendance, they will drop dramatically as the people find out that it's just a bigger, wealthier, more well choreographed version of their old church. When they leave, some in the church will hear about why, realize what's going on and leave too. The problems, overbearing dogma and drama are still there, and maybe even in larger portions, but it's all just swept under the rug much better. The church has a decrease in population.
So we've met end of the life cycle of the adventurous and intellectual Christian, but where do they go from here? Those who are still Christian? The ones who are truly Universalist, salvation to all regardless of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation? Who have a liberal interpretation of holy texts? Who view other religions as insightful and maybe even just as truthful, and not as Satanic Demon Worshipers or Heathen, Middle Eastern Terrorists? They may go to the fourth group, the liberal churches, if one can be found, as most Christians give up by the second, usually by the third, branches. As the for the few who've made it this far but are hard headed in finding a church that fits the views listed above, where do they go? At this point they've probably heard of Odin, The Horned God or Zeus and respect them but aren't interested. So where do they go if not paganism? Something Christian but at the same time not.
Unitarian Universalism has grown more than 15% in the last decade, I'm sure you know. Also the faster religions grow, the faster rate they tend to have (via word of mouth, education, sometimes but not necessarily proselytization; actually numbers tend to go up faster without it). With UU churches replacing the old groups of congregations, they'll grow and social Darwinism will take over. UU will likely come out above Liberal Christianity, because although UU has Liberal Abrahamic roots, it's the latter which is most associated with all the things this increasingly liberal culture dislikes: racism; genocide; slavery; homophobia; sexism etc. So Christianity is very likely dying in the US. Before you guys came, it could've had a chance with the progressive branch, but you beat them to the punch and you have better connotations and associations for the culture of the future generations.
Along with my community, the pagans, the other really quickly growing religion (I'm not sure which of us will be more popular, but it doesn't matter anyway) we can make a new set of spiritual resources for Americans. Paganism, being a group of polytheistic religions which embrace cultural and ethnic background and heritage, being the dominant alongside Unitarian Universalism, the self proclaimed "liberal" religion embracing any belief system and any point of view while scolding colonialist traits of religion. It's Pat Robertson's worst nightmare!
I'm sure that also we can fully reinvent religious terminology like prayer, religion, god etc. Christianity has left the liberal, oppressed and intellectual with a bad taste in their mouth, but I believe that we can make them into words carrying connotations of multiculturalism and the love of the divine, in whichever form any human being perceives it.
The future of worship looks bright :rainbow:
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