Churches Closing: How Sad, Too Bad

Many of us are aware that church attendance has been decreasing over the years. In fact, according to this article, a survey taken in 2020 found that …

[T]he average congregation size across Christian denominations is less than half what it was in 2000 — down to 65 from 137. It also found that on average, a third of churchgoers are 65 or older, twice that age group’s representation in the general population. These numbers held true for Protestants, Evangelicals and Catholics alike. Only congregations of other faith traditions — including Islam, Baha’i and Judaism — are seeing increases, the survey said.

In fact, a political science professor mentioned in the article believes that … about a third of the country’s 350,000 Christian congregations are “on the brink of extinction.” 

As many of us have heard –and the article confirms– this sharp uptick is due to the number of younger Americans who report no religious affiliation — a group known as the “nones.”

Some have expressed concern over this reduction because it could decrease the number of community services that churches provide, such as food banks, help for troubled teens, addiction treatment, and other programs. Others wonder what will happen to the empty church buildings themselves. Apparently in larger cities, they are being turned into luxury condos or offices, but in poor communities and/or rural areas, they just sit there. Empty.

The article reports that one church in Oklahoma that once drew hundreds has now dwindled down to about 30 people for Sunday services.

(Notice the picture in the article that illustrates the reduced number of worshippers.)

Of course from the viewpoint of some, all this is a good thing. Money contributed by congregants to maintain brick and mortar church buildings, the home and salary of clergy –and in Catholic churches, the garb and various sacramental items of the priesthood– could be far better spent helping the folks that Jesus himself talked about … the disadvantaged, the poor, the needy (all those folks so many of “the faithful” tend to overlook).

While most of us reading this will likely never see the total disappearance of churches, one can’t help but be encouraged that the hold religion has on so many may be slowly, but surely, disappearing.

Or at the very least … loosening its hold.

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Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

It’s True … I Know It’s True

Mumblings

Kill ‘Em All!

Just read this in an article at AmericanThinker.com … and it chills my bones:

America is in a generational struggle against the sick, pathological and extreme ideology of Islam, and America must show no mercy for the merciless Islamic State, which seeks the “breaking of the American [Christian] cross” and the fulfillment of Islamic prophecy. We must unleash the full fury and might of the U.S. military on the Islamic State and annihilate these animals who would end our U.S. Republic, democratic elections and religious freedom, leaving only Sharia law. And, we must fight to victory or condemn future generations to a perpetual state of war, or worse.

I don’t think any of us want to be in a “perpetual state of war,” but is unleashing the “full fury and might of the U.S. military on the Islamic State” the answer? Does this writer think we can just walk in and blow the smithereens out of the countries that support terrorism and walk away unscathed?

I recognize that diplomatic reasoning doesn’t seem to be working, but it turns my stomach when the writer says we should “annihilate these animals.” If the U.S. were to follow his strategy, not only the “animals” would be annihilated, but thousands of innocent people as well.

I admit I don’t know the answer to the global situation that is facing the U.S. (and other countries), but there must be a better way than the venomous and vicious plan offered by this writer.

Thoughts?

So What if President Obama is Muslim?

There is a video making the rounds via email that totally disgusts me.  It is about President Obama and his Muslim background and is clearly an attempt by the video producers to show him in a negative light by using soundbites and images to promote their personal ideology.

If you haven’t seen it, the link is at the bottom of this posting.

Ever since he took office, President Obama has been trying to get the American people to think positively of the Muslin people and of the Islamic faith. He wants us to stop focusing on the Muslim extremists and realize there are good people in Iran (and other Muslin countries) just as there are in other nations of the world. He says himself that he is trying to fight the negative stereotypes that the American people have of Muslim people.

During WW2, people did the same thing they’re doing today — they condemned every German and Japanese person just because of the actions the governments of these countries took against the U.S. Were all the people bad? No. Surely we know by now there are bad apples in every barrel. Or do we?

Obama has never denied his Muslim background. Would we prefer that he did … and then find out about it later? How would that have set with the American people? Just because he chooses to honor his background rather than deny it and cast it in a bad light, certain people castigate him and call him disloyal to the U.S.

Towards the end of the video, Obama makes the statement that America is not and never will be at war with Islam. He has made it clear in other speeches that we are, however, at war with the extremists and jihadists who want to destroy America.

President Obama once made the comment that we are not a Christian (or a Jewish or a Muslim) nation and many people went ballistic! How dare he! What they failed to hear was his next statement: “We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values.”

What is often forgotten — or deliberately overlooked — is that our Constitution does NOT say we are a Christian nation. On the contrary, our forefathers wanted to make it clear that each of us has the right to practice any religion of our choice. (Read the First Amendment — and while you’re at it, read about the religious background of the founders of the Constitution.)

This video is just one more example of individuals trying to whip people into a frenzy and add to the already-present discord and strife in our country. It does nothing but breed fanaticism and an ongoing spiral of hate, fear, and reprisals.

Finally, I find it interesting that those who denounce President Obama’s Muslim background often claim to be Christians … yet they overlook one of the greatest commandments ever uttered by their Leader  … love your neighbor as yourself.

Here is the link to the video.