64% of Americans claim to be Christian per recent polling.

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

50 years ago that number was 90%.

Do you think that America is running away from Christianity or do you think that the term Christian has been hijacked by members of the far right? Or maybe somewhere in between?

I recognize that the term Christian can mean different things in different geographical areas. Same with the term "democracy".

I don't think America is running away from Christianity as much as 1) younger Americans are more casual about religious identification, and like to "play the field," so to speak, and 2) the demographics of American Christians are shifting.

Look at the 2022 update to the 2020 religious census. Among both Democrats and Republicans, white Christians losing numbers (especially among Democrats), while black and Hispanic Christians are actually gaining ground.

But the biggest change is clearly the number of unaffiliated people, which appeared to level off between 2013 and 2020, but has spiked again the past two years. And those shifts are most prominent among the young. I think young people are more comfortable than ever in exploring their spirituality outside the confines of the faith tradition in which they were raised.

 

[snarlcakes]

Churches, synagogues, etc. are all under pressure. They are facing serious financial issues stemming from lack of participation from Gen X and Millenials.

I agree with you that traditional organized religions are decreasing in membership and etc. I disagree that Gen X and Millennials are any less religious. They just channel it through other endeavors.

 

[anon_6hv78pr714xta]

The only thing worse than a liberal stating what Republicans believe is a non-Christian saying what Christians believe.

Why? People don't have to buy into a belief system to understand what those who do write and say about what they believe.

If this kind of thinking were true, a non-Marxist couldn't state what a Marxist believed and a classic liberal couldn't comment on what the SJW/woke/CRT folks are doing and saying.

Indeed, how can you say you don't believe in or agree with ideology X if you don't understand ideology X?

 

[IU_Hickory]

And some of us should listen to what is being said.

Some people who pretend to be Christian are those things. No one said all or even most Christians are those things though. There is a difference.

 

[CO. Hoosier]

Why? People don't have to buy into a belief system to understand what those who do write and say about what they believe.

If this kind of thinking were true, a non-Marxist couldn't state what a Marxist believed and a classic liberal couldn't comment on what the SJW/woke/CRT folks are doing and saying.

Indeed, how can you say you don't believe in or agree with ideology X if you don't understand ideology X?

I say that because most often the critics are wrong. In some cases they deliberately lie, but I’ll give most of them the benefit of the doubt and say they run their assumptions through too many filters while simultaneously believing they don’t care if they are right.

Reread Hickory’s post that prompted my comment. The notion that Republican Christians don’t want to help those in need is false. I think it’s even money whether Hickory is lying or ignorant.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

I agree with you that traditional organized religions are decreasing in membership and etc. I disagree that Gen X and Millennials are any less religious. They just channel it through other endeavors.

Jesus on the blockchain. I guess you get a powerful enough rig, and you can mine miracles?

 

[Bulk VanderHuge]

And some of us should listen to what is being said.

By whom?

 

[UncleMark]

I think the word “Christian” has been hijacked by the near and far left. They use it to mean intolerant, hateful, homophobic, racist, bigoted, xenophobic, and spiteful.

You've become an embarrassment.

 

[Bulk VanderHuge]

I say that because most often the critics are wrong. In some cases they deliberately lie, but I’ll give most of them the benefit of the doubt and say they run their assumptions through too many filters while simultaneously believing they don’t care if they are right.

Kind of like you and the left.

 

[CO. Hoosier]

You've become an embarrassment.

You should be embarrassed by some of the leftist posts in this thread.

 

[CO. Hoosier]

Kind of like you and the left.

nice try. Im just commenting on what posters like outside and Hickory actually posted. Others can only make up what I and other conservatives might say.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

You should be embarrassed by some of the leftist posts in this thread.

Your post was post #3. Anything embarrassing said by a leftist in the course of that conversation was ultimately descended from your original embarrassing post.

 

[Bulk VanderHuge]

nice try. Im just commenting on what posters like outside and Hickory actually posted. Others can only make up what I and other conservatives might say.

So, you’re saying that you have never used the same argument ( Lefties bad) in any other threads? Or in most threads?
This one fully demonstrated your knee-jerk go-to on most subjects.

 

[CO. Hoosier]

Your post was post #3. Anything embarrassing said by a leftist in the course of that conversation was ultimately descended from your original embarrassing post.

No. What I posted was the real message from the left after the Nashville trans mass murder. Zeke, Shooter, and Hickory carried it on in this thread. For millions of leftists there is no such thing as reasonable religious conservatives. They are all “far right,” “radical,” “anti-LBGTQ,” etc. Some even lumped yours truly into that group in this thread. Name calling is almost always the left’s fall back place.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

No. What I posted was the real message from the left after the Nashville trans mass murder. Zeke, Shooter, and Hickory carried it on in this thread. For millions of leftists there is no such thing as reasonable religious conservatives. They are all “far right,” “radical,” “anti-LBGTQ,” etc.

No, what you said was this:

I think the word “Christian” has been hijacked by the near and far left. They use it to mean intolerant, hateful, homophobic, racist, bigoted, xenophobic, and spiteful.

It's a ridiculous, inflammatory, and unsupportable assertion. And Zeke, Shooter, Hickory, et al. did nothing to justify such a claim. But they responded to it, and to the discussion it fostered. This thread has some good posts in it, but it also has a river of shit, and that river of shit started at the spring of your post.

 

[CO. Hoosier]

So, you’re saying that you have never used the same argument ( Lefties bad) in any other threads? Or in most threads?
This one fully demonstrated your knee-jerk go-to on most subjects.

Oh, I frequently say leftists are bad. But i state that as I an opinion based upon my observations. Leftists, including some in this thread simply lie.abou what a conservative Christian believes.

 

[CO. Hoosier]

No, what you said was this:



It's a ridiculous, inflammatory, and unsupportable assertion. And Zeke, Shooter, Hickory, et al. did nothing to justify such a claim. But they responded to it, and to the discussion it fostered. This thread has some good posts in it, but it also has a river of shit, and that river of shit started at the spring of your post.

Read their posts. Zeke was up front Shooter and Hickory were slightly more subtle.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

Read their posts. Zeke was up front Shooter and Hickory were slightly more subtle.

I did. You're just plain wrong, here. You're reading into their posts what you want to be there for, I dunno, reasons.

 

[Bulk VanderHuge]

Oh, I frequently say leftists are bad. But i state that as I pan opinion based upon my observations. Leftists, including some in this thread simply lie.abou what a conservative Christian believes.

You should rest again (physically, not legally). You have to be tuckered out running all the way over there to distract from the original discussion, which was how some (me included) see all those terrible attributes you mentioned, only in conservatives who have weaponized Christianity for decades.

 

[snarlcakes]

No, what you said was this:



It's a ridiculous, inflammatory, and unsupportable assertion. And Zeke, Shooter, Hickory, et al. did nothing to justify such a claim. But they responded to it, and to the discussion it fostered. This thread has some good posts in it, but it also has a river of shit, and that river of shit started at the spring of your post.

That’s not true. It started with 82hoosiers referencing the far right hijacking Christianity.

 

[IU_Hickory]

Oh, I frequently say leftists are bad. But i state that as I pan opinion based upon my observations. Leftists, including some in this thread simply lie.abou what a conservative Christian believes.

Your first post on this thread was a lie about dems

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

That’s not true. It started with 82hoosiers referencing the far right hijacking Christianity.

Okay, that's fair. But he phrased it as a question, as a possible explanation among others. And the fact that other good posts came from his OP is, I think, evidence that there was no need to take offense to that. But CO.H's response was pure shit, and only led to more shit.

 

[Bulk VanderHuge]

Okay, that's fair. But he phrased it as a question, as a possible explanation among others. And the fact that other good posts came from his OP is, I think, evidence that there was no need to take offense to that. But CO.H's response was pure shit, and only led to more shit.

Yeah!
Oh, wait…😕

 

[CO. Hoosier]

I did. You're just plain wrong, here. You're reading into their posts what you want to be there for, I dunno, reasons.

What planet were you on after the Nashville Christian school mass murder? The message that Christian’s played a role in radicalizing the trans killer is unmistakable. Zeke, Shooter, and Hickory, in varying degrees, brought that here.

 

[mrhighlife]

I was joking with bulky.

Haha. I'm dumb. That is pretty good.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

What planet were you on after the Nashville Christian school mass murder? The message that Christian’s played a role in radicalizing the trans killer is unmistakable. Zeke, Shooter, and Hickory, in varying degrees, brought that here.

They did? Where? I've reread the entire thread. I can't find anything remotely like that. Quote it, please, if you don't mind.

 

[UncleMark]

What planet were you on after the Nashville Christian school mass murder? The message that Christian’s played a role in radicalizing the trans killer is unmistakable. Zeke, Shooter, and Hickory, in varying degrees, brought that here.

Now you're just making stuff up.

 

[IU_Hickory]

What planet were you on after the Nashville Christian school mass murder? The message that Christian’s played a role in radicalizing the trans killer is unmistakable. Zeke, Shooter, and Hickory, in varying degrees, brought that here.

Show me where I said anything about radicallizing the trans killer.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

Really bad form, @CO. Hoosier, for you to come back from a vacation during which we were all concerned for you, and immediately start telling lies about your fellow posters.

 

[UncleMark]

Really bad form, @CO. Hoosier, for you to come back from a vacation during which we were all concerned for you, and immediately start telling lies about your fellow posters.

He's become a total charachture.

 

[CO. Hoosier]

Show me where I said anything about radicallizing the trans killer.

Like refusing service to gay people because it conflicts with their twisted version of religion.

This is false. The only reason to say this is to perpetuate a Christian stigma.

His post was a generalization for sure and not applicable to some Republicans but GOP policy trends to the idea that everyone should fend for themselves and not get government assistance. That doesn't seem to fully match up with them being the "religious party" since Jesus was all about helping those less fortunate.

This is a false. generalization. Again, posted to stigmatize the whole.

Some people who pretend to be Christian are those things. No one said all or even most Christians are those things though. There is a difference.

If you really believe you are talking about an insignificant minority, there is no reason to even say this. I think you intended to paint with a broader brush.

 

[larsIU]

Jesus on the blockchain. I guess you get a powerful enough rig, and you can mine miracles?

 

[Crayfish57]

He's become a total charachture.

Compared to you? Talk about a caricature? This is just another example of it. Try spelling it right the next time too Mr Hero.

 

[twenty02]

Self-identified religion is declining, because like everything else in this country, it's become a political label....superseding everything else.

And people don't want to be identified as a part of political ideology.

Look at the ridiculousness of the discussion here so far.

 

[JamieDimonsBalls]

I agree with you that traditional organized religions are decreasing in membership and etc. I disagree that Gen X and Millennials are any less religious. They just channel it through other endeavors.

They love Crypto and Scientology…

 

[IU_Hickory]

This is false. The only reason to say this is to perpetuate a Christian stigma.



This is a false. generalization. Again, posted to stigmatize the whole.

If you really believe you are talking about an insignificant minority, there is no reason to even say this. I think you intended to paint with a broader brush.

I never said insignificant either. You really love putting words in other people's posts that aren't there. It is a very vocal minority.

How many women do you think are "Karens"? But they sure are a vocal minority making their presence known when there is an injustice lol

Normal people don't make for good stories. It is the not so normal that get handed the megaphones so to speak so we can all talk/argue about them.

 

[GiggityGoo]

A lot of people would like Christianity without the work.

Can I have a steak that tastes like a ribeye without any of the fatty pieces?

Well no. The fatty pieces are what makes it a ribeye.

You don’t find religion without sacrifice. Or without the hard truths that tell you that you’re currently living in sin.

It’s not an a la carte menu of values to pick and choose at your leisure.

 

[GiggityGoo]

A lot of people would like Christianity without the work.

Can I have a steak that tastes like a ribeye without any of the fatty pieces?

Well no. The fatty pieces are what makes it a ribeye.

You don’t find religion without sacrifice. Or without the hard truths that tell you that you’re currently living in sin.

It’s not an a la carte menu of values to pick and choose at your leisure.

If I could extrapolate. Every girl I’ve ever had sex with who I knew early wouldn’t be the mother of my children, I have felt guilty about. Catholic guilt.

Not necessarily hold your head, paralyzing guilt. But, I felt guilt that I had led this woman down a false path. And that she might have thought this was the start of a family. Maybe not today, but down the road.

Maybe we are convincing young people that they need to find the “perfect” match. Such a thing does not exist. You need to find a match that is willing to put in the work as much as you are to make sure it is successful for the children. Because a lot of the time you’re going to hate each others guts.

And divorces are not successful for the children, just look at how McM is spiraling right now.

 

[IUCrazy2]

Why? People don't have to buy into a belief system to understand what those who do write and say about what they believe.

If this kind of thinking were true, a non-Marxist couldn't state what a Marxist believed and a classic liberal couldn't comment on what the SJW/woke/CRT folks are doing and saying.

Indeed, how can you say you don't believe in or agree with ideology X if you don't understand ideology X?

The problem is that people like Hickory who spout off have a surface understanding of the religion. "Jesus said to help the poor." Sure did. How did he say to do that? "Jesus said not to judge." Sure did. When he came upon sinners who were walking the wrong path, what did he say to them as he departed? "Those evangelicals are always pushing their religion on everyone." Wonder what Jesus said about spreading the good news.

Here is the long and the short of it. I think people who are religious but politically on the right fall into the money trap. The whole prosperity gospel has chased me out of a church before because I don't believe that is true and biblically speaking it is a hard path to get to where we all want to go. I think that people to the left in religious circles will love a person straight to hell.

 

[TMFT]

50 years ago that number was 90%.

Do you think that America is running away from Christianity or do you think that the term Christian has been hijacked by members of the far right? Or maybe somewhere in between?

I recognize that the term Christian can mean different things in different geographical areas. Same with the term "democracy".

I think so much of it boils down to how people define “Christian.” And maybe more importantly, who do they point to as exemplifying that definition. Sometimes the loudest voices get the nod, even if they’re a minority (who knows if they are).

Speaking as an old millennial, things I see that are turnoffs include fundamentalist rejection of science. I was raised to believe the Bible was literally true from cover to cover. The world is 6,000 years old. I watched Kent Hovind videos and read Answers in Genesis material. It’s all junk, unfortunately I didn’t learn about any of it until I got away from home. It’s a turn off.

I think the overt use of the evangelical movement for political aims is off putting. I’ve said it before, the change in philosophy from 2000-2020 on what’s important, religiously, when choosing who to vote for was dramatic.

I think my generation is put off by the selective nature of what sins are cared about or legislated against. Drunkenness? No sweat. Adultery? Happens bro. Sexual impurity? Giggity. Greed? American dream. Unkind? Alpha male. Divorced? Have you met a woman? Gay? Have fun in hell. How did this one thing that didn’t even make God’s Top Ten List become the one they seem to care about the most?

Not to put too fine a point on it, but I’ve been posting on the Cooler for a while, lurked for a while longer before that. I’ve been personally called names by Christians and I’ve witnessed Christians blame anything and everything on the Left. I’ve seen patent unkindness on both political sides, and I assume there are Christian’s on both sides.

What have I never seen? I’ve never seen a single person share their testimony or in any identifiable way try and fulfill the Great Commission. Not once.

If anything exemplifies the decrease in religiousness in the US it’s that there is a HUGE secular movement toward kindness to others and charity. In other words, being good for goodness sake. Don’t need a church building to love your neighbor.

Sorry for the long post, I’ll leave it with the theme from a talk I gave many moons ago at a church group. There is a major difference between Christian Action and Acting Christian. Getting up for 10 AM service and hanging out for an hour is easy. But that’s just acting Christian. Actually putting others before yourself and loving people in spite of themselves/yourself is Christian Action.