Empty Churches, Also in America

American conservatives have always mocked Europe for its lack of religiosity.  The US is superior to Europe because Americans are more religious and attend church.  The empty churches in Europe reflect the post-modernist "relativism" of Europeans, as the European continent (Eurabia) is overrun by fervent Muslims.  The Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney recently mocked European godlessness as he put forward his vision of a faith-based presidency:

"Europe's cathedrals are indeed "so inspired, so grand, so empty," as Mitt Romney, a Mormon, put it .... Some do not survive at all. The Continent has paid a heavy price in blood for religious fervor and decided some time ago, as a French king once put it, that "Paris is well worth a Mass."

Romney, a Republican candidate for the presidency and former Massachusetts governor, was dismissive of European societies "too busy or too 'enlightened' to venture inside and kneel in prayer." In so doing, he pointed to what has become the principal trans-Atlantic cultural divide."

But Romney failed in his bid for the presidency, and American churches - according to a new poll - are emptying out:

"A new map of faith in the United States shows a nation constantly shifting amid religious choices, unaware or unconcerned with doctrinal distinctions. Unbelief is on the rise. And immigration is introducing new faces in the pews, new cultural concerns, new forces in the public square.

Key findings from the survey:

Faith is fluid: 44 percent say they're no longer tied to the religious or secular upbringing of their childhood. They've changed religions or denominations, adopted a faith for the first time or abandoned any affiliation altogether.

"Nothing" matters: 12.1 percent say their religious identity is "nothing in particular," outranking every denomination and tradition except Catholics (23.9 percent) and all groups of Baptists (17.2 percent).

here are as many self-proclaimed pagans (0.3 percent) as there are Disciples of Christ, Orthodox Jews, or Greek Orthodox.

Nearly 20 percent of all men and 13 percent of all women are unaffiliated. So are 25 percent of adults under age 30.

The major Christian denominations are losing numbers fast. Only nondenominational Christian churches showed growth outpacing losses. "Two in three people who say they grew up as Jehovah's Witnesses have left the faith. Any one of 10 people you meet is a former Catholic," Lugo says.

The two groups who identified with "Nothing in particular" now match or outstrip the two largest mainline Protestant groups. The percentage of "secular unaffiliated" (6.3 percent), who say religion is unimportant to them, is statistically the same as Methodists (6.2 percent).The "religious unaffiliated" (5.8 percent), who say they believe religion is at least somewhat important, now outnumber Lutherans (4.6 percent).

The good news here is that there really is no longer a  monolithic "Religious Right" in the US: that group of gay-hating, war-loving Americans that propelled George  W. Bush to the presidency.  Evangelicals are now a far more  diverse group, with  younger Christians now much more concerned about  issues like poverty, global warming and social justice.  The candidacy of Republican Mike Huckabee also shows that there is some support in America for the concept of Christian Democracy, although its time may have passed as more and more Americans turn away from religion altogether.  In this development, America looks more and more like Europe.

Comments

[Jerry Jones]

I am one of those 2 out of 3 Jehovah's Witnesses that left the WatchTower Cult, as have all but two members of our 5 JW generation family.

If interested in discovering the "real Jehovah's Witnesses" as revealed by the American Judicial System:

SUMMARIES OF NEARLY 1000 JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES LAWSUITS & COURT CASES

The following website summarizes 500 U.S. court cases and lawsuits affecting children of Jehovah's Witness Parents, including 350 cases where the JW Parents refused to consent to life-saving blood transfusions for their dying children:

DIVORCE, BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS, AND OTHER LEGAL ISSUES AFFECTING CHILDREN OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES

http://jwdivorces.bravehost.com

The following website summarizes nearly 500 lawsuits filed by Jehovah's Witnesses against their Employers, including JWs hurt on the job and who refused blood transfusions, etc.

EMPLOYMENT ISSUES UNIQUE TO JEHOVAH'S WITNESS EMPLOYEES

http://jwemployees.bravehost.com

[Hattie]

My children's partners are a fallen away Nazarene and the son of a Presbyterian minister who has not set foot in a church since he was 13. I have never been religious myself, nor has my husband.
Just anecdotal, of course, but the stats seem to favor us heathens.

[littleandy]

This speech of Mitt Romney is so self-righteous, so holier-than-thou, I'm asking myself wether Jesus would approve that...

[Christian]

O my, if their is no church attendance in America imagine what kind of evils will ensue... Univeral Healthcare, sex education, stem cell research... It will be just as bad as Europe, lol.

[Mary Toigo]

As a Registered Nurse in an emergency room on I95 in Virginia, I can testify faith and prayer returns In Rapid order when a life hangs in the balance. The most heard phrase is "Dear God......please". I never asked or discussed religion with a patient's family, but you hear the fear and reaching out for help that was beyond human ability to give..