For those of us of “age,” we have watched as the Wall built of the “bricks of Societal Norms” has had every brick removed from it. At first, not much changed – Society still seemed to be the same as it was, and the decay was invisible.
Over time, however, I’ve watched how the nation’s secular religion made headway to the point where it is now like Islam – once it grew to a given point, it started to “throw its weight around.”
As Statista’s Anna Fleck reports, new data from Gallup shows that church attendance has dropped across all polled Christian groups. As the following chart shows, the biggest drop in attendance in the past 20 years has been amongst Catholics, which has fallen from 45 percent of U.S. adults self-identifying as Catholic saying that they go to religious services weekly or at least every week in 2000-2003, down to 33 percent saying the same in 2021-2023. This is a decrease of 12 percentage points. Catholics’ attendance is lower than their Protestant counterparts, which saw a drop of 4 percentage points in that time frame from 48 percent of worshippers to 44 percent.
Lately, it is VERY clear that despite preaching “inclusiveness,” it is antagonistic towards traditional religious beliefs, and anyone protesting against them becomes targeted.
We can now have all but naked and sexualized parades, Governmental blessing of the destruction and theft of private property, the sanctity of marriage is a shambles, the traditional nuclear family is seen as outmoded (and in fact, dissed for being “hetero-privileged”), and the idea of absolute right and wrong has been turned upside down and inside out (right, Van Jones?) to the point it is all but pointless. Gratitude, gratefulness, mercy – all attributes associated with Christianity are being left behind.
There are a lot of churches that have declining seats in the pews and no more so than the formerly “mainline” Protestant denominations. Why?
IMHO, they have decided BIGELY to join that secularization of religion. They have abandoned the Biblical teachings and purpose for the trappings of the current culture and assuaging themselves that they are staying culturally relevant – and refuse to admit that the idea that their main purpose was to save souls and then educate them. Instead, contra to the Bible’s teachings, they hang transgender flags over their doorways and accept any behavior willingly as “being accepting”.
Sure, you have to meet people where they are, but these churches, IMHO, have not only not led them to a path of righteousness but have jumped into bed with them.
And the conservative parishioners no longer attend labeling such behaviors by church leaders as heretical – Truth isn’t variable, it doesn’t change with “the times” – it is what is supposed to be preached and evangelized.
So if there is no spiritual beacons calling the lost in, what happens? Society becomes poorer as the “shared” morality gets splintered and relativistic.
And, unless another Revival begins, not only will churches continue towards their Doom Loop, but so will Society. G. K. Chesterton:
When a man stops believing in God he doesn’t then believe in nothing, he believes anything.
And he becomes his own god. And when that happens, ANYTHING is believable, including that one is god in and of themselves. Morality becomes singular in nature: “my lived experience” and “MY truth” is the relativism that will destroy Society. When one is their own god, Self is the uttermost attribute and of the uttermost importance.
And when billions adopt that outlook, what happens?
Colossians 2:1-5
And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 19As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 20Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 22He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
(H/T: Zero Hedge)
