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The News Gets Better and Better
#1

The News Gets Better and Better
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2...r-00095858


Quote:One of the most significant shifts in American politics and religion just took place over the past decade and it barely got any notice: the share of Americans who associate with religion dropped by 11 points.
It’s a development of tremendous impact, one that will ripple across the political landscape at every level — and especially in presidential politics. Why? Because of what it means for the God Gap — the idea that the Republican Party is the one that fights for the rights of religious individuals (primarily Christians), while Democrats have become increasingly secular over time.


People are not fleeing organized religion at equal rates across the United States. Instead, there are regions of the country where religious adherence is still relatively robust, while other areas have seen a wholesale abandoning of organized religion. We know this because of the tireless work of the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. Every 10 years, they contact as many religious denominations as they can and ask to see their official membership records. This data provides an unprecedented look at where religion is growing and declining in the United States.

The 2020 U.S. Religion Census, which was released late last year, reveals that religion is taking a beating across the middle part of the country. When comparing the rate of religious adherents in 2020 versus 2010, a fascinating pattern emerges, illuminating the political relevance of the shifting religious landscape: Democrats are making gains in areas where religion is fading (the census defines non-religious as the percentage of a county’s population that does not show up on the rolls of any religious organization in that county) and Republicans are increasing their vote share in places where houses of worship are gaining new members.

Empty churches are a beautiful sight!
Robert G. Ingersoll : “No man with a sense of humor ever founded a religion.”
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#2

The News Gets Better and Better
(05-14-2023, 04:56 PM)Minimalist Wrote: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2...r-00095858



Empty churches are a beautiful sight!

Yes, they are on several levels. Many of them should be museums, they are pieces of art. Smaller ones would do well as community centers. Food banks, festivals, all kinds of local happenings would benefit. Last not least, they could be homeless shelters, and/or immigrant shelters, depending on regional situations.

Empty churches would be a beautiful thing on many levels.
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#3

The News Gets Better and Better
Quote:Smaller ones would do well as community centers.


Don't forget whorehouses.  That's really appropriate!
Robert G. Ingersoll : “No man with a sense of humor ever founded a religion.”
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#4

The News Gets Better and Better
It's a good sign for the long term.

... but I'm still bracing for trouble in the short term.  The more fanatical and unhinged corners of the religious right are going to be getting truly desperate, and that means things are going to get worse before they get better.
"To surrender to ignorance and call it God has always been premature, and it remains premature today." - Isaac Asimov
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#5

The News Gets Better and Better
(05-14-2023, 04:56 PM)Minimalist Wrote: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2...r-00095858


Quote:One of the most significant shifts in American politics and religion just took place over the past decade and it barely got any notice: the share of Americans who associate with religion dropped by 11 points.
It’s a development of tremendous impact, one that will ripple across the political landscape at every level — and especially in presidential politics. Why? Because of what it means for the God Gap — the idea that the Republican Party is the one that fights for the rights of religious individuals (primarily Christians), while Democrats have become increasingly secular over time.


People are not fleeing organized religion at equal rates across the United States. Instead, there are regions of the country where religious adherence is still relatively robust, while other areas have seen a wholesale abandoning of organized religion. We know this because of the tireless work of the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. Every 10 years, they contact as many religious denominations as they can and ask to see their official membership records. This data provides an unprecedented look at where religion is growing and declining in the United States.

The 2020 U.S. Religion Census, which was released late last year, reveals that religion is taking a beating across the middle part of the country. When comparing the rate of religious adherents in 2020 versus 2010, a fascinating pattern emerges, illuminating the political relevance of the shifting religious landscape: Democrats are making gains in areas where religion is fading (the census defines non-religious as the percentage of a county’s population that does not show up on the rolls of any religious organization in that county) and Republicans are increasing their vote share in places where houses of worship are gaining new members.

Empty churches are a beautiful sight!

Back in the 90s, I had a poem published in American Atheist magazine regarding the beautiful churches and how many schools that wealth could have built.  It was on paper and long-gone, and I barely recall any of the words.  But the idea remains.  Religions have vast wealth that they use mostly for display of power and to attract new members.

Since around that time, I have been pleased to see the religious affiliates dropping in numbers.  Quite frankly, almost anything that reduces religious influence in society seems good to me.  We still have way too much of it.  The theists will probably never understand that atheists can be ethical, but that is their problem.
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#6

The News Gets Better and Better
Demographics spell trouble for Republicans, whether it's religiosity, age, gender, ethnicity, or tolerance for non-binary identities. If you're not white and male, they only want your vote, but promise you nothing in return.
On hiatus.
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#7

The News Gets Better and Better
To be honest, they have nothing to offer white males either. It's a bunch of paid representatives of corporate interests trying to whip up a psuedo-populist coup to protect their various grifts.
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#8

The News Gets Better and Better
They offer them holy cover for their bigotry.  As someone once observed "Rush Limbaugh's job was to scare dumb white men while they driving around in their trucks."  Lyndon Johnson said it best.

[Image: 186546329_2551033298525903_3957468013501...e=648B0E4F]
Robert G. Ingersoll : “No man with a sense of humor ever founded a religion.”
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#9

The News Gets Better and Better
(05-16-2023, 01:01 PM)Rhythmcs Wrote: To be honest, they have nothing to offer white males either.  It's a bunch of paid representatives of corporate interests trying to whip up a psuedo-populist coup to protect their various grifts.

I should have added "wealthy" as another qualifier, yeah.
On hiatus.
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#10

The News Gets Better and Better
Mo' better still.

Retaining religiosity as a legitimate piece of machinery in one's mindset totally derails reasoned discourse on any subject.  It seems the continuous (and relentless) accumulation of knowledge (and experience) across the world is steadily displacing superstition.

What will the world be like with religion finally fully eradicated?  Crime and corruption wlll still exist, but perhaps the public will to defeat it will be stronger.  But I don't know if its absence will reduce the tendency to create cults.  Cults seem like a leftover from our tribalist evolution, embedded in our DNA, and may be a problem permanently irresolvable.

But at least religiosity is in decline - and an accelerating decline.
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#11

The News Gets Better and Better
(05-16-2023, 06:41 PM)airportkid Wrote: Mo' better still.

Retaining religiosity as a legitimate piece of machinery in one's mindset totally derails reasoned discourse on any subject.  It seems the continuous (and relentless) accumulation of knowledge (and experience) across the world is steadily displacing superstition.

What will the world be like with religion finally fully eradicated?  Crime and corruption wlll still exist, but perhaps the public will to defeat it will be stronger.  But I don't know if its absence will reduce the tendency to create cults.  Cults seem like a leftover from our tribalist evolution, embedded in our DNA, and may be a problem permanently irresolvable.

But at least religiosity is in decline - and an accelerating decline.

This gives me hope in a much broader sense, too.
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#12

The News Gets Better and Better
[Image: dwindling.jpg]



And a lot of gray hair there, too!
Robert G. Ingersoll : “No man with a sense of humor ever founded a religion.”
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#13

The News Gets Better and Better
Looking at that picture you have to wonder if the tithes are enough to keep the lights on.  If a town has a dozen churches will over time they "consolidate" down to one or two physical structures just to have enough of a congregation to pay the overhead?

So nice to witness a useless institution slowly dying.
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#14

The News Gets Better and Better
How do churches consolidate?

Each one has a gang of fools who think their god is the only god.  They are not big on compromise.
Robert G. Ingersoll : “No man with a sense of humor ever founded a religion.”
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#15

The News Gets Better and Better
This is the reality of what is happening.

https://religionnews.com/2021/05/26/stud...n-opening/


Quote:Study: More churches closing than opening

The study, which analyzed church data from 34 Protestant denominations and groups, found that 4,500 churches closed in 2019, while about 3,000 new congregations were started.


Quote:That study, published in April, estimated that in the decade ending in 2020, 3,850 to 7,700 houses of worship closed per year in the United States, or 75 to 150 congregations per week. It also projected those numbers will double or triple in the wake of the pandemic.

The biggest reason for church closings is a decline in church membership. A March poll from Gallup found that fewer than half (47%) of Americans say they belong to a church, synagogue or mosque, down from more than 70% in 2000.

The sooner the rest of the assholes wake up or die off the better off we all will be.
Robert G. Ingersoll : “No man with a sense of humor ever founded a religion.”
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#16

The News Gets Better and Better
Be careful what you ask for. I took a French class in '82, and the prof told us at that time that Islam was the principal religion in France, due to the number of non-religious. Look at all the shit going on with the Muslim community there.
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#17

The News Gets Better and Better
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/muslims-...rt/2860769


Quote: Muslims represented 10% of French population in 2019-2020: Report

'Only 20% of the Muslims regularly go to mosques,' according to national statistics bureau


But 51% of the French populace has no religion.  And just under 30% are still loyal to the catholick child-fuckers.
Robert G. Ingersoll : “No man with a sense of humor ever founded a religion.”
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#18

The News Gets Better and Better
(05-17-2023, 01:33 AM)Minimalist Wrote: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/muslims-...rt/2860769


Quote: Muslims represented 10% of French population in 2019-2020: Report

'Only 20% of the Muslims regularly go to mosques,' according to national statistics bureau


But 51% of the French populace has no religion.  And just under 30% are still loyal to the catholick child-fuckers.

Looks like his experience was different, given the 40-year difference.  Dunno Maybe he was a Catholic?
If you get to thinking you’re a person of some influence, try ordering somebody else’s dog around.
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#19

The News Gets Better and Better
(05-16-2023, 09:58 PM)Minimalist Wrote: [Image: dwindling.jpg]



And a lot of gray hair there, too!

Grey hair and empty pews too...
Never try to catch a dropped kitchen knife!
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#20

The News Gets Better and Better
(05-16-2023, 11:00 PM)Minimalist Wrote: How do churches consolidate?

Each one has a gang of fools who think their god is the only god.  They are not big on compromise.

Councils Of Consolidation...  Religions have gone to war over minor details, but they have also negotiated some differences.

I think major Protestant Theisms could easily whitewash some details in order to join together in sufficient numbers to survive (though I actually hope they do not).  I'm not the most expertise person about christian theisms, but are Trinitarians all that different from Catholics (minus the Pope)?  Are all those tiny local Protestant churches all that different?  Is the Anglican Church different from Episcopalians?  Lutheran and Methodist theists both seem to follow "the bible only".

Each of those could negotiate some slight differences and join to continue.  As I said, I hope they don't.  I would love to see all theisms vanish.  But they could start merging for scammy self-survival...
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#21

The News Gets Better and Better
Ultimately it would be about the  leaders giving up power.

Each one thinks they are god's gift.  Besides, the ones left on the outside would have to get real jobs.
Robert G. Ingersoll : “No man with a sense of humor ever founded a religion.”
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#22

The News Gets Better and Better
(05-17-2023, 03:53 PM)Minimalist Wrote: Ultimately it would be about the  leaders giving up power.

Each one thinks they are god's gift.  Besides, the ones left on the outside would have to get real jobs.

Indeed. And the idea of those preachers having to get real jobs pleases me no end. I've always thought the only reuirement for a Preacher was a booming voice, not many actual thoughts, and a desire to tell other people what to do.
Never try to catch a dropped kitchen knife!
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#23

The News Gets Better and Better
What does an unemployed preacher do?

Sell used cars?  They are used to lying about the product they sell already.
Robert G. Ingersoll : “No man with a sense of humor ever founded a religion.”
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#24

The News Gets Better and Better
(05-16-2023, 01:01 PM)Rhythmcs Wrote: To be honest, they have nothing to offer white males either.  It's a bunch of paid representatives of corporate interests trying to whip up a psuedo-populist coup to protect their various grifts.

I disagree. They offer white males a promise of continued control. As one, I don't want their offer, but I do understand what they are pushing.

I have always been willing to get by on my own merits. The Government Agency I worked in for 30 years was pretty fair about that. I had co-workers of every possible description and it all felt just fine to me. I never objected to anyone by "group".

But I sure met enough individuals I considered idiots and some of them were "just like me". LOL!
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#25

The News Gets Better and Better
(05-16-2023, 11:00 PM)Minimalist Wrote: How do churches consolidate?

Each one has a gang of fools who think their god is the only god.  They are not big on compromise.

Superstitions are not very tolerant of other superstitions I'm afraid.

Jews believe that the prophet Elijah flew to heaven on a flaming chariot.  Christians believe that Jesus flew to heaven without the benefit of Bernoulli's Principle or Newton's third law (and that the Virgin Mary was beamed up into heaven by... Scotty?), and Muslims believe that Muhammed flew to heaven on a winged horse.  

Which superstition is the "truth"?  Theologians will argue for years about what sensible people know to be a myth.
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