Why I Believe More Americans Need To Go To Church

[Anonymous]

Although the rate of church attendance in America is certainly declining, especially among the millennials, the cause of the church attendance decline is actually not due to philosophical debates between atheism and Christianity. Instead, the real cause is logistics. People are not going to church, not because they have lost faith, but because of practical issues.

For Christians who do not attend church and non-religious and unaffiliated people who are stuck in a muck, this myTake is for you. Here are my reasons why you should make some time for God and faith.

1. Discipline

Being a Christian often means that you attend worship services once a week and that you commit yourself to other church activities. Many denominations teach spiritual discipline as the requirement of being a disciple, a faithful follower, of God. Some denominations go even further and form monasteries, pursuing the epitome of a godly life.

If more Americans are in church, then their discipline towards God may spread to other areas of their lives, like how they interact with other people or whether they break free of bad worldly habits.

2. Sacrifice

Being a Christian often means that you imitate Christ to the best of your ability. Because Christ represents the epitome of self-sacrifice, Christians should make sacrifices for the benefit of the community.

If more Americans are in church, then they will hear the word "sacrifice" frequently and actually have the courage to do it. Christ provides that courage.

3. Godly Love

Being a Christian often means that you receive godly love from your heavenly father. God loves all his children and wants to save them from evil somehow. The main purpose in a Christian life is to be saved. How that is achieved varies from denomination to denomination. I am not a theologian, so I won't discuss the details about salvation.

If more Americans are in church, then they will hear God's love and learn how to be loving. Discipline and sacrifice are important factors in love. Obedience of God's commandments is an act of love for God.

4. Spiritual Fulfillment

Being a Christian often means that God fulfills you spiritually. God is the most important thing in your life. Everything is structured around God. You attain spiritual fulfillment through God. God fulfills your god-shaped hole. With God, no other worldly thing is of greater value.

If more Americans are in church, then they will seek spiritual meaning and fulfillment through God, with God, and in God. Seeking pleasure in addictive, harmful food and toxic substances will just lead people to a life of misery. Seeking pleasure in God will be richly rewarding forever.

5. Community

Being a Christian often means that you have a community, the church. Humans are social creatures. They interact with people, because positive social interaction strengthens intimacy and maintains peace in society. Christians can also use the social network to find new ideas, new people, and new opportunities.

If more Americans are in church, then they will expand their social circle. They will meet new faces, and new faces mean new ideas and new opportunities. Watching TV all day is not a productive behavior. People need to go out and MOVE!

6. A Truly Changed Heart

Being a Christian often means that you have a truly changed heart. You do good things, because you believe that God calls you to do them. You are led by the Holy Spirit. If people praise you, then you should tell them that God is the one that should be praised, and who knows? Maybe people will see your good works and be led to God. All glory goes to God. All good comes from God.

A person can be forced to do good things against his will or for the wrong reasons. If the person is forced to donate to charity because Mama says so, then that is not a good behavior, because the goodness does not come from his heart. He is merely going through the motions. If the person participates in a research study to make a few quick bucks, then the act is not good, because the motive is to make money for himself. It is possible that this selfish motive can turn wicked, if the person lies in the research experiment and intentionally goes against the instructions. Of course, such a wicked behavior is unlikely to happen, because his God-given conscience guides the choices he makes.

If more Americans are in church, then they will learn how to repent and forgive.

7. Constantly Improving Oneself

Being a Christian often means that you are constantly striving to improve yourself. You are always aware of your sinful nature and your tendency to sin. To sin means to miss the mark, the target of God's plan for you. As a Christian, you look at your mistakes and learn from them. You look at other people's mistakes and learn from them. Do not overcriticize other people so much for making mistakes. We all make mistakes, and we should all do our best to correct them. We should have faith in God that God will give us the strength to improve ourselves and fight sin. We should be thankful every day for making these improvements, because they are signs that God is working in us and truly cares about our well-being.

If more Americans are in church, then they will be informed about how to improve themselves. Sermons and Bible studies do just that. They make the biblical material relevant to modern life.

8. Constantly Exploring Oneself

Being a Christian often means that you are constantly exploring yourself. You study the Bible regularly, understanding social interactions, human nature, and the qualities of God. You look for strengths and weaknesses in people. You search for your own identity.

If more Americans are in church, then they will constantly explore themselves.

9. Conformity

Being a Christian often means that you conform to God's standard instead of the fads of the day or popular ideas of your time. You may see people going on the Atkins diet or the Paleo diet or what-have-you diet. You may see people buying special-brand clothing or going gluten-free. Listening to God may help you conform to God's standard and not be so easily pressured by popular culture. Instead of adhering to popular cultural norms, you try to surround yourself with God's people, the church. Hopefully, they are obedient servants of God too. Surrounding yourself with a community of like-minded people reinforces the godly life. At the same time, you should not think too highly of yourself. If people praise you, then you should tell them that they should praise God. Only God deserves the praise. If people criticize you, then you should reconsider what you did wrong and whether you really are doing what God wants you to do.

If more Americans are in church, then they will conform to God's standard.

[RedThread]

1) discipline - I work hard for my family because they're getting older. I work hard so that I'll be able to afford the type of lifestyle I want. I've never really needed another reason than that.

2) sacrifice - I learned this when my sister got burned on over 70% of her body in a car accident. Her legs got amputated and she needed assistance for a while. Then a few years after that my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. I took care of her and drove her to radiation treatment. I'd do anything for the people I love. They are my world.

3) Godly love - I don't believe in God but I do love everyone in my life. I think it's hard for a religious person sometimes to fathom that an atheist can sacrifice and love just as strongly as them. The fact that I don't believe in an afterlife encourages me to live a life that's worthwhile today. I want to experience and love others strongly because this is the only life I have. I don't think this life is a test or a trial run for a greater reward.

4) spiritual fulfillment - I know it may be hard to believe but non-religious people can feel an almost transcendent experience at times. The more I learn about mathematics and science the more powerful I feel. The fact that human life is so small compared to the scope of the universe can be daunting but the sheer fact that we have the ability to codify and define this universe makes me feel HUGE. Religious believers may get this sensation from what they call God or from reading scripture but I get it from observation of the material universe around us.

5) community - this is something can be provided in a special way through religion. I admit I don't feel any comradery with other agnostics or atheists. We usually don't have anything in common besides the fact that we are unconvinced of things like religion. I do find community through my hobbies. I have a sense of friendship in gaming communities and other geek hobbies.

6) truly changed heart- again my sister and mother come to mind. They are the greatest people I've ever met. Their struggle to survive truly changed my heart. It made me realize the type of person I wanted to be. It made me realize what truly matters in life. Things like hope, compassion, love, acceptance are everything. Life is fragile. We live in a cold universe where good kids can get terminal cancer and murder can sometimes go unpunished so we shouldn't be afraid to love or be loved while we can. Human beings have the power to light up the darkness.

[RedThread]

7) constantly improving yourself - I think we are naturally driven towards this if we allow ourselves to be. In the business world, we need to constantly work hard to stay relevant and to improve ourselves. When it comes to morality, my dealings with other people cause me to be more accepting and open minded whether it's about race, culture, religion, sexuality, etc.

8) constantly exploring oneself - this is important for everyone to do. I think by being introspective, we can expose our own biases whether they be religious, political, social, etc. It encourages us all to be more complete people. We are all hypocrites and we can all be incredibly biased which is why looking inward and being skeptical of all our views is so important. It's the only way we grow.

9) conformity - now this is a notion I simply can't get behind. I value individualism and descenting thoughts and opinions more than anything else. I think acknowledging those cultural differences is important.

[RedThread]

Anyway I wrote this not as an insult to religious people or the religious way of life, but simply to spread understanding that many people feel fulfilled living differently. We are similar in a lot of ways but the sources for these similarities tend to be completely different. Coexistence and tolerance is possibly only through acceptance and checking our holier than thou mentalities at the door.

[LadyTerror]

This was interesting to read!

[RedThread]

@LadyTerror thanks pal :)

[ginny_weasley]

I feel sorry for the people who feel the need to have their moral compass reset every Sunday by going church. I am atheist and don't need some God to remind me to be a good person. America doesn't need God and we certainly don't need more religion. What we need is respect for other people.

[relaxrelax]

it's not about being a good person
its about whether GOD exist or not
and if he does he makes the rules
if he doesn't anything goes and i really mean anything

[ginny_weasley]

@relaxrelax then he isn't very compassionate. The world is a very dark place right now and there are horrific things happening all over the earth. I blame selfishness, greed, and people refusing to value human life.

[relaxrelax]

i blame people not believing and following his word
cause he gave everyone free will

its there choice but most people ignore it and kill murder rape and he has to hold them accountable unfortunately, he would forgive them if they actually changed, or the word repent

[ginny_weasley]

@relaxrelax so you can murder someone and be forgiven? But if you don't repent, you go to hell? I love that lack of logic. I don't follow gods words, I just be a good person in general. If I can murder someone but still get in heaven by repenting, why the hell am I being a good person for?

[JRICHARDS1996]

Atheism admits no philosophical basis for objective morality or right and wrong. God or some belief in the metaphysical absolutely is necessary for respecting other people otherwise it is groundless.

[ginny_weasley]

@JRICHARDS1996 I can count the number of people that I actually like, outside of my family on one hand. I am just polite and know when to keep my mouth shut. I am atheist and have no plans to murder anyone. If I did, I would cry. According to your logic, because I am atheist I must not respect people? Cool beans. Good thing I don't give two shits what you think. If you didn't like me, you could've just said it directly. It is truly odd that I know Christians that are extremely judgmental. Like the Christians who said that your God wanted the Orlando shooting to happen because they want to wipe gays off the face of the Earth.

[relaxrelax]

no repent doesn't not mean apologize
its means to change

like if i murder some people and then at some point in my life i realize i was wrong, and i do a whole 360 change and start trying to do my best to do whats right then yes he can forgive me

but apologizing for that won't work, i need to change on the inside

[ginny_weasley]

@relaxrelax changing won't magically bring back those people. If someone was to hurt someone I care about, I will still make them answer for their crimes even if they "changed" Hitler killed many of my family members, if I got the chance I would shoot him. I wouldn't care if he "changed"

[JRICHARDS1996]

Nice straw man. I never said that atheists cannot respect people, or recognize right from wrong. We all have a conscience written on the very fabric of our soul. But I stated that atheism admits no philosophical basis for this. Hence what you call morality is just the flux of chemicals in the brain, no different from when a lion kills a zebra. It is only a matter of time before someone follows the logic where it leads them, and the end place is not pretty. Say what you want about Dr. Peter Singer for example --the controversial bioethicist who holds no sanctity for human life -- but like it or not, he is at least logically consistent in his atheism and its philosophical conclusions.

[relaxrelax]

and that's fine the person can pay for there crimes with death
but also understand there is a heaven and a hell,

there is a place we can't comprehend, and to GOD we are his kids no matter who it is
would you really want your kid in hell for killing someone
or would you have them in prison, hoping that one day they change there way of life to be a better person later on

GOD is trying to save everyone but he can't it's our choice
to be saved

plus usually when a crime is done to someone that has done nothing to earn it and there killed they go to heaven, so the person will see them later, but still the separation is painful and i understand that

[btbc92]

I agree with most of the things you said. However I must point out some things as a sister and believer.

#1: It is not an logistics issue. The bible makes it very clear that not everybody is God's child or of him. Not all so-called Christians a re actually believers. I have come across so many people who left because they simply don't believe in the bible or believe in God. They don't believe that God exist. Why? Because they never had a relationship with God in the first place. They went because their parents made them. So a faith without a relationship in God is just a religion.

#2. God did not call us to religion but a relationship. Most words and things have been tempered with the Bible, and this is why believers are getting attacked in and out of church. Because the one who is supposed to shepherd the sheep led them astray. AND you have counterfeit pastors and other people who were not called nor ordained by God himself, and they appointed themselves or by the government to that rank and status. Matter of fact it is not about the status. Then you have women pastors who are NOT supposed to be pastors according to scripture or a deacon nor a bishop. A believer cannot be in order if there is no order in the church. And this is why we have more non believers and atheist who can't and refuse to believe because we are not being an example. You also have churches who is preaching different doctrines that is not biblical or of God too.

#3. A believer needs to also be strong both in and outside the church building. If there is error in the church, the person should not stay unless God command otherwise. Overall it is coming to a time where we will not be able to attend service at a church building, but to come together as the body of Christ. That is the church. A believer should still praise and worship him wither in church or not in church. Since its a bit difficult to find a church where I live that is of God, AND is teaching the scriptures and not something else, I get my feeding offline broadcast. That is something until I'm lead where to go.

Overall again, you've pointed out some very good points. But this needs to be addressed to the one's shepherding, not just the sheep. However at the same time, we cannot force people to go to church. They have free will. Church won't change people, God does. And he only does it when that person wants to change sincerely.

[btbc92]

And I have been to plenty of churches throughout my Christian life where I just never made friends, and kids and adults aways thought I was weird and awkward. I was very mature for my age as a toddler and child, I had the mindset of an adult. I was able to discern things and people didn't like me nor my late mother. This is about getting people saved, not church numbers. People can go to church day in and day out, but if they are not saved that's it. Christian or no Christian, you can and will still go to hell.

We can't force people to do something they don't want or is in it for them to do if they don't have a reason for their life to do so. A lot of people hate God period. It's sad, but again, we can't dwell on that or other people. Our relationship with him comes first. We have to responsible for ourselves first before we can share testimony and the gospel to others when God leads you through his spirit. Not act out of your own free will or you can get into trouble.

[relaxrelax]

GOOD JOB HUN ILL SEE YOU IN HEAVEN OKAY

[ladsin]

I disagree 100% with this, but am slightly busy so you'll have to forgive me for my brevity. But I'll give a small retort to each section, and then give a final ultimate reason why it's bad.
1.) Going to church has very little to do with discipline, would you say I was disciplined if I went to class once a week?
2.) People can sacrifice many things for many reasons, going to church has nothing to do with that. Theists can sacrifice things in life without church attendance and atheists/ nonreligious can sacrifice things without belief and church attendance.
3.) God is not all about love (at least not the Christian god as explained by the bible) m but regardless church attendance would have nothing to do with this regardless.
4.) No such thing as a god shaped hole, but regardless people can be awe-inspired and fulfilled without church or faith.
5.) Yes, churches serve an important purpose of providing community, but it is not necessary.
6.) The heart doesn't do thinking or decision making for anyone, but regardless one's beliefs and actions can be changed for the better without god. Google the superiority of secular morality (by matt dillahauntey) or talk with me because I enjoy the topic.
7.) Being a Christian is about believing without evidence, not becoming a better person. Again even assuming your belief (that it makes you better) church would have nothing to do with it.
8.) The bible is about being a slave to an omnipotent bully, nothing about valuing humanity, or bettering oneself etc. Again church would not affect someone reading more of their bible or receiving fulfillment though.
9.) Conformity is not always a good thing, and this is evidentially wrong. Christians have been changing their views on every commandment from the bible since it's inception.
Lastly, and most importantly, church attendance/ religious affiliation is correlated with worse societal problems, more rape, murder, teen pregnancy, theft, etc. Societies health on the other hand is associated with secularism.

[JRICHARDS1996]

I am Eastern Orthodox, so the Church is a pretty big part of my life. I value it for the reasons you mentioned, but also because I see it as one of the last strongholds of true conservatism in the West. We are still insanely traditional and conservative, which I appreciate. That is precisely why I converted. Too many Protestant and even Catholic Churches have sold out to "Progress," becoming feminized and allowing same-sex "marriage."

I will add however that as far as faith goes, I am not in the best spot. I believe that God exists -- Thomas Aquinas has confirmed this -- and that Christianity is true by virtue of the history for Jesus Christ and his Resurrection.

But I do not believe that God loves us anymore.

I struggle deeply with the problem of evil. God to me just feels like another deadbeat father who is turning a blind eye to all of the evil in the world. And yet, he is still going to have the audacity to judge us in the end. I love religion, but I absolutely hate God.

I cannot give God my heart -- I have come to accept that -- but like the Pharisee, I can give him my actions. I can do what I know I am supposed to do, and obey his Church ardently, but I will never have faith.

And I can only pray that this will be enough.

[steveguitar]

I think people are doubting god, because most people start to realize that nothing happens though prayer or through going to church. Plus science is discovering things that we never knew before, starting to debunk all the beliefes of the past. God didn't create life, there are amino acids found in nebula in space, which means that when a sun dies it spreads that around space. Amino acids are one of the main keys for life to exist, in our solar syste we got very lucky. Beliefe in a god is a very self centered view of humanity.

Besides you look at religion and it grew the exact same way as society, women underneath men. Women cannot in most religions hold he highest positions in the church, not even being a priestess. So people are moving away from these views.

The exact reason why native Americans do or used to do rain dances, shows exactly how religion developed. We now know through research that God doesn't control the weather, there are many more powerful and complicated things happening. But back then nobody would have been able to research weather the way we do nowadays.

Humanity made up god to explain things he couldn't.

[RationalMale]

The problem is, church isn't really relevant anymore in far too many cases. Nor does church mean people act more Godly--I know a girl who had a hookup in an empty room at this place.
https://apostles.org/

Also, another simple problem is... not much action. Plenty of talk about this problem or that problem, but never any goals or solutions. Too feminized--too much talking about loving everyone and just turning a blind eye to actual problems.

For example, this place preached a sermon about how whites need to be less racist after the Charlestown Killings, even explicitly saying how whites should be fine with a white girl dating a black guy. Did he talk about black on white crime and black on white hatred in the USA? Nah.

https://freedomchurch.tv/

There's a reason why church is dying in the USA. It needs to die and be replaced by something real.

[relaxrelax]

what we call church isn't actually church
cause the church is the people not a building

[RationalMale]

@relaxrelax The Church is the people. Church is religious organizations people go to and participate in.

[chickenflipper]

how many churches have you been to? some preachers are really good and inspiring and make u wanna improve urself, some are boring and meh, and some are plain weird.

[RationalMale]

@chickenflipper Liberty Church... Mount Paran North... Grace Community Church... Freedom Church... Woodstock City Church... Cedarcrest Church... Riverstone Church... North Metro Church... Church of Apostles... that's all I can recall at the moment.

[JRICHARDS1996]

Eastern Orthodoxy is still ridiculously conservative, traditional, and patriarchal. Hence it is the only Church I attend.

[Bobbyhill1]

no what needs to die is racism. I was agreeing with you until you stated ''even explicitly saying how whites should be fine with a white girl dating a black guy'' because people should be fine with people with different pigments dating, there is nothing wrong with that. Im actually okay with people advocating people of different colors getting along, but the church does race bait with this whole BLM stuff.

[JRICHARDS1996]

@Bobbyhill1 I agree. God became man and by that extension redeemed all of humanity regardless of color. Racism is an abomination against the miracle of the Incarnation, because you cannot in good faith dismiss an entire class of human beings as inferior when God himself became human and elevated the entire species to divinity.

[RationalMale]

@JRICHARDS1996 is that why God himself commanded various ethnic cleanings, various genocides against whole peoples? Forbade intermarriages?

[JRICHARDS1996]

The purpose of the entire Old Testament was to create a world where the Incarnation would be possible, to set up the blood line for Christ; heck, for the Theotokos so that Christ could be conceived. The Incarnation was always the ultimate end goal, not any sense of racism or white supremacy.

[relaxrelax]

RATIONAL WOW YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE
YOU WANNA KNOW WHY GOOD SAID KILL ALL THOSE TRIBES

Deuteronomy 20:17
But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded
thee

THEY ARE ALL GIANT TRIBES YOU IDIOT AND IM NOT TALKING ABOUT TALL PEOPLE LITERAL GIANTS

READ GENESIS 6 AND YOU WILL SEE WHAT THE FALLEN ANGELS DID TOO THE WOMEN IT WAS RAPE IT WASN'T A FUN TIME FOR THE HUMAN RACE

THERE IS A REASON GOD FLOODED THE EARTH YOU IDIOT STUDY DUMBASS

[goaded]

@JRICHARDS1996 "you cannot in good faith dismiss an entire class of human beings as inferior when God himself became human and elevated the entire species to divinity".

Except women, of course?

@relaxrelax That is one very inappropriate nym. :) Also, what happened to all these giants' skeletons?

[JRICHARDS1996]

@goaded Nobody ever said that women were inferior or less human than men. In fact, St. Paul actually wrote that there is no male, female, freedman, or slave in Christ but that all are his children. We only affirm that there are different roles for women than there are for men, and this is rooted in basic, indisputable biology that no amount of unscientific, egalitarian political correctness will ever change. The error of your ways is that you cannot fathom goodness apart from total equality, which is not synonymous with fairness (see George Orwell's "Animal Farm").

[goaded]

@JRICHARDS1996 So you're saying that women are not "inherently evil daughters of Eve", then?

Is that the view of your religion?

[JRICHARDS1996]

@goaded Absolutely. I recant my judgmental statement and actually did formally in a more recent take.

[TheWaterBear]

@relaxrelax Study? I've read Greek and Roman mythology about the pantheon of gods. Doesn't make it true. What makes your Bible any more truthful than ancient mythology? The Old Testament is quite literally Hebrew mythology.

[Tanuron]

How sad to read stuff like this really, which ironically if their is a God (And if he care to achknowledge our exsistence) the whole bible is mockery of God and would probably piss him off, since their potrayel of him is like a child with anger issues. Like really, the supposed all knowing, all wise, all powerful is supposed to be a big baby? Share a lot of common traits with Hitler and many other Tyrants, "Dont believe in me, burn" attitude. Yet further irony, the most peaceful countries on earth are very low on religion all together, religion just brings war and suffering really, except buddism at least, since they kinda just learn to accept and embrace people for their differences without judging them, cause its not wrong to not be a buddist, but it is wrong to not be a christian for example.

Makes me sick really, churches in general, can't stand all the hypocricy, the brainwash, the mockery of the devine, the unfairness, cruelty and so on it has brought into the world and how it keeps maintining it, would be better if it just died out, would be so much more peaceful on earth if religion didn't exsist.

Anyway, have too much to say about all of it, so ill just shut up.

[MusicLover8098]

Not a Christian, but my whole family is, and I still get made to go to church, so I think I can chime in. By the way, I mean no offense by anything I say, these are just observations.

So here's the thing with church, just because you go doesn't make you a believer. I mean, look at me for example. Going to church won't suddenly make you a better person or a more religious person. What you want isn't for everyone to go to church, what you want is for everyone to be Christian. Now the problem with that is that according to the Christian Bible, Jesus himself says that Christans will always be the minority. So let's say all Americans do start going to church, then Christians wouldn't be the minority anymore, which would mean Jesus was wrong. Now like I said, I don't mean to attack your religion, simply to point out that this actually is how Jesus would want it to be, a small, exclusive following. Remember that according to the Bible, only a very small number (I forget) of people will actually go to Heaven.

Well that's all I have to say. Just thought I'd bring up an interesting point. Good luck on your journey 😊

[JRICHARDS1996]

You don't have to be a believer or have perfect faith. That is the entire point. I doubt all of the doctrines of my Church but I still attend because I respect it, and have that little bit of faith inside.

[hifromkai]

I don't believe in Christianity

I get it and I've studied it but I don't believe it personally
I'm not going to start spitting reasons why anything is wrong and I'm not here to start arguments but realistically all of the things listed can be achieved in other ways

You don't need to be religious or go to church to be disciplined or to sacrifice or to have godly love or to explore yourself or improve yourself or have a change of heart

I didn't put conformity because honestly I don't see conformity as a good thing

Innovation does not come from conformity life doesn't conform to boundaries one sets when you draw a line in the metaphorical sand life is the wind the blows it away.
If you draw that line again life will just blow it away again.
Because the boundary was never supposed to be there and once there it will never be there for long. Because life shouldn't have boundaries or limits.
That wind is pushing against your boundaries.. instead of drawing that line over and over and over again.. The next time life blows your boundaries

Instead of tripping you need to step over it

Only then can your life truly be... Life..

[relaxrelax]

no you haven't i can tell

[hifromkai]

I haven't what exactly?

[GoldMeddle]

I'm good. I see absolutely no reason to go to church, and I don't think church is responsible for these things either. If somebody goes to church and turns out to be a good person, you can't say "It's the church."

I've met some pretty awful churchgoers. They sure aren't practicing what they are preaching.

I respect your beliefs as long as you respect my beliefs. I believe that nobody can prove whether or not there is a god. I also believe, if there is a god, he isn't a biblical god.

I can't just change my beliefs I'm afraid. If I went to church and attempted to I would get nothing out of it and just think "this is ridiculous" the whole time.

If having religion in your life makes it better, so be it. I don't need it or want it in mine.

[Cherokeehp]

Honestly I don't go to church for a few reasons, but the main one is that I've been questioning my religion lately and I don't think any of the churches fit what I believe. For example, even though I went to a Catholic school for a long time I never wanted to be Catholic due to the way they treated homosexuals. They say God loves all his children and that we should not judge each other but then judge each other because of who they love. I know things are changing in the Catholic church but there are a few other things I don't agree with. I don't want to join the Islamic faith for a variety of reasons but one of them being all the rules and regulations. I don't think God will deny me admittance to heaven just because I eat pork, or I don't

[Cherokeehp]

My finger accidentally pressed submit.

Honestly, I'm baptized as a baptist and I don't 100% agree with everything they believe. I just believe that there is a God, there is a heaven, there is a hell, and that even though we all sin we can all get into heaven if we truly have a good heart. If God loves all his children like the Bible says then he will judge us for who we are and how we treat others. I don't think God has an attendance sheet of how many days we've been in church, or how many times we donated to the church, and all that stuff.

[godfatherfan]

The world would be infinitely more peaceful if all religions were wiped out completely. Religion is the basis for so much hate and violence it boggles the mind. I was raised Catholic (alterboy until I was around 20), which is why I am agnostic now. The Catholic church is so out of date they have lost touch with most young people. The "theories" have so many holes in them it is pathetic.
Sorry, if there is a God, it obviously knows it is the shit and certainly is not so filled with hubris it needs us praying to it all the time. If it did, it would show itself.

[slatyb]

I don't go to church because I find the whole Christian myth ridiculously silly. Almost none of the creative elite in the US or elsewhere are religious. The people created the hardware and software that you are using to read this message are not religious. Research scientists -- not religious. Writers and actors who create film and television -- not religions. Writers of literary fiction -- not religious. Journalists -- not religious. Composers of popular music -- mostly not religious. Sure, there are a few exceptions, but by and large all the creative people are completely silent about religion.

[Callieeee]

Yes, please confirm to gods standard Of Old Testament warmongering genocide and New Testament cult of human sacrifice. Jesus was a nice guy with marginally basic understanding of morality and had a way of getting those across to the ignorant Jewish peasants of ancient judea/Palestine/wherever the fuck, through parables. Follow Jesus if you like, but my advice is to NOT subscribe to a specific religion. All you get with that is shit mixed in with the chocolate, Exposing yourself to grand stupidity and often hateful dogmas and you may not even taste the difference.

Ditch the church and discover what spirituality means to you, because it's a personal experience not something that mafias like the Catholic Church can dictate.

[EllieLexis513]

Most of these things you listed people can get without setting foot in a church. I've never had a positive experience at a church save one last year. But most churches are fake and many of the people in them, including the preacher themselves, can't understand what the Bible says or misinterpret it. I learned more about the Bible reading it for myself and doing research than I ever did going to church. Church has turned into a social ground rather than an actual in depth study of the Bible and God's word. I literally go to church only for holidays and Mother's Day because my mom wants me to go with her. She knows I hate church, but am working on my relationship with God. However, church just isn't the place for me. I feel it's a place where the fakest people gather every Sunday for a few hours.

[lightbulb27]

Good as I haven't seen this written on this site before.
I don't buy that 80% of the population is Christian, I'd bet it is more ilke 40%... but a lot of people associate with Christian by family association.

I primarily liked #3 item. A lot of people on this site need God (which is love) and they need to spend time learning about what Jesus because they have big issues in life and they are gonna want God (love) because that is what they are looking for, even though they often are running from it.

Some of this... if read from a laymans perspective... won't make sense. A lot of the things thrown around in church are confusing to people who are not involved in it frequently.

Thank you for sharing.

[somebodysaycheese]

Actually, more American youth with in the last two years have been going to church. In the last year they have seen more people identifying as someone who beleives in the bible. I think the problem is a lot of these churches are ran by old guys preaching religion vs spirituality. Religion is rules set by the early romans. Spirituality is what jesus preached.
And many churches have trated in their beleifs for the society norms. And jesus said never leave your beleifs for the trend of the times. So its a good thing people are being more picky about what church they attend. Im not going to attend just any church

[Tarvold]

I can't disagree more. I think Americans should stop going to church immediately, for the sake of our planet and for the survival of humanity.

American Christianity has deviated so far away from the Bible that I'm not even sure why it's still called Christianity at all. You can't pick and choose which parts of the Bible you like and which you'll ignore. You can't make up shit and claim that it is the word of God. That's not how religion works.

In my view, American Christianity, and specifically Evangelical Christianity, is nothing more than a cult run by nutjobs with self serving agendas.

[fuqthegovt]

I don't buy that 2% atheist crap pie chart when France is 33% and the entire EU is 20%. It's probably more like 10-20% in the USA, if not more even with the self-delusional bible belt, me being one of them (not going to go into a long rant why I think gods a sadistic prick even if he did exist, it should just be obvious to anyone with working eyes). Worldwide it's maybe 15% (debatable somewhat due to the way the poll was done/questions asked) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_atheism . If trends continue by 2100 95% will be atheist (barring teh 2nd coming before then /sarcasm ). Other than personal beliefs most don't do church because it's usually boring or offensive (you're not going to get an increasing number of open fags to donate to/attend your church by calling them sinners and telling them they are going to hell), or 100 other reasons.

[pooper89]

Church kinda seems like a money-making scheme to me. The only value I see in it is the social aspect and sense of community it gives people. I actually think that's the main reason people go. They tell themselves it's because they want to have god in their hearts or whatever but what drives them to go every week is being able to see friends.

I don't condone religion in general though. Based on it's roots, it was merely a way for people to explain things that happened that they could not yet explain through science. Religion was also a way to govern and control people.

[Anonymous]

Back up your claim that god is real as the bible depics him and I'll go to church. At least 80% of people who don't believe in God or go to church will start going and believing once you give it.

The burdon of proof is on the person who made the claim. Meaning if you claim something is true, you have to back it up and prove it is true. Otherwise we assume it isn't until proven otherwise.

Its not up to us to disprove it, so saying we can't disprove God or Christianity isn't proof. Its like a guy claiming there's unicorns that fall from the sky and when he's asked to prove it he says "You prove they're not real, if you can't then they exist." It doesn't mean unicorns fall from the sky.

[relaxrelax]

Genesis 6:4
There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

google giant foot prints, giant skeletons, Egyptian giants, and study it out
GOD made it easy for people who choose to search it out, there are sightings of giants still today, but its very very few, from what i know most where killed the rest ran and hid
but the evidence is there just search it out

[Opinion Owner]

@relaxrelax

Can you point me to the sources you're actually talking about because so far the ones I've seen are just conspiracy theories thT have been disproven

[Opinion Owner]

@relaxrelax and have them be credibel sources

[relaxrelax]

can't to low xper just made the account
my advice study it out for yourself
cause yes there are some fakes even i admit that
but search it out especially pay attention to egypt
my advice

[Opinion Owner]

@relaxrelax

It won't let you just copy and paste a link without the blue hyperlink?

[relaxrelax]

i try and it doesn't let me for some reason which i find stupid but whatever once im higher xper i post whats real and whats fake

[Opinion Owner]

@relaxrelax

I was looking into the giants in Egypt and its been debunked by historians and archelogists. Im trying to find credible sources for it and credible evidence for your claims. But i can't find any. Its usually just a conspiracy blog with posts that contradict basic knowledge in scientific fields

[relaxrelax]

research la marzulli not sure if you are up for a 2 hour talk of his journeys out to different places in the world he has a lot of proof and he debunks a lot of stuff people say cause he actually goes and searches to see if its true

[JRICHARDS1996]

Thomas Aquinas proved God almost a thousand years ago. The writings are there for anyone to read. No, not in the form of atheist blogs which parrot only strawmen -- Aquinas NEVER stated that everything has a cause -- but in the form of his actual writings themselves.

[Opinion Owner]

@JRICHARDS1996

That proves there's something that likely made us but this doesn't prove God as the holy texts describe him. Heaven, hell, angles, virgin mary giving birth, Jesus Christ granting miracles, claims along those lines is what we need proof for.

Likely we are a cell of some sort in a much bigger being or setting we can't even comprehend.

[JRICHARDS1996]

I repeat, study the writings themselves. I appreciate that you did not immediately dismiss them based off of straw men like so many secularists, but there is more to them. In short, by the very nature of articulating God as necessary via causation, he is able to derive necessary characteristics about God like omnipotence, omniscience, and the like. Again, this does not cover *everything* about Christianity in particular, but it does establish classical theism and most of its claims as in the Abrahamic religions.

[Opinion Owner]

@JRICHARDS1996

This is what i read

web.mnstate.edu/.../...veWays_ArgumentAnalysis.htm

Is there way more than that that can make radical difference.

[JRICHARDS1996]

Yes, there is way more. That is a very good summary of one of his most famous arguments, but his entire Summa contains multiple.

[JRICHARDS1996]

More than that, but he goes in depth to address rebuttals including most of the ones that are raised today.