CNN: American "nones" as populous as Catholics and evangelicals, and on the rise

[Brian63]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/13/us/no...rnd/index.html

"It is the first time we have seen this. The same questions have been asked for 44 years," Burge told CNN.

The meteoric rise of religious nones began in the early 1990s and has grown 266% since 1991, he said.

Burge estimates that 'No Religion' will be the largest group outright in four to six years.

Good work guys!

[Cheerful Charlie]

And we have to thank the hordes of insane and silly TV evangelists whose bizarre antics over the decades have helped cause many to question the sanity of Christianity. Thank you Jimmy Swaggart, Jim and Tammy Bakker, Paul and Jan Crouch, Pat Robertson and so many others.

[Brian63]

As much as people like them have turned others off of religion, I do think the world would have been better off if they simply never had been born in the first place. We should not be so thankful of them doing what they did. We are increasing our voice despite their presence, not because of it.

Take a guy like Ray Comfort whose life’s purpose is so focused on witnessing and evangelizing to the unsaved using very stupid arguments. After he dies and leaves the earth, his lasting impact on it will be having made people dumber. What a sad legacy.

[T.G.G. Moogly]

And we have to thank the hordes of insane and silly TV evangelists whose bizarre antics over the decades have helped cause many to question the sanity of Christianity. Thank you Jimmy Swaggart, Jim and Tammy Bakker, Paul and Jan Crouch, Pat Robertson and so many others.

Let's not forget the lesser morons, folk like John Ashcroft who was disturbed by naked statues and so dressed them. The man truly was disturbed.

When I finally deconverted 30 years ago I didn't think I'd see this in my lifetime, but I will. Will religious bakers sell their cakes to all the nones?

[braces_for_impact]

Honestly, other than the Internet, I think the largest reason for evangelicals hemorrhaging members is their extremist nature combined with their involvement in politics. As society has moved on, declaring all stuff LGBTQ acceptable, Christians have almost literally chosen this as their hill to die on, and have sought to use the government to help them fight it. As a result, their hypocrisy and blunt stupidity have been on display for all to see. The problem is, of course, all the damage they'll be doing on the way out.

[ideologyhunter]

Their big crusade now is Religious Freedom, which is pretty much what States Rights has been in American history: an excuse to do horrendous things and demand that everyone who objects shut his piehole. Whatever offends some hypothetical convention of bishops must obviously be banned. It's not discrimination -- or coercion -- it's the freedom of the believers to push their agenda on others.

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Honestly, other than the Internet, I think the largest reason for evangelicals hemorrhaging members is their extremist nature combined with their involvement in politics. As society has moved on, declaring all stuff LGBTQ acceptable, Christians have almost literally chosen this as their hill to die on, and have sought to use the government to help them fight it. As a result, their hypocrisy and blunt stupidity have been on display for all to see. The problem is, of course, all the damage they'll be doing on the way out.

There are lots of ways to explain the impending demise of organized religion in the U.S. It costs money to belong to these organizations. With the loss of the middle class that money isn't around anymore. One can also today find innumerable worthy causes to conveniently take donations that would have formerly gone to religious institutions. You don't have to show up once a week and give away large portions of your time.

Let's not forget how all that moral high ground has been racked by corruption and pedophilia.


One of the reasons the republican party is in bed with religion is because it wants people to stay stupid and uneducated, have children attend christian madrasas.

[braces_for_impact]

Can't argue with that.

Please excuse any formatting issues as this was sent via mobile.

[OLDMAN]

I am surprised the Catholic church didn't take a bigger hit than all the others...given the horrific nature of their scandals and cover ups.

[Brian63]

I am looking at some recent posts by the author of that study the CNN article refers to, and he has some surprising comments in recent posts.

https://twitter.com/ryanburge/status...90227414749184

"...individuals with graduate degrees are consistently the *least likely* to declare that they have no religious affiliation than those with less education."

also

https://twitter.com/ryanburge/status...72199070998528

"There is not a whole lot of evidence to support the assertion that educated people attend religious services less. There is not a single wave of the CCES where those without a HS diploma attend church more than those with graduate degrees." [...do not know what "CCES" is exactly]

So the rise of the nones is not among the college-educated class, but moreso among the lesser-educated. Will have to keep that fact in mind, as it can run against a lot of stereotyping that we atheists would be prone to.