The coming evangelical collapse[CS Monitor]

[billyoc]

Oneida, Ky. - We are on the verge – within 10 years – of a major collapse of evangelical Christianity. This breakdown will follow the deterioration of the mainline Protestant world and it will fundamentally alter the religious and cultural environment in the West.

Within two generations, evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its occupants. (Between 25 and 35 percent of Americans today are Evangelicals.) In the "Protestant" 20th century, Evangelicals flourished. But they will soon be living in a very secular and religiously antagonistic 21st century.

This collapse will herald the arrival of an anti-Christian chapter of the post-Christian West. Intolerance of Christianity will rise to levels many of us have not believed possible in our lifetimes, and public policy will become hostile toward evangelical Christianity, seeing it as the opponent of the common good.

Millions of Evangelicals will quit. Thousands of ministries will end. Christian media will be reduced, if not eliminated. Many Christian schools will go into rapid decline. I'm convinced the grace and mission of God will reach to the ends of the earth. But the end of evangelicalism as we know it is close.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0310/p09s01-coop.html

Lord, hear our prayer!

[Catshrink]

1. Amen, Brother!

The Old Testament Christians are a scourge and their movement can't fizzle out soon enough.

[Danger Mouse]

2. So the poison is being drained from Christianity?

I'd think that's the best thing possible for Christianity as a whole.

[Juche]

3. Good

I try not to be a dick to religious people, but this is good news. I don't want superstitious, anti-science, authoritarian evangelicals who think the world will come to an end in their lifetime running the economy or government.

Religious people in Myanmar do good things. Religious people in China do good things. Here in the US they generally do not.

[Danger Mouse]

4. I don't know that Christianity was ever supposed to be in a position of power.

When you think about it, during Jesus' time, nobody would've anticpated that the Romans were going anywhere.
Once Christianity entered into positions of power, bad things started to happen. The good things in religion are often spoiled by access to power.

[Juche]

6. Power corrupts everyone

I don't think religion is any different than nationality or any other defining characteristic in that regard. Once group A obtains power they will eventually use it to suppress their opponents.

The civil rights movement was led by christians like MLK jr. The progressive reforms of the early 20th century had christian support. But now all it seems to be is a superstitious movement of reactionary oppression. People who think creationism is real and climate change is a myth shouldn't be allowed to run anything, let alone a government.


Watching videos and seeing photos of the monks in Myanmar marching for human rights was one of the greatest things I've ever seen. But in the US most religious people don't seem to fight for human rights for others, they fight to take them away. So I'm happy their movement is dying.

[customerserviceguy]

5. While I'd like to see this come to pass

frankly, it looks like wishful thinking to me.

The recently released religion study showed that the fundies are the only group enlarging their membership. Also, adversity tends to make them even more fanatic.

They thrive on persecution, so much that they're willing to imagine it, and inflame other fundies with their "sky is falling" talk.

[LittleClarkie]

7. Sounds like they're predicting the Rapture.

Just left out the people disappearing.

Didn't think Christian Scientists were into such things.

[smalll]

8. Coming evangelical collapse? Don't believe it --

1) In hard economic times, people turn to things like religion (or Communism. or theories about "indigo children" and some such.)

2) The piece says -- "In the "Protestant" 20th century, Evangelicals flourished. But they will soon be living in a very secular and religiously antagonistic 21st century." :wtf:

How did the 20th century become the "Protestant" century? I missed that memo. I think that title's best contenders are the 16th or 17th centuries. More importantly, it was in the increasingly "secular and religiously antagonistic" 20th century when evangelical Christianity did so well -- Billy Sunday, Billy Graham, Aimee Semple McPherson, Crystal Cathedrals, etc. etc. etc. Sure the 21st century will be even more "secular and religiously antagonistic" but there's no reason not to believe that evangelical Christianity will continue to thrive in adversity. And relatedly,

3) The piece also says, "Intolerance of Christianity will rise to levels many of us have not believed possible .. public policy will become hostile toward evangelical Christianity, seeing it as the opponent of the common good." :rofl:
Um, that's exactly the kind of environment in which Christianity first became such a big deal back in, like, you know ... the ROMAN EMPIRE? They start throwing the Christians to the lions of the 21st century -- (pit bulls perhaps?) and it will only help them.

(Disclaimer: not a Christian myself here. But I do think that Christianity served a good purpose in the earlier history of the West, plus, I have enough of a sense of history that I just had to point out the egregious laughability of this article from the Monitor.)

[happyslug]

12. Note in his blog, he points out Christian are NOT hated but Evangelical Christians are

He then points out the following:

We are loathed, caricatured, avoided and disliked because we often deserve it. There, I said it and I’m glad I did.

Here’s my list of why evangelicals are among the most disliked persons in America.

1. Christians endorse a high standard of conduct for others, and then largely excuse themselves from a serious pursuit of such a life. Jesus is the most admired person in history, but evangelicals are far more likely to devise ways for Jesus to be like us than for us to be like Jesus.

http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/imonk-101-why-do-they-hate-us#more-2915

[mwei924]

9. Didn't they just report that atheist/agonists are at an all-time now?

I'm betting that more and more people will turn away from religion, or at least embrace the super chill denominations more.

[donheld]

10. Is there any way we can push this along a little harder?

Speed the fucker up!

[happyslug]

11. You should READ th article before commenting on it

It was written by a Protestant Evangelical, who basically is saying that Evangelical Protestantism is going to die for the young have NOT been taught the faith let along the Bible but instead to "feel" good about the faith. The writer then goes on that this is a road of doom, no background, no dogma, just to feel good and be for Conservative values is to stand for nothing, and that is the doom of Evangelicalism.

He goes on that he expects the Catholics, Orthodox and Liberal main line Protestant churches to take up the slack, because all of them teach the Bible even when it goes against what is popular right now (i.e. each value helping their fellow man even through that means expansion of Government, a concept OPPOSED by many Evangelicals, through he avoids this topic in the actual writing, but it is implied).

The evangelical investment in moral, social, and political issues has depleted our resources and exposed our weaknesses. Being against gay marriage and being rhetorically pro-life will not make up for the fact that massive majorities of Evangelicals can't articulate the Gospel with any coherence. We fell for the trap of believing in a cause more than a faith. {/i]

He goes on on his blog, basically he see the evangelical movement as having gone on the wrong path and people will leave it as that becomes more and more clear, but he then goes on Evangelicalism will come back ONCE IT RETURNS TO ITS ROOTS, which is the message of Christ and how all of us should live together as a one family. When Evangelicals return to their roots of being for the common man as oppose to support those that have the money, Evangelicals will again become a power in this country.

http://www.internetmonk.com/

[billyoc]

15. Hey, fuck you. I don't care why he says it's going to die, as long as it does.

Read THAT.

[stopbush]

13. The article posits that Xianity will survive "the onslaught of secularism."

Fat chance.

Religion has had one thing and one thing alone that has kept people in line: fear. As people become more secular and more enlightened, the old childish fears fall away. That leaves no room for religion to take hold because religion cannot exist in a rational, adult world, especially a world that is on to religion's political agenda.

The author presents the waning of Christianity as a bad thing when nothing could be better for the world than for all religions to join the ranks of all the other discarded stupidities of man's invention.

This article isn't written as a doomsday prediction that Xianity is ending. It's actually saying the opposite while positing that a secular world would be the most horrible thing one could imagine.

[CANDO]

14. Zeitgeist The Movie... it was always a myth anyway.

Based upon ancient Egyptian religions. Jesus Christ never existed. He was a political ploy, made up to gain and maintain power over the people.