Since this thread has by this point on page 5, run its course, and is now expanding beyond the original OP post topic, and it is near to Easter, the most celebrated Christian religious period of the year, I'll offer the below that lists some of the obvious reasons people have been moving away from Christianity, from one of my much longer MS Word document. Because of the short paragraph length limit on this web board, I've had to reformat the Word document a bit, ie bullets. And to be clear, I am one that has chosen to follow Jesus, though in new ways given modern science and Internet access to vast information.
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People dismiss possibility of God
In this modern 21st Century science and technology era, more and more Western world people, especially younger adults are increasingly dismissing the possibility that God exists without making much effort to personally research or consider the issue. Instead, they are likely to rely on societal awareness that there is increasing secularism among credible successful people, media, peers, scientists, their acquaintances, and society that confirms what they suspected about an invisible, hidden deity that modern science shows no certain evidence for. 60% of Millennials that grew up with religion have dropped out, 35% have an anti-religious stance, and only 20% under 30 believe church going has value in their weekly lives.
Against making that decision is the understanding that we sentient human earth creatures are mortal with otherwise limited lifetimes. The one and only hope for individuals to escape the otherwise certain eternal non-existence of death is by the very clear New Testament promises from Jesus of salvation into his Father’s Heavenly kingdom. Thus, many today though not actively religious and living reasonably moral lives, are in fact on the fence when directly asked, continuing to lean publicly towards the existence of God.
Accordingly, when confronted with moral, ethical, or sinful choices in their lives, unlike when I grew up in the USA, choosing to be agnostic or atheist is now a popular choice without much social consequence. Although it may not be possible to prove God or an UIE exists, I can provide argumentation that Christian churches have created much dogma from misinterpretations and supposed inspiration that God has apparently allowed without corrections. In this modern science and technology era the consequences of two centuries of such has now become a problem that God and son Jesus may be reconsidering intervening again at least in some subtle way, while remaining invisible unprovable.
summary list of current realities
- 1, throughout human history there have been a long list of gods people across the planet believed in or still do. Some viewed from this modern era are comically ridiculous while others still practiced widely today have some credibility. The Christian religion itself is fractured into many denominations with serious differences in belief that detracts from the possibility any of them are valid, with full guidance from God. If he exists, at least in our region of spacetime, there can only be but one god. Jesus did not start his Christian Church with a goal of multiple beliefs and churches.
- 2, at least at a shallow limited science level of knowledge, most people see no solid evidence of a god in the universe while science increasingly supplies logical natural mechanisms for physical reality.
- 3, although some Christian denominations like Catholics, have in recent decades quietly embraced evolution and science, the dominant perception at individual levels continues to follow strict literal interpretations of creation and Genesis that is being ravaged by atheists that attack all Christians like rigid Baptist Young Earth Creationists.
- 4, people can consider our long list of serious human problems like wars, suffering, and the poor that generation after generation through centuries remains unchanged, as evidence a deity is not there or does not care while not considering that is our human responsibility and not God’s. Making that less believable on the other hand are Evangelicals touting how God is intimately involved in everyone’s lives with elaborate plans, regardless of how evil, and loves all of us equally.
- 5, people note how historically many unjust wars and punishments were the result of beliefs of religious people against external people with different beliefs as though God was not really helping religious leaders understand what was moral. In doing so they disregard the reality of political powers habitually compromising the church that one has to suspect was not led so by God.
- 6, additionally, the recent sexual abuse scandals cry out to our religious denominations over a lack of godly guidance. How could God if he was involved have tolerated such? He wasn’t. People don’t consider history showing God abandons such leaders just like he did in the Old Testament with the Levites as Jesus made quite clear when he arrived.
- 7, people conversely notice how many of the most wealthy, famous, and powerful people in the world including those through history, are not religious and often sinful as though it makes no difference at least while we are organically alive on Earth.
- 8, people notice how many of the non religious atheists are just as happy and content as any religious if not more so and are freer to live their lives unconstrained even sinfully however they wish as long as such does not break civil laws.
- 9, even agnostics on the fence are likely to pray when they or those they love and care for are ill or in danger. When such prayers seem to have no effect, they may blame God or conclude he does not exist.
- 10, most Christian churches continue to cling to the strict Bible recorded historical narratives of miracles, that from physical science standpoints are not defendable even with an extreme allowance of what is possible. Thus, may appear as nonsense imaginary magic that is logically impossible instead of considering the flexible nature of orally passed down stories of ancients. Such passed down oral stories often had embellishments for the sake of effective public story-telling to science primitive audiences. Just consider the variance in same subject New Testament gospel verses. Since agendas would include convincing an audience to believe such were acts of gods with vast powers, it ought not be surprising that some passages are embellished so. That does not mean they should be rejected but rather ought to be flexibly interpreted.
- 11, when young adults have gained enough knowledge and skill to actually read The Bible, they may be disappointed in how unbelievable some of it is, how disorganized and difficult it is to interpret confidently, and how there is so much disagreement between denominations and scholars on interpretations. Accordingly, they may reject it as interpreted by authorities. All this is not to say parts are very well presented but rather some are not. Accordingly, the insistence of fundamentalists that this was all 100% inspired by the Holy Spirit comes off as rigid inflexible nonsense with an agenda.
- 12, there are a list of issues relevant only in this modern era like over population of the planet, priest celibacy, abortion, and senior sexual behaviors, that we humans are struggling to deal with in part because referring to the Bible is not adequately relevant in this modern science era while church authorities have boxed themselves into impossible corners due to tradition.
- 13, people also may see self-serving manipulative agendas in those that scare people into religion via lack of salvation in Heaven or eternal damnation in Hell.
- 14, there are considerable conflicts between the dominant sexual culture of young single people and what ancient Christian religious law considers proper. However, the subject of sexual behavior is a difficult and embarrassing issue for adults to publicly address, especially in church whether speaking to other adults or worse to children.
- 15, some religious people use modern media like television to show supposed miracles in plain view while never being able to prove such and then beg for donations. Thus, are not credible that tends to reduce believability of more serious and logical religious authorities.
- 16, among those brought up in a religious environment, a major issue has always been how boring young children often find the church experience. When later as young adults they are left to decide for themselves after having been so behaviorally damaged, some would obviously choose to play video games.
- 17, many today see advantages to moral independence, free from historical moral constraints, especially regarding materialism, sexual behaviors, and drug and alcohol use. Examples are, the enormous recent increase in pornography addiction and self sexual gratification with the rise of the Internet.
- 18, as increasing percentages of non-believing, non church going parents have children, the probability increases of those children never becoming religious.
no wonder people are leaving the Christian church
Is it any wonder in the modern, educated, scientific age so many people as adults from logic and common sense, choose to leave the church? Well, I hope to offer this wisdom as flawed as some of it may be, expanding on some of the above, to those innately good people, minus the evildoers and wicked, that have lost their way.
