Approx 76% and falling. Has Christianity had it's day in the sun?

Question

Lets examine the facts...

Christians make up 76.5% (159 million) of Americans. This is down from 86.2% in 1990. That's a loss of 9.7% in 11 years. If this trend continues, then by about the year 2042, non-Christians will outnumber the Christians in the U.S.

The fastest growing religion (in terms of percentage) is Wicca - a Neopagan religion (sometimes referred to as Witchcraft.) Numbers went from 8,000 in 1990 to 134,000 in 2001. That's a doubling about every 30 months!

14.1% of Americans do not follow any organized religion. This is almost a doubling from only 8% in 1990.

By 2050, adherents to both Buddhism and Hinduism will outnumber Christians.

Christians have been trying to "save" the planet for 2000 years. If anything, it's only exacerbated the extreme violence against them from anti-Christian regimes (ie. Islam.)

This pretty much proves that despite what Christians believe, the world isn't interested in Jesus Christ.

Christians, maybe it's time to face reality?

Source: ARIS 2001 (American Religious Identification Survey)

Answer 1

I have quoted the ARIS study on many occasions. With the Information Age, children that are raised Christian, no longer go through their lives without experiencing other religions.

Information for spirituality is now readily available to anyone who needs it in the US.

Also, as science continues to discredit the infallibility of the Bible, more and more people are looking for more scientifically viable philosophies like Atheism, Secular Humanism, and Agnosticism.

Also, with the Right Wing Christian movement being so pro-War, they are alienating those people who feel war is a terrible thing. So they also leave Christianity in search for more peaceful philosophies such as Buddhism and Neo Pagan Religions that advocate non violence.

Lastly, with the our capitalist economy shoving medication down our throats and the state of todays health care systems, people become drawn to more holistic ideologies like Hinduism, Wicca, Shamanism, and even those that are anti drug like Scientology

Not to mention the effect that Hollywood has on religion with the modern Cabala Movement, Scientology, Neo Paganism and Buddhism all playing major roles in either the mediums themselves or the actors who star in them.

Modern Cabalah-Madonna, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher

Scientology- Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Jason Lee, Beck Hanson

Neo Paganism-Faruza Balk, Godsmack singer Sully Erna

Buddhism-Orlando Bloom, Richard Gere, Keanu Reeves

There seems to be fewer and fewer Christians standing out in the limelight. Actors still thank God after winning an Oscar as we saw yesterday with Jennifer Hudson and Forrest Whitaker. But, the tone of Christianity is fallling. We can blame alot of that on our overly Christian and fiercely unpopular President Bush and his misfit clan of Right Wing Christian/Criminals. People see Christianity as somewhat disingenuous. They know that Bush lied to us, but yet proclaims impeccable Christian morality. Is this what a Christian is? Do people really want to be associated with that? His approval rating would suggest otherwise.

Even in internet lingo, the face of a Christian has become Xian with an eerie symbolism that seems to forebode their inevitable downfall.

With Christains championing causes like banning Gay Marriage and Harry Potter, it stands to reason that the American public has started to see them as a misguided nuisance or with either unfortunate or willful ignorance. In the information age, we balk at people who aren't computer or cell phone savvy, so for those who are so in the dark about social issues as to equate our beloved Harry Potter with evil are not excused anymore.

This sends a clear message to youth. Christianity is for the stubborn and ignorant. Not for the progressive and wise. It makes their decision to stray from the church very easy.

Lastly, there comes the ever fearful face of what Christianity has the potential to become. If you have seen the movie Jesus Camp, you know what I speak of.

Answer 2

The link contains some interesting statistics on World religious beliefs. It would appear from this that Christianity is still by far the biggest single religion but also the slowest growing between 1990 and 2000, actually slower than population growth.
The problem with prediction is that at some stage a tipping point will be reached where change will accelerate in a particular direction and predicting that direction is problematic since it requires knowledge of future events which may predispose groups or individuals in a particular direction.
Simple extrapolation of trends would suggest that at some stage the Wikkans will be the majority but this does not take into account a possible fundamentalist Christian backlash, political events such as a Muslim, Christian war polarizing opinion or the potential emergence of a new prophet.
You also need to consider the relative influence that these groupings exert. A small group such as the Conclave of Cardinals in Rome can exert far more influence than all of the Wikkans or Zoroastrians.
We can only wait and see I think.

Answer 3

Yeah and the Bible does mention that when Christ returns only a very small number of people will have faith. There is a large body of evidence in scripture that indicates near the end times great apostasy will exist within the church. Eventually the light of the gospel will be dimished to the point where hardly anyone will be saved. Reason being is because all of Israel would have crossed the Red Sea and there is no one left that God will want to save. Please read the death of the two prophets in Revelation 11. At one point their testimony will also be dead as well.

In the days of Noah, judgment came and only eight people were saved on the ark.

In the days of Sodom and Gomorrah only Lot and his family was saved.

So it will be near the end of time.

Answer 4

You are referring to Sunday worshipers. I'd say they are false" Christian", claiming to be one but do not follow the true doctrine Jesus teaches. However one thing that are correct. They do not call Sunday a Sabbath, at least for those I know, They agree that Sunday is the first day of the week and Sabbath is the seventh day. And yes I agree with what you wrote. Those are pagan practices. By the way i don't know which is which: They paganized Christian or they christianized Pagan.

Answer 5

The goal of Christian evangelism is not to get as many adherents as possible. The goal is to ensure that God's chosen from every tribe, nation, language, and people hear the message that they can respond to. That goal continues worldwide while the number of adherents dwindles.

As a Christian, I suspect that the percentage of true believers in the USA (not just adherents that name themselves Christian in a survey) is closer to 1/10th the quoted numbers. This does not surprise me nor discourage me. It confirms the reality of scripture that was written 2000 years ago. That (a) most people would not believe, and (b) that towards the end only a faithful remnant would remain.

Answer 6

I don't think Christianity has had its day in the sun... because as soon as something bad happens everyone is singing God Bless America and no one seems to have a problem with it...! The levels are falling because people are searching for truth in a world of corruption. If it weren't for finding out about Pastors commiting adultery and priest touching little boys and conservatives using their religion as means to judge others and make decisions for them than that wouldn't be happening. I think it's a wake up call to Christians to be real and stand for what we say believe not just say what we believe and stand for what the world believes!

Answer 7

Christians should not be surprised in the decline. It is truth from the Word of Jesus. If Father God tarry to long in sending Him back there would be no faithful left on the earth. It is also truth that more will occupy the kingdom of satan than the kingdom of heaven.

Answer 8

That's a shame.

A shame that we're going to have to wait that long before people stop bombing abortion clinics. We'll have to wait that long before we see a slowing of the violence brought about by religious fanatics. We'll have to wait that long before we can actually help people ease the misery of their lives with stem cell research, before our education systems can emerge from the dark ages of Intelligent design, bigotry, and fear. Exactly how long do we have before alter boys are safe again?

Well, there is hope, maybe reason and logic will catch on and it will grow exponentially

I don't see a problem with the decline of Christianity, I think it's time.

There are some incredible Christians out there I will admit, some incredible humanitarians. Unfortunately the vast majority of the followers frighten me.

Answer 9

Wicca growing fastest by percentage means nothing. If they have 1 idiot and find 3 more does the fact that they grew 300% mean anything? No.

Other than that, it is surprising how fast Christianity is falling, but I will not count on it spiraling down the drain. We have drop trends all the time. However, if this is the time we Atheists finally take over, I'll be glad.

Answer 10

I'm not christian but I generally don't have a problem with them for a couple of reasons: 1) unlike muslims they don't suicide bomb innocent people. 2) they usaully stay out of trouble. 3) They go to church on Sundays so the traffic isn't that bad.