Poll: Church membership in US plummets over past 20 years

[yortsed snacilbuper]

"Increasingly, Americans associate religion with the Republican Party — and if they are not Republicans themselves, they turn away from religion,"

link

[Girard442]

1. I should hope so.

As unreligious as I am, I’m still a better follower of Jesus’ teachings than the dirtbag church leaders of today.

[lagomorph777]

22. I hope so too. Clearer minds are needed at this dangerous time.

We need to be firmly reality-based.

[Ohiogal]

2. I really am of the mindset

that you can believe in God and strive to be a good person without belonging to any organized religion.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. Great news.

[HAB911]

4. Time to get some real estate back on the tax rolls

[marble falls]

6. Mormons pay taxes on their church properties.

[grantcart]

18. This is incorrect. Their church properties are tax exempt and pay no taxes.

The church holds billions of dollars of commercial real estate that generate billions of revenue a year and that is taxedcas unrelated income and is not covered by their tax status.

[marble falls]

20. You need to be more accurate and I need to be less general ...

https://askgramps.org/does-the-lds-church-pay-taxes/

https://www.answers.com/Q/Does_the_Mormon_church_pay_Federal_Taxes

They pay these taxes for two reasons:

1. Rendering unto Caesar.
2. To keep the Fed out of their businesses.

For example, they pay taxes on their canneries in spite of the fact they don't sell any of their produce. They use a lot of their business to provide 'welfare', always encouraging needy members not to use public assistance. A significant amount of their church relief goes to non members. So your tax dollars for public assistance do not go to needy Mormons. Church relief includes housing, rent, medical treatment, education, jobs, child care etc.

[grantcart]

21. My answer was 100% accurate.

I would take issue with the answer that "a lot" or a "significant" part goes to non Mormons given

1) unlike most religious denominations the Mormon Church has over the decades made major "for profit" investments and have an asset base in the tens of billions and have profits coming back estimated up to $ 5 Billion a year.

2) unlike other denominations LDS has a substantial welfare fund that is exclusive to its members. Other denominations build large community institutions to benefit the community with no regard to assisting its members. In Thailand, for examples there are major hospitals and dozens of schools built by the Catholic Church and the Protestant denominations that are positioned in areas where less than 3% of the population are Christian.

I know of no similar institution built by the LDS Church while there are literally thousands built by Catholics/Protestants around the world.

[marble falls]

5. I was anonymously asked to "to give other people a chance to read the Gospel message" at my church..

what they didn't know is that I did it when no-one else would volunteer. That and the fact that I found out that there were parishioners ok'd to conceal carry (including an 85+ year old guy), I quit. I am the same christian but I am not going to my wife's church anymore.

I think that most churches are more about the business of being churches than being a sanctuary for worship.

[Freethinker65]

7. I left after my first communion in the 1970's

[lagomorph777]

23. I left after learning the truth about Santa and the Easter Bunny.

Although I faked my way through 1st Communion and beyond, in the 1970s.

[bitterross]

8. This is the REAL "Good News"

Religion has, historically, been a tool of the ruling powers. Not actually a force for the betterment of people. I'm glad to see people turned off by the close association of religion and the GOP.

No surprise Republicans remain more religious. They are the party of authoritarianism. Of following the people in power without question. This is precisely how religion has survived for so long. By people who cannot think for themselves and will not question authority continuing to support it. Study after study has shown their brains work differently. They're still mostly tied to the lizard-brain of fear, fight-or-flight. Not the thinking brain. Anyone who uses the thinking parts of their brain knows religion is just so much BS.

[dalton99a]

9. "When you pray, go into your room, close the door"

- Confucius

[SharonAnn]

11. Jesus Christ, it's in the gospel. About the Pharisees praying in public, at the crossroads.

[Blecht]

14. LOL

I didn't know Confucius wrote the Gospels ...

[USALiberal]

10. There is no proof at all for a God, psudoscience! Nt

[DontBooVote]

12. How about not just blaming republicanism, but also the fact that "God" does not exist??

[Aristus]

13. Election Day, 2016 - the day Mrs. Aristus became a Democrat

and stopped being a conservative evangelical. I just wonder how many other devout Christians of whatever stripe have gone the churchless route like we did after seeing the repukes bow down and hosanna to that vile, disgusting shitmonger.

[Mariana]

16. Not enough, I'm afraid.

I'm sure there are some, but most of his Christian voters support him still, and will enthusiastically vote for him again if given the chance. Many very popular and influential Christian leaders publicly sing his praises. They wouldn't do that if they were losing followers (and therefore money) for it.

[Ilsa]

15. Democrats need to retake, reclaim, their denominations

and religions. The "old guard" that has negative opinions about LGBTQ and Women's rights and Race is dying off.

[Mariana]

17. Not likely.

It's so much easier to just shrug and say those rotten people aren't Christians. Don't we see that all the time?

[Ilsa]

19. True. Then traipse off to

some non-denom place where the preacher tells you that God will make you rich if he's chosen you.

[trotsky]

24. The thing of it is, they never really had them in the first place. There's nothing to "reclaim."

Churches - particularly a lot of the "mainstream" ones - are more conservative than the general population. Look at the Methodist church - they still can't agree on LGBT acceptance. Yet a majority of the US population does.