The Decline of Christianity is Undeniable 1 of 4

The evidence is substantial and indisputable -- Western Christian religion is disintegrating, its authority and influence is fading, its adherents are disengaging. The attrition started slowly, but has enhanced rapidly. Christianity as we know it is becoming irrelevant. That raises an obvious question: How come? Why is the West in general and America in particular, losing their faith?”

Dozens of similar reports, essays and studies are basically saying the same thing—Christianity in its traditional power base of Europe and America is in decline. Fewer people are claiming it, and even fewer of those who claim it are actually seriously practicing it.

This is a Christian nation,” said the Supreme Court in 1892. “America was born a Christian nation,” echoed our Founding Fathers. Wilson, Truman and Reagan affirmed it: “This is a Christian nation.” But in 2009, Barack Hussein Obama begged to differ: “We do not consider ourselves a Christian nation.” Now before we begin throwing stones at Mr. Obama, let us examine some telling statistics.

After researching many Research Center surveys (Pew, Barna, Family Alliance, SBC, Gallup and others) I can reveal, based on that research, the United States is “de-Christianizing” at an accelerated rate.

Whereas 86 percent of Americans in 1990 identified as Christians, by 2014, that was down to 70 percent. Today less than 7 in 10 say they are Christians. But the percentage of those describing themselves as atheists, agnostics or nonbelievers has risen to 23. That exceeds the Catholic population and is only slightly below evangelicals.

Those in the mainline Protestant churches – Presbyterians, Lutherans, Methodists, Episcopalians – have plummeted from 50 percent of the U.S. population in 1958 to 14 percent today. By accommodating the social revolution of the 1960s to stay relevant, mainline churches appear to have made themselves irrelevant to many Americans, especially the young.

The decline in Christian identity is greatest among the young. While 85 percent of Americans born before 1945 still call themselves Christians, only 53 percent of those born after 1980 do. As for the younger Millennials the percentage is under 50 percent.

We are in the midst of both a happy and sad conundrum. Happy? Because the silent voice of the masses walking away may finally grab the attention of those who have been ignoring the few voices crying out, “Something’s wrong!” Maybe the “church is irrelevant” message will be the “hello, it’s not working!” wake-up call we desperately need to hear.

At the heart and core of Christ’s teaching is the need for change—deep, personal, relevant, transformation into a better person and society—and the path to it. So, connect the dots: The turning away from Christianity is telling us that what its proponents are offering is not motivating people, not producing relevant change, not satisfactorily explaining life’s biggest questions.

Ah! But, there is light at the end of the tunnel. One may rightly wonder why is there luminosity when it’s not working? Because it’s only in seeing the reasons for Christianity’s problems that we are going to see the solutions and the need for the reemergence of what God originally intended Christianity to be. But it’s also, sadly unfortunate, because the “tossing out the baby with the bathwater” disorder means many, while tossing out the bathwater of religion, assume the relevance of God should go with it.

And what takes religion’s place? How about the current chant “I’m spiritual, just not religious.” The mentioned mantra is leading many to opt for creating their own belief systems, which inevitably leads to Hell’s gates. So they are going to the cafeteria of religious ideology and saying, “I’ll have some of this, a little of that.” In other words, they’re becoming their own god, creating their own religious universe.