Why Christianity is Losing the War on Faith

[SGOS]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/26/the-religious-right-is-right-to-be-scared-christianity-is-dying-in-america.html

Among the Christian Right, and most Republican presidential candidates, it’s now an article of faith that the United States is persecuting Christians and Christian-owned businessesâ€"that religion itself is under attack.

Why has this bizarre myth that Christianity is under assault in the most religious developed country on Earth been so successful? Because, in a way, it’s true. American Christianity is in declineâ€"not because of a “war on faith” but because of a host of demographic and social trends. The gays and liberals are just scapegoats.

The idea that Christians are being persecuted resonates with millennia-old self-conceptions of Christian martyrdom. Even when the Church controlled half the wealth in Europe, it styled itself as the flock of the poor and the marginalized. Whether true or not as a matter of fact, it is absolutely true as a matter of myth. Christ himself was persecuted and even crucified, after all. So it’s natural that Christianity losing ground in America would be seen by many Christians as the result of persecution...

These changes are taking place for a constellation of reasons: greater secular education (college degrees), multiculturalism, shifting social mores, the secular space of consumer capitalism and celebrity culture, the sexual revolution (including feminism and LGBT equality), legal and constitutional changes (like the banning of prayer in public school, and the finding of a constitutional right to same-sex marriage), the breakdown of the nuclear family, the decline of certain forms of family and group identification, and the association of religion in general with nonsensical and outdated dogmas.

There are a lot of things in the article that resonate.  I don't think there is anything new about the concept of "a war on faith."  While the "war" is wholly myth, the myth has existed for my entire lifetime.  It is ingrained into the Christian psyche, and that makes it real for Christians, even if it's nothing more than a fabricated belief.

Granted, some of the most harmful dogma of the church has taken some big hits lately, although they've managed to secure some special treatment from state legislatures, which react to the mythical memes held dear by Christians.  But I doubt that the Church is losing the "war" to a mightier foe, but that the tried and true authoritarian rule so important in the past, has turned into self defeating destruction from within.

It was easy in the past to pedal well established but silly notions like "marriage is between a man and a woman," because that's what we (the older members here) grew up with.  But nope, society and the courts weren't buying it, so as usual, the argument had to morph through a series of "sub" arguments, until the whole dogma finally exposed itself as the inhuman Christian bigotry that it actually was:  "We need the right to discriminate, impose our will on others, and oppress the minority."

I believe the church could of preserved some of it's power and authority had it been more open to new ideas, ideas about social structure, mankind's real place in the biological order, and in accepting the advances in knowledge through science and discovery.  But of course, this kind of outlook has never been the strong point of Christianity.

[aitm]

When even a small group of people formerly of a larger one, find it harder to discriminate against their usual victims, they find more reasons to believe that they themselves are becoming victims…and we can't have that.

[Baruch]

When even a small group of people formerly of a larger one, find it harder to discriminate against their usual victims, they find more reasons to believe that they themselves are becoming victims…and we can't have that.

Its called "projection".  We dysfunctionaly see ourselves in the place of the people we are oppressing.  Bad empathy rather than good empathy.

[Baruch]

Christianity losing ground in the US?

1. American Christians don't know Christianity if Jesus himself showed up ... but accepting a warped definition ...

2. It is like evolutionary biology.  In the smart spectrum, when the average dogma has moved to far into the stupid zone, of even the average person ... then even the average person knows the jig is up, and will either become more secular or find a more "true" religion to follow.  This is what some Americans are doing joining ISIS ... because they don't see Christians here running around murdering gays, just like Jesus used to do ;-(

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Its called "projection".  We dysfunctionaly see ourselves in the place of the people we are oppressing.  Bad empathy rather than good empathy.

You mean they expect us to act as badly as they did when they were in charge?

Let's piss them off and be nicer.

[widdershins]

This comes down to the fundamental need of Christians to feel persecuted.  There are many quotes in the Bible about how good it is to be persecuted and how it means you're being a good Christian.  If they're not being persecuted it's because they're following the wrong path.  It's because they're not actually holy.  So they HAVE to be persecuted.  It's a psychological need because how much they suffer is how they weigh how good of people they are.

There are two common paths they can take to achieve this.  One is taken by the few.  This is the way of the Westboro Baptist Church.  Make people hate you.  Be such dicks that you can feel persecution anyplace, any time.  This is called The Path of the Dick.

The other is much easier and allows you to continue to function in the real world.  Just pretend you're being persecuted.  See persecution staring at you from every corner.  Pretend that not being allowed to force your will on others, not being allowed to persecute others is, itself, persecution.  It is SO much easier with rewards every bit as good, and without all the pesky REAL persecution you get by random people, especially of the mentally unstable variety, who hate bigots with a passion and for whom the line between justice and anarchy may be blurred (or even zig-zag wildly) by some mental defect or another.  This path is known as The Path of the Fox (as in Faux News).

These two disciplines of manufactured persecution are in no way opposed and, in fact, followers of the path of Dick often borrow heavily from the path of Fox and vice versa.  But either path require steadfast determination to believe in this persecution at all costs and believe it is entirely caused by the believer being such a very good person rather than the reality that they are crazy dicks and people just don't like them.

[Blackleaf]

This comes down to the fundamental need of Christians to feel persecuted.  There are many quotes in the Bible about how good it is to be persecuted and how it means you're being a good Christian.  If they're not being persecuted it's because they're following the wrong path.  It's because they're not actually holy.  So they HAVE to be persecuted.  It's a psychological need because how much they suffer is how they weigh how good of people they are.

There are two common paths they can take to achieve this.  One is taken by the few.  This is the way of the Westboro Baptist Church.  Make people hate you.  Be such dicks that you can feel persecution anyplace, any time.  This is called The Path of the Dick.

The other is much easier and allows you to continue to function in the real world.  Just pretend you're being persecuted.  See persecution staring at you from every corner.  Pretend that not being allowed to force your will on others, not being allowed to persecute others is, itself, persecution.  It is SO much easier with rewards every bit as good, and without all the pesky REAL persecution you get by random people, especially of the mentally unstable variety, who hate bigots with a passion and for whom the line between justice and anarchy may be blurred (or even zig-zag wildly) by some mental defect or another.  This path is known as The Path of the Fox (as in Faux News).

These two disciplines of manufactured persecution are in no way opposed and, in fact, followers of the path of Dick often borrow heavily from the path of Fox and vice versa.  But either path require steadfast determination to believe in this persecution at all costs and believe it is entirely caused by the believer being such a very good person rather than the reality that they are crazy dicks and people just don't like them.

This is very true. When I was a Christian, I was always taught that if you were living a comfortable life, you weren't not trying hard enough because Satan will persecute you if you're being a good Christian. And if you got along with the general public, it's because you've traded your Christian ethics for worldly ways. And you don't want to be a sellout.

[SGOS]

This comes down to the fundamental need of Christians to feel persecuted... There are two common paths they can take to achieve this...

An entertaining piece of satire, and as good satire requires, it captures a load of real truth.