Over the past few decades, the number of Americans who identify as religiously unaffiliated—often referred to as “nones”—has grown rapidly. In the 1970s, only about 5% of Americans fell into this category. Today, that number exceeds 25%. Scholars have debated whether this change simply reflects a general decline in belief, or whether it signals something more complex. The research team wanted to explore the deeper forces at play: Why are people leaving institutional religion? What are they replacing it with? And how are their personal values shaping that process?

  • WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works
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    18 hours ago

    Well, my whole life, I’ve lived in a society where organized Christianity has overwhelmingly been a force for evil, rather than a force for good. Fuck, I straight-up believe that most Evangelical Christians are devil worshipers. If your religion leads you to hate, you aren’t worshiping God, you’re worshiping the Devil.

    • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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      18 hours ago

      Christianity is, by definition, a cult of human sacrifice.

      Kinda puts the entire faith into perspective.

        • athairmor@lemmy.world
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          18 hours ago

          They ritualistically eat the body and blood of their god/savior.

          Let that sink in.

        • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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          18 hours ago

          Well, they were in luck… he’s only mostly dead. If he was all the way dead, it wouldn’t have worked. but Mostly dead? Miracle Max can work with that.

        • Clasm@ttrpg.network
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          16 hours ago

          Suicidal Death Cult

          They are actively doing everything in their power to bring about the end of the world.

        • Billiam@lemmy.world
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          16 hours ago

          When you’re actively trying to bring about the end of the world, there’s no more apt description.

        • Sixty@sh.itjust.works
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          13 hours ago

          Dooms day death cult.

          Lead by Jesus, the dooms day death cult leader.

          I hear he’s a “good guy.”

          I don’t think dooms day death cult leaders, make believe or not and I just mean a historical grifter non magical, are good people.

        • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          17 hours ago

          Death Cult Armageddon, great Dimmu album. My parents got it for me along with Enthrone Darkness Triumphant for Christmas one year but they wouldn’t buy me Diablo II because Diablo “didn’t fit the theme of the holiday.”

          • NotASharkInAManSuit@lemmy.world
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            14 hours ago

            In all fairness, Diablo has an entirely different lore than Christianity, I can see where they were coming from. We want to burn Yahweh, not Anu.

      • jaupsinluggies@feddit.uk
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        18 hours ago

        Not really; one guy died, by his own choice, but came back to life two days later. A real “cult of human sacrifice” would require it as an ongoing practice and for the victims to stay dead.

        • sangriaferret@sh.itjust.works
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          16 hours ago

          Jesus alone doesn’t make it a death cult. It’s a death cult because the whole religion is predicated on death. Dying is the entire point. Your entire life is a means to gain the rewards of dying and only then will you truly be happy.

          • jaupsinluggies@feddit.uk
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            5 hours ago

            So much wrongitude here I don’t know if this is genuinely what you think or if you’re just trolling.

            Jesus came to earth so that we could know God, here and now. To nick someone else’s quote: It’s not pie in the sky when you die, it’s steak on your plate while you wait. John 10:10: “I have some so that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

            I suggest you read the Bible some time. Start with the Gospels, either Luke or John. Not as a means to convert you, but so that you can understand what Christianity is really about, instead of spouting uninformed nonsense about it. You’re currently the equivalent of those Christians who say the equivalent of “evolution is just a theory”.

            • sangriaferret@sh.itjust.works
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              4 hours ago

              Your reward is in heaven right? So the endgame is death. You might get to eat steak while you are alive but you dont get the whole meal until you die. That’s a death cult.

        • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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          17 hours ago

          Just because there was only one sacrificial offering doesn’t mean jesus wasn’t a sacrificial offering.

          The whole thing about jesus being both fully god and fully man is that no “normal” human would ever be sinless- and therefore would be an inadequate sacrifice. Therefore god became man- that is, jesus- whose sole purpose was to be a “perfect” sacrifice.

          • not_fond_of_reddit@lemm.ee
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            17 hours ago

            But isn’t the whole trinity thing God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit the same entity? So God sacrificed himself for himself… wouldn’t really call a two day nap for some eternal being a sacrifice either.

            • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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              17 hours ago

              You’re expecting it all to make sense. It’s like a the lies a 2 year old tells to explain and justify having gotten into the chocolate cake, after having tried to lay it off like they hadn’t (missing the whole having it all over their face thing,).

              The longer they’re allowed to go, and the more you poke holes the weirder it gets.

            • Sc00ter@lemmy.zip
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              16 hours ago

              This was always my biggest struggle growing up in a catholic house. “He sacrificed himself to save everyone who came before and will come after.”

              Like, is that really that big of a deal? Shit if i was presented with the option of a much smaller number than infinity, idk say 1000, id sacrifice myself. AND i don’t know that I’m god or that my father is god and that ill be taken care of for all eternity.

              In all reality, that numbers way less than 1000 for strangers, and if you include anyone i know/care about, that number could be as low as 1.

              • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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                11 hours ago

                He set ad and eve up, too. He meant for them to eat the dam fruit,

                All so he could LARP as the White Knight™️.

    • CXORA@aussie.zone
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      15 hours ago

      No. The christoan God is evil. They’re doing exactly as their religion demands.

    • MouldyCat@feddit.uk
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      18 hours ago

      If your religion leads you to hate, you aren’t worshiping God, you’re worshiping the Devil.

      And this is how wars between religions start…

      Maybe try to move away from that God/Devil thing. It’s a foolish, naive, human-centered worldview.

      • bpalmerau@aussie.zone
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        17 hours ago

        Ok, we can restate it. If your religion leads you to hate, you aren’t on the side of good, you’re on the side of bad?

        • MouldyCat@feddit.uk
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          17 hours ago

          alright, but is the world really as black and white as that? Is there really a clear Good Side, and a clear Bad Side?

          • Tinks@lemmy.world
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            3 hours ago

            If your religion leads you to hate, the religion and its followers are bad. The end.