In Britain secularisation is occuring, and less than 7.5% of adults are now thought to attend church. However in the U.S.A, figures are still relativley high at around 40%. I realise that the definition of 'secularisation' itself is widely debated, but I'm interested to see if anyone can explain the vitality of the church in the U.S.A, compare to declining membership in much of the western world.

I live in the U.S. and can count on one hand the number of times I've been in a church in my life.

I just thought I should mention something very surprising that occurred to me recently in regards to religion. I am currently attending college at one of the Universities here in Wisconsin and I took an Introduction to Philosophy class. We really didn't hit on religious belief a whole lot until towards the end of the course. When we did I was shocked to find that all but one of the students in the class was not a practicing Christian. Many said that they did believe in God but did not practice a form of religion. I found this very shocking considering the class was about 50 students strong!

Outside of that experience I would have to say that religion is alive and well here in the U.S. and if anything is experiencing a resurgence of sorts since 9/11.

Hi Duff! I am a christian who has attended alot of different Christian churches. To answer your question this is my best guess: The US was founded for the most part by a bunch of hard working God fearing folk (whatever that means to any one person). These founding folk tried to create a reality where everybody is free to worship God in their own way. Or not at all. The result of two hundred years of this freedom is a whole bunch of different concepts of how God should be worshiped. And most of these different concepts are Christian in some sense of the word. Basically as a Christian if you are not happy with your church and there are others that agree with you, you can go start your own church or a version of a church that already exists. So there is a type of Christian church for just about anybody who wants to worship God as a Christian and more are being created everyday. For example: I am a Christian Mystic Yoga and I am a licenced minister in the State of Washington USA :) acaveyogi

It really doesn’t matter how many people attend church. I know a lot of people who go to church three times a week and know the bible cover to cover yet have no sense of Christian values. Simply attending church does not make you a Christian. In fact, a lot of devoted Christians refuse to attend church nowadays because they don’t like the way their religion is being commercialized and, in many ways, used for profit. Any church that judges a person entirely by how much money they put in the plate is not a true church of God.

My point is: you can’t accurately recognize the presence of Christianity simply by surveying how many people attend church.

Mopoloton has a point. On one hand. But what about the other hand? Christians are suppose to be perfect. Their Master/Savior was suppose to be perfect. How can you be a Christian and not be perfect? The major complaint that folks have is that not all Christians are perfect, therefore, the whole concept is false. Ok. But is it? All Christian churches create a reality where a person with help from God's Holy Spirit can become perfect in the eyes of God no matter who they are and no matter that they can't do it themself. Jesus sent His helper, the Holy Spirit. To help. Yes, anytime there is money to be made folks rush in to make it. But it is not the money, it is the message that is what is important. That message is love and forgiveness and help. People go into a church and they say, "Oh the Holy Spirit is not here!". If you carry the Holy Spirit within you, then the Holy Spirit is there. Because you are a Christian. This needs to be understood. Jesus said that, "You will work miracles in my name but I will know you not." The "Gift" of all Christian churches is that they create a reality where a person with help from the Holy Spirit can become perfect in the eyes of God, no matter who they are and that they can't do it themself. All other major religions require that you have to do this yourself or it is your fault. If you accept Jesus as your Master and believe that He can, He will, over time, work miracles in your life that will be beyond your wildest imagination. Jesus is a force for true good and I don't think that He is going away, pseudo Christians or whatever. acaveyogi

Duff you can't just start something and not play. How are you going to get views? Sheesh! Conflict sells newspapers! :) Don't give up, just wade in! Other wise DrewM and BorgHunter and not going to get shoes for their kids and make house payments and stuff! Duff where are you? acaveyogi

This site makes little, if any, money for Drew, and I am a volunteer. I guess my future kids will have to starve. :D

April Fools BorgHunter! :) And I have Officially registered myself as a "Whatever it is that I am." :) So very little money is made off of this website. So what is the definition of "Very Little?" Enquiring minds want to know! :) The truth is 5 dollars "US" a month, 60 bucks "US" a year to help DrewM with his contribution to mankind is extremely reasonable. It just is. The truth is that there are a bunch of us that would like to help DrewM support his gift to mankind in a monetary way. We just would. How can we do this BorgHunter? acaveyogi

Originally posted by acaveyogi
April Fools BorgHunter! :) And I have Officially registered myself as a "Whatever it is that I am." :) So very little money is made off of this website. So what is the definition of "Very Little?" Enquiring minds want to know! :) The truth is 5 dollars "US" a month, 60 bucks "US" a year to help DrewM with his contribution to mankind is extremely reasonable. It just is. The truth is that there are a bunch of us that would like to help DrewM support his gift to mankind in a monetary way. We just would. How can we do this BorgHunter? acaveyogi

Don't ask Borg...he'll have you send the money to St. Petersburg :D

Ask Drew if there's a way to send a contribution...

Originally posted by acaveyogi
The truth is that there are a bunch of us that would like to help DrewM support his gift to mankind in a monetary way. We just would. How can we do this BorgHunter? acaveyogi
Um...well, Drew has authorized me as his personal money-accepter...*cough*

Seriously, Vile's right. PM Drew.

That was fun! But you don't really understand how many of us love the gift of AllForums and are willing to support it. :) The truth is I am not your problem, I want to cooperate. Your problen is people like me that don't. Anytime you set up a reality that is the positive gift that DrewM has set up, you invite chaos generators. Good has to be dinked with (their rule and their life). And it is the rule of todays reality. :) We all live with it. I here by declare Violet an undeclared player. And the game is afoot. I will not create any reality that raises a flag with DrewM or the Allforums staff. Voilet is a young me and I want to play. Violet has the gift and Violet is not a bad person. :) acaveyogi