Is The End of Christendom Nigh?

[mexico1970]

I predict that in 300 years from now, nobody on Earth will follow any religion.

Some weapons born here believe the earth is flat, never underestimate the stupidity of folk.

 

[Gorton_Tubster]

Religion peaked with Harry Secombe and Highway. Its been on the wain since then. Harry kept thwe world on a even keel and look at the state f it since his death.

 

[johnny crossan]

As we progress as a species, and learn more about the history of our species and of religions. We are seeing that religions are just a series of fantasy stories that are adaptations and plagiarisms of older religions which are all simply allegories and personifications of the Earth, sky, Sun, Moon, stars, planets and seasons.

Christianity adopted and adapted all of its stories and holidays to fit in with older Pagan festivals which were probably also all just copied from stories past down through generations of hunter gatherers, looking up at the sky around their camp fires at night, recognising the turn in the seasons, the constellations and planets in the sky at different times of the year and the importance of the Sun. I’m not sure if there’s a single authentic original holiday that Christianity didn’t just take from further back in past Paganism.

Religions felt they were needed to be the overseers of morality within society before governments, statutory law, courts, lawyers and Police forces were around. Now, we are seeing that we can live moral lives without the need for religion to keep us in check, just through normal human decency.

Religions also felt they were needed to control the masses, to band them together to fight, invade and conquer, and to convert and again control the new masses. Now that’s done in the name of countries or political ideologies.

Although, there are still some people living in the Dark Ages and following their religions. I predict that in 300 years from now, nobody on Earth will follow any religion. They will just uphold ancient Pagan traditions like ‘Christmas’ (although a Christian word and Christians like to think it’s their holiday, it’s certainly not a Christian holiday), Pancake Day, Easter etc. all which have much more ancient iconography than the Christian bastardisation of them all.

Is this AI?

 

[.db.]

Is this AI?

Who’s Al?

 

[johnny crossan]

Who’s Al?

Spelling is the least of your troubles friend, not sure the NHS can cope with dispossessed pagans but at least those nasty religious types didn't steal your mate at Cerne Abbas.

 

[Bigga]

As we progress as a species, and learn more about the history of our species and of religions, we are seeing that religions are just a series of fantasy stories that are adaptations and plagiarisms of older religions which are all simply allegories and personifications of the Earth, sky, Sun, Moon, stars, planets and seasons.

Christianity adopted and adapted all of its stories and holidays to fit in with older Pagan festivals which were probably also all just copied from stories past down through generations of hunter gatherers, looking up at the sky around their camp fires at night, recognising the turn in the seasons, the constellations and planets in the sky at different times of the year and the importance of the Sun. I’m not sure if there’s a single authentic original holiday that Christianity didn’t just take from further back in past Paganism.

Religions felt they were needed to be the overseers of morality within society before governments, statutory law, courts, lawyers and Police forces were around. Now, we are seeing that we can live moral lives without the need for religion to keep us in check, just through normal human decency.

Religions also felt they were needed to control the masses, to band them together to fight, invade and conquer, and to convert and again control the new masses. Now that’s done in the name of countries or political ideologies.

Although, there are still some people living in the Dark Ages and following their religions. I predict that in 300 years from now, nobody on Earth will follow any religion. They will just uphold ancient Pagan holidays as traditions, like ‘Christmas’ (although a Christian word and Christians like to think it’s their holiday, it’s certainly not a Christian holiday), Pancake Day, Easter etc. all which have much more ancient history and iconography than the Christian bastardisation of them all.

Just a question; under what direction do the West go to war against Islamic countries to "fight, invade and conquer"?

The West aren't led there under the mantle of Christian warfare and fighters don't join under religious means, on the whole.

I'd love to know what your answer would be.

 

[tonea2003]

As you reliably and indefatigably demonstrate. Compliments of the season ;-)

hook line and sinker ;-)

 

[ChicagoBlue]

Was Jesus a socialist? Fictional character or not, I believe the guy that is portrayed in the bible was a decent geezer that spoke a lot of good for those times. Only problem with him was that he believed in his non-existent dad.

The only problem is that most of the crap written about him was written years and years and years after it supposedly happened or was said.

Now, tell me what happened TODAY, and then tell someone else, and have them tell someone else, and so on, and in 200 yrs tell me exactly what happened today and who said what to whom.

Oh, and no writing it down or Googling it, or checking the papers!

 

[ChicagoBlue]

Christendom is dead. The last vestiges of it will die in America. The question is, will it go out with a bang, fighting Islam, or will it die of lack of interest in killing the golden goose of commerce?

 

[johnny crossan]

Christendom is dead. The last vestiges of it will die in America. The question is, will it go out with a bang, fighting Islam, or will it die of lack of interest in killing the golden goose of commerce?

Well, if the fashionable but unfalsifiable belief that modern science has dispensed with the prospect of any ultimate purpose for our existence is correct I suppose we'll just have to rely on folk's innate instincts to respect and be nice to each other to keep the peace & the tills ringing in a godless future. I have to confess my doubts.

 

[Cassandra]

The Church of Scotland, CoS, (as an example) has been declining ,in popularity, by almost any criteria you choose, and in those that are measurable by about 3 to 4% per annum for about 6 decades. At first it was the membership that declined but giving held up and it was only when the knock on effect of fewer ministers started that it embarked on a series of 'Presbytery Plans' which essentially started sticking congregations together. This saved money to some extent but probably made matters worse. In the last decade we have seen income from giving fall and at the present rate the CoS will run out of cash within the next decade. It persists with the policy that has served it so badly although it has a genius for renaming initiatives and believing that represents a change of approach. Its present policy of selling off buildings may extend its life by perhaps a further decade. Strangely, and perhaps perversely you may think, I think that God has given up on the CoS structure and that it will break up with about 30% of its congregations being self sufficient and perhaps supporting another 30%.

From the foregoing you may wonder why I remain a member of the CoS, and in truth sometimes so do I. But then I see all the good that is being done by the Church at national, congregational and individual levels and think that Scotland would be a much worse place without the Church. Once I've finished typing this I will go and provide Audio Visual support for Musical Memories where volunteers provide a sing song session particularly for folk with dementia, but open for all. On Tuesday and Thursday morning again with volunteers the halls will be full of parents and toddlers - filling a gap that gets toddlers used to being in groups. This has been a problem which post covid has seen an increase in anti social behaviour in even the youngest school children. We support Scouts, Guides. (now a secular organisation) boys brigade and a youth group. Open to all. Twice yearly we run 'Stepping Stones' a self help group for this suffering from bereavement problems. We are the largest collection point for the South Ayrshire food bank, we have a partnership with a school in Malawi and have built toilets, classrooms and a library out there as well as supporting a number of girl students who would not otherwise get an education. Our Schools and family worker works with four local schools who are also part of the Malawi partnership. We also run event to raise funds for many local charities as well of the CoS 'Crossreach' which is one of the largest social care providers in Scotland, as well as supporting Christian Aid and other international. There is more but you will see that despite all its faults the Church is actually doing a lot of good. Of course as with all human endeavours there are comms bad apples but on the whole I believe Scotland is a better place because of the CoS.

 

[tonea2003]

The Church of Scotland, CoS, (as an example) has been declining ,in popularity, by almost any criteria you choose, and in those that are measurable by about 3 to 4% per annum for about 6 decades. At first it was the membership that declined but giving held up and it was only when the knock on effect of fewer ministers started that it embarked on a series of 'Presbytery Plans' which essentially started sticking congregations together. This saved money to some extent but probably made matters worse. In the last decade we have seen income from giving fall and at the present rate the CoS will run out of cash within the next decade. It persists with the policy that has served it so badly although it has a genius for renaming initiatives and believing that represents a change of approach. Its present policy of selling off buildings may extend its life by perhaps a further decade. Strangely, and perhaps perversely you may think, I think that God has given up on the CoS structure and that it will break up with about 30% of its congregations being self sufficient and perhaps supporting another 30%.

From the foregoing you may wonder why I remain a member of the CoS, and in truth sometimes so do I. But then I see all the good that is being done by the Church at national, congregational and individual levels and think that Scotland would be a much worse place without the Church. Once I've finished typing this I will go and provide Audio Visual support for Musical Memories where volunteers provide a sing song session particularly for folk with dementia, but open for all. On Tuesday and Thursday morning again with volunteers the halls will be full of parents and toddlers - filling a gap that gets toddlers used to being in groups. This has been a problem which post covid has seen an increase in anti social behaviour in even the youngest school children. We support Scouts, Guides. (now a secular organisation) boys brigade and a youth group. Open to all. Twice yearly we run 'Stepping Stones' a self help group for this suffering from bereavement problems. We are the largest collection point for the South Ayrshire food bank, we have a partnership with a school in Malawi and have built toilets, classrooms and a library out there as well as supporting a number of girl students who would not otherwise get an education. Our Schools and family worker works with four local schools who are also part of the Malawi partnership. We also run event to raise funds for many local charities as well of the CoS 'Crossreach' which is one of the largest social care providers in Scotland, as well as supporting Christian Aid and other international. There is more but you will see that despite all its faults the Church is actually doing a lot of good. Of course as with all human endeavours there are comms bad apples but on the whole I believe Scotland is a better place because of the CoS.

all that you do you in association with cos is all very praiseworthy and very welcome

but this equally could be done without a church
and ultimately in no way suggests that there is anything supernatural

 

[bluejon]

Is it crazy to hope for a godless version to evolve that is just based on peace, love and good deeds.

I'd hope that if a God does exist he'd be happy enough with just that. (Or she'd be)

Always find it bizarre that god is gendered. The thought of massive god-bollocks is very bizarre (or a massive god-fanny, if god is indeed female)

 

[Bewar3them00n]

Christianity is built on a bed of lies & pure fabrication. A book written 60-150 years after the death of Jesus, by nobody who witnessed the so called events.

Christianity is just a cult, one that has thrived on control & propaganda.
Once you step outside & look at it with rational eyes, it’s absolute madness.
A Religion whose brand identity is the figure of a man being tortured to death in one of the most hideous ways possible, once inside you are dragged around the stations of the cross & told as a child “he died for your sins” & that if you don’t do as you’re told, & obey God, you will burn in hell for eternity ( but he loves you).
Christianity is about control, pure & simple.
As someone born to a Catholic single mother of Irish descent at the end of the 60s, I got off lightly, others didn’t.
The sooner Christianity withers away & dies, the better, the same for all religions for that matter

 

[stonerblue]

I've never really understood the separation of religion and spiritual. For me, they are one and the same. And, for me, if I was to go back to Church I could only go back to what I am/was familiar with.
I find comfort in familiarity, the sense that some things are unchanged and constant in a "mad" world.
However, each of us needs to find peace/inspiration in whatever way we can. So I take on board what you say.

For me it's familiarity and constancy, for you it might be something new and invigorating and for others it could be atheism.

No way is wrong as long as we try and be the best we can.

Amen to that.

 

[ali benarbia's studs]

Many still practice, but numbers are down in church attendance.

Many marches world wide still.

 

[Bigga]

Christianity is built on a bed of lies & pure fabrication. A book written 60-150 years after the death of Jesus, by nobody who witnessed the so called events.

Christianity is just a cult, one that has thrived on control & propaganda.
Once you step outside & look at it with rational eyes, it’s absolute madness.
A Religion whose brand identity is the figure of a man being tortured to death in one of the most hideous ways possible, once inside you are dragged around the stations of the cross & told as a child “he died for your sins” & that if you don’t do as you’re told, & obey God, you will burn in hell for eternity ( but he loves you).
Christianity is about control, pure & simple.
As someone born to a Catholic single mother of Irish descent at the end of the 60s, I got off lightly, others didn’t.
The sooner Christianity withers away & dies, the better, the same for all religions for that matter

Try answering this without dodging the point; Govs "thrive on control & propaganda", shall we fuck off governments...?

 

[Two Gun Bob]

All that you do you in association with cos, is all very praiseworthy and very welcome, but this equally could be done without a church, and ultimately in no way suggests that there is anything supernatural

Hitchens covered this point rather eloquently in his book God Is Great. He stated that, “Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it" People can be moral and kind without the framework of religion, suggesting that morality is a natural part of human behavior, rather than a product of religious teaching.

 

[TonyM]

Always find it bizarre that god is gendered. The thought of massive god-bollocks is very bizarre (or a massive god-fanny, if god is indeed female)

Godboobs. Ahubbahubba.

 

[.db.]

Always find it bizarre that god is gendered. The thought of massive god-bollocks is very bizarre (or a massive god-fanny, if god is indeed female)

There were many religions before monotheism that described the various deities within families. Personifying the Earth, sky, Sun, dawn, Moon, stars, planets and seasons is creating familiar stories that people could relate to and is what will have been passed down the generations probably since the Cognitive Revolution about 70,000 years ago.

The sky god was often the Father of all the gods like Zeus, Jupiter or Tiw (where ‘Tuesday’ comes from). Sometimes, like the Egyptian god Geb, the Father-god was the god of the Earth. The Father’s lover was often the dawn goddess, like Nut, Aurora or Eostre (where ‘Easter’ comes from as the East is where the Sun rises every morning). Sometimes the god of the Earth was the Mother like Gaia. The Mother goddess was usually the Mother of the Sun gods like Horus, Sol Invictus and Dazbog.

In Old English paganism, Siȝel was the Sun goddess and Mone was the Moon god. They were Sister and Brother.

Jews claimed that YHWH was the only god. He was in the mould of the sky god from those earlier religions. Christians then came along and took Judaism back to polytheism and made him the Father god again, Mary was really another dawn goddess and their Son (despite not copulating to create him, unless that bit was taken out of earlier versions of the Bible?!) was Yeshua or Yehoshua who was really just another Sun god. Not sure who the Holy Spirit is copied from (maybe the weather?), but the Devil was probably the Moon god or the god of night from older religions, like Set in the ancient Egyptian religion.
Islam sidelined the multigod idea of Christianity, and made up their religion more like the Jews did with just one god, Allah who was again just another in the mould of the sky god and Father.