Difference between revisions of "The Church's Weaknesses"

Latest revision as of 01:19, 30 June 2022

Despite their many strengths and advantages, most pastors are in precarious situations. Essentially, they are being set up to fail, and do so at astonishing rates. The great majority of pastors will have short careers. Only 10% of pastors will last until retirement, and 50-80% of ministers won’t last 5 years^[1] -- and surveys indicate that this has been a consistent, ongoing trend since 1975. The average Protestant priest (of any denomination) quits after an average of 2.5 years, and there is no evidence that this will change.^[2] As of 2001, the average tenure of an American pastor (of all faiths, sects, and denominations) was 3.8 years. Only 40% of church employees feel that they have any real impact on their community or the world itself,^[3] and 50% priests report that they want to quit, yet remain priests simply because they have no other way to make a living.^[1] In particular, the Catholic Church has suffered greatly from a want of vocations: ^[4]

Between 1965 and 2002, the population of Catholic priests in the US dropped 22%, from 59,000 to 46,000.
In 1965, the number of ordinations exceeded the number of priests lost through death or departure, for a net gain of 725 priests. In 1998, ordinations dropped and deaths or departures increased to such a degree that there was a net loss of 810 priests that year.
In 1965, 3% of churches had no resident priest; in 2002, it was 15%.
In 1965, there were 7.87 diocesan priests per 10,000 Catholics. In 2002, this number decreased to 4.6, a 41% decline.
In 1999, there number of diocesan priests in the 80-84 age group exceeded the number of priest in the 30-34 age group.
In 1965, there were 49,000 seminarians in the US; in 2002, there were only 4,700 -- a 90.4% decrease -- despite a population increase of 20 million Catholics.
In 1965, there were 180,000 nuns in the US. By 2002, there were 75,500 -- half of whom were over age 75.

Reasons Why Pastors Quit^[5]
Personality conflicts	43%
Conflicting long-term goals	17%
Financially strained congregations	7%
Theological differences	5%
Moral wrongdoings	5%
Unrealistic expectations	4%
Other reasons	19%

As a result, American pastors are quitting at a rate of 1,500-1,700 per month, despite having no other means of supporting themselves.^[1] There are many, many more pastors who want to leave their posts, but cannot due to the social stigmas they would face. It is difficult for clergy to leave the ministry and pursue another vocation without owing people explanations or apologies. Former priests are assumed to have:^[1]

Committed a terrible sin, leading to their firing or resignation.
Been too weak to handle the pressure.
Rejected their “true” calling for secular work.

In addition to priests who quit, many priests will be fired by their own congregations. Between 23% ^[6] and 50%^[7] of pastors will experience a forced termination, and 91% of pastors know a pastor who has. ^[6] These terminations are usially brought on by the actions of 3-4 of their parish’s leaders.^[7] Many of these clergymen will apply to become the pastors of a different church; for most of them, this is the only lifestyle they knew. Among those who are forced out 29% will take 10-15 months to find their new positions, and 40% never will.^[7] However, 25% of these re-employed pastors failed to grow, learn, or correct their bad habits after their ordeal, so they will eventually fail at their new church.^[7] As a result, pastors with fifteen years of experience often have only three years of experience, five times over.^[2]

Priests are severely weakened by burnout, indifferent or hostile congregations, the alienating environments they create for themselves, spiritual dilution, over-reliance on the Bible, their personal perception as being unmanly, and the difficult questions they keep ignoring.

Burnout

Burnout has always plagued the clergy; not even Paul was safe from its effects (2COR 1:8). Despite their special relationship with the divine and its unearthly power, clergymen are mortals who are susceptible to all human frailties. It particular, relatively few pastors can withstand their job stress. Most of the clergy’s work-related problems cannot be outsourced or delegated to others -- they are personal issues, which the priest must face alone. Because of this, the clergy are more prone to burnout (15%) than the general population (8-12%).^[5]

"Burnout" is a jargon term used in forestry. Severe forest fires char the humus, and the gutted forest cannot renew itself in the infertile soil. Analogous to this is psychological burnout, when a person becomes exhausted with their major life activity to the point of malfunction.^[8] Symptoms of this “erosion of the soul”^[7] include:

Chronic fatigue. Sleep cannot repair this, and vacations only temporarily alleviate it. ^[8] 90% of pastors are frequently fatigued a weekly and/or daily basis.
Persistent low-level depression,^[8] from mourning the death of their hopes and ideals.^[9] 70% of priests suffer from depression.^[1]
Insomnia.^[8] ^[9] 62% of clergy only sleep for 5-6 hours per night.^[7]
Weight loss/gain.^[8] ^[9]
Loss of appetite.^[8]
Headaches.^[8] ^[9]
Gastrointestinal trouble.^[8]
Nagging boredom.^[8]
Angry and/or resentful outbursts.^[8] ^[9]
Spiritual emptiness (i.e., a lack of desire to pray or study scriptures).^[9]
- Only 26% of pastors maintain regular personal devotions and feel spiritually fed.^[10]
Avoiding accountable relationships.^[9]
Negativity.^[9]
Cynicism.^[9]
Paranoia.^[9]
Lack of self-worth.^[9]
Lack of satisfaction from achievements.^[9]
Anxiety/worry.^[9]
Panic attacks.^[9]
Vice, as a means of escapism.^[9]
- Alcoholism is prevalent among the Catholic clergy, since drinking is often the only legal and ecclesiastically acceptable way to dull the emotional pain and loneliness of celibacy imposes.^[11]
A craving for isolation and seclusion, leading to a withdrawal from friends and family.^[9]
Social anxiety.^[9]
- Isolation and loneliness are different from aloneness, because you can feel lonely in a crowd. Loneliness is a feeling of seclusion and separateness, sometimes accompanied by feelings of abandonment, rejection, and insecurity.^[7]

Note that all of these symptoms are part of the human condition to some degree; only the persistence of these symptoms is problematic.^[12] Pastors will often burnout several times before quitting or getting fired. Each bout of despair is eventually countered with a re-dedication and commitment to push themselves harder, fueling their downward spiral.^[9] The clergy burnout for a number of interrelated and overlapping reasons:

Overwork

Pastors confuse their ministry with their identity, and lose their sense of self; they literally become their job.^[1] The perceived importance, responsibility, and eternal consequences of their tasks causes priests to work harder or longer than they should. There is no real way to gauge how much time priests spend “on the clock” since they are always on-call.^[2] This is why 90% of pastors report working 55-75 hours per week, and 80% of pastors take no days off.^[7] Despite this, 50% of pastors still feel unable to meet their job demands,^[1] or to even meet its most basic criterion of "being a holy man" -- the average pastor only prays for 39 minutes per day, and 15% of pastors pray for <15 minutes a day.^[9]

Priests become overloaded with tasks, since they typically lack formal job descriptions. Fatigue compromises efficiency, so working longer hours to compensate actually accomplishes less. This leads many clergy to work even longer hours to make up for these productivity losses, but this turns the vicious circle, leaving them ragged and unaccomplished. These long nights eventually take their toll on the clergyman; inadequate sleep strongly correlates with depression, anxiety, and other emotional problems.^[2]^[13]^[14] Overworked priests are unable to renew themselves, because they have little leisure time to do so. Since there is always something going on, their rest is often disturbed, and interrupting relaxation requires starting over again.^[8] Constantly burning the midnight oil soon leaves them with no oil.^[12]

A pastor’s work is rarely acknowledged because they mostly work alone, and typical parishioners have no idea how pastors spend that time. Even if a pastor has a group of staff members, those helpers usually work independently on their own tasks. Most fallen pastors suffered no catastrophic moral failure; they were undone by the cumulative effect of many small, unchecked failures.^[2]

Of what value were doggerel hymns raggedly sung? What value in sermons, when the congregation seemed not at all different from people who never heard sermons? Were all ministers and all churches, Frank wondered, merely superstitious survivals, merely fire-insurance?
—Sinclair Lewis^[15]

Lack of Closure

Ministry produces no tangible products. Carpenters can take pride in completed houses, and doctors can see patients improve. The clergy exists to maintain traditions; there is never anything new or changing in their job. Priests face an endless, Sisyphean cycle of masses, weddings funerals, crises, holidays, sick people, etc. One sick person dies, only to be replaced by another. A minister’s job is endlessly repetitive and never done. Holidays come and go, and masses take on the same form. This lack of creativity leads to boredom and exhaustion once the novelty wears off.

The immaterial nature of priestly work provides no metric for the clergy to gauge their results; a pastor can guide their flocks for months or years without knowing if they have been moved spiritually. There are several reasons for this:^[2]

The effects of pastoral work are mostly indirect. Administration and programs play a role in spiritual development, but it is unclear how.
Many factors which control a church's success or failure are outside of the clergy's control.
Expectations and success criteria vary from church to church; there is no standard for measurement.

The need to create something of lasting value leads many clergy to obsess over building projects.^[8] This ongoing thirst for legacy is a persistent trend which is not confined to any one denomination; 10% of all American charitable giving has been spent building church facilities, leading churches to own more land than the five largest corporations combined.^[16] When a pastor begins to feel that they have little to no effect on their world, they begin to detach from the decision-making process; they develop feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and feelings of benign resignation, since “that’s the way it goes.” The resulting powerlessness is a precursor to weariness, anger, and despair.^[7]

Unsustainable Image

Clergy serve in the holy office of the ministry; it is the office that is holy, not the person.^[17] Regardless, people have unrealistic assumptions and expect clergymen to be extraordinarily gifted and holy. Priests are expected to be great teachers, pastors, counselors, financial wizards, and maintainers of the old traditions. Clergy are expected to possess and use all of these talents to call on their parishioners and the sick; attend community events and social functions; to champion the poor and the fight for civil rights; and to serve as a personal counselor and advisor to anyone who asks. No one has the power, talent, or energy to meet all of these expectations. However, priests must constantly fight to meet these unrealistic demands, because the parishioners that pay the priest’s bills via tithing ultimately determine if the priest stay.^[8] Pastors were trained to live up to God’s expectations, and not the thousands of expectations their parishioners impose, which are mostly based on projections:^[7]

Current pastors are always discussed in comparison to the previous pastors, especially regarding their knowledge and/or ability to meet parish-specific unwritten social rules and expectations.
A charisma matching megachurch pastors and/or television ministries is expected from mediocre small-church pastors, who cannot compete because they are literally in a different league.

Image issues are a root cause of overwork. Since clergy exist to serve God and man, denying any request is perceived as selfishness, leading to inadequate rest or leisure. This problem is compounded by the common misconception that priests only work a few days a week. People have great expectations of the clergy, and will react extremely negatively to any of their pastor’s failures or mistakes. This causes priests to live in cultivated personas, hiding their true selves under a metaphorical mask. Priests are expected to be a sort of third gender which is asexual, sinless, and shielded from corrupting influences; they are paid not to have problems of their own.^[2] Priests must constantly look and act the part to everyone; they cannot appear tired or unhappy in public. Wearing this mask requires great energy and generates lots of negative feelings; this creates a need to further mask themselves, establishing a vicious circle. Eventually, the priest loses touch with their true selves, resulting in an identity crisis, or it reduces them to a bland, humorous, and unlikable plastic caricature.^[8] Humor and lightheartedness are notoriously difficult for clergymen, since their role requires solemnity, dignity, decorum, and piousness -- all of which exclude humor, by definition.^[5] As such, 70% of pastors claim to have a poor self-image as a direct result of their career.^[17]

Defending one’s image is to defend the ego, and a ministering person cannot serve both God and their own egocentricity. The problem of the persona strikes at the heart of spiritual development. Jesus' main focus was not against stealing, sexual sins, or even violence -- it was against hypocrisy (i.e., identification with a false persona which prevents one from being genuine or real). While this was intended as a direct attack against the Pharisees, Christ also issued this teaching as a general blanket statement. Since parishioners require clergymen to assume a persona, priests are in constant danger of losing themselves. This is especially damning because creativity is a product of the real self, and catering to the ego is to abandon one’s creative gifts.^[8]

Lack of Support Networks

Pastors are essentially professional Christians. Since they spend much of their time at work, most of their friends are congregation members -- so their social life is their profession. Since most people are not clergy, they don't understand what their job entails, and the clergy lacks a common ground with their community members. This sharply contrasts with restaurant workers or tradesmen, whose common plights allow deep friendships to quickly form with coworkers and competitors alike. A pastor's professional and personal lives are further complicated because they often live and work in the communities which they support,^[13] so priests can never "cut loose."^[2]

Because of this, 70% of pastors report having no close friends.^[1] ^[17] While priests are expected to be friends to everyone, few are people are friends to them. This is because no one feels comfortable about “letting their hair down” in front of a priest, and because priests are frequently called upon to love intrinsically unlovable people.^[2] Without ordinary human relationships, people will become disconnected from their darker sides and become humorless, plastic caricatures of people.^[8] This isolation results in subjectivity, which in turn leads to self-pity and poor decisions. The self-pitying perspectives born from isolation often breed further isolation and greater self-pity; creating a vicious circle.^[2]

Without close friends, no one can give priests honest feedback and constructive criticism. As a result, priests have little accountability, and they cannot see their weakness or blind spots. Accountability is the only defense against mediocrity. Most parishioners won’t hold priests accountable for their actions, out of politeness or other social obligation. Without corrective criticism, priests will never reach excellence, because they will think they have already achieved it. Pastors will lose satisfaction in their work from the lack of challenge, and the church will suffer from their poor performance.^[2]

Inadequate Training

Despite the fact that >50% of pastors have master’s degrees, and 10% have doctorates,^[2] 90% of pastors feel that they were inadequately trained,^[1]^[17] to the point where 50% of pastors feel they are unable to meet their job demands.^[17] This is because pastors must serve two masters -- they must be both spiritual teachers and corporate administrators.^[13]

While seminaries and bible colleges offer specialized clergy training, there is no “lab” or “practicum” component to these studies. Instead, they concentrate on hermeneutics, homiletics, liturgics, isagogics, exegesis, apologetics, hymnology, and classical languages (e.g., Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic). Few seminaries teach the skills needed for the actual day-to-day operations of a parish (e.g., accounting, psychology, project management) -- and even fewer cover these subjects in sufficient detail. Seminaries teach everything except what priests need, and much of what the clergy learns must be unlearned in order to succeed -- and the shock and frustration of this fact drives many pastors to quit. Seminaries teach how to be true to one’s faith, but not how to communicate that faith in a turbulent world. Seminaries resist change to avoid the inevitable theological implications of change -- but as a result, they prepare their students for a long-forgotten Victorian world.^[2]

The reformation which seminaries need to correct these issues is unlikely to occur any time soon. During the Great Recession of 2007-2010, cash-strapped parishes were forced to downsize thousands of seminary-trained pastors. This flooded the already-competitive parish priest market; the intensity of this competition led half of seminary graduates to enter parachurch options or to seek other career paths. This market shift caused bible college and seminary enrollments to drop by ~60%. Unlike secular universities, these schools receive no public funding, and they have smaller endowments (because their graduates make less money, they tend to donate less). 40% of the institutions comprising the Association of Theological Schools reported being “financially stressed,” i.e., only having a year’s worth of spendable assets. American seminaries have thus been forced to reduce programs, lay-off staff and instructors, decrease salaries and benefits, reorganize, merge, or close.^[18]

The clergy rarely turn to secular universities to address their training deficiencies, due in part to Christianity’s turbulent relationship with academia. While the churches originated the concept of universities for training their clerks and future leaders, this has historically backfired, as the exchange of ideas inevitably creates new heresies.^[19]

Contrary to popular belief, research has definitively proven that college does not cause deconversion; while 69% of college students between ages 18-22 stop attending church for at least one year, so do 71% of non-college attending 18-22 year olds. College does not cause young people to quit their churches -- that is the result of ineffective churches failing to instill spiritual habits. It’s easy for young adults to abandon their churches, and even faith itself, because it was never a real part of their lives to begin with.^[3] Nevertheless, academia remains a convenient scapegoat, and the Christian aversion to higher learning persists in the following forms:

Formal religious training is considerably expensive. In the United States, religious schools must charge exorbitant tuition, since the government can only fund secular schools.^[19]
Religious schools tend to recruit subpar instructors. The academic elite prefer to work at secular schools, which can guarantee freedom from church interference.^[19]
- Liberty University went 30 years without granting tenure to anyone, so that the administration could retain full control over all lesson material. ^[20]
To preserve faith, seminary students often learn from cherry-picked anthologies and readers to prevent the divergence of thought that could arise from independently reading source materials.
- For this reason, Liberty University had no library until their regional accreditation board mandated one.^[20]
Fundamentalists are discouraged from attending college, as they believe that higher education causes people to lose their faith.^[21] Interestingly, this claim has no basis in reality. 90% of the evangelical twenty-somethings who deconverted did so before entering college; and 40% lost their faith before entering high school.^[22]
- The false notion of universities as liberal propaganda centers endures because much of critical thinking, general science, biology, psychology, prehistory, ancient history, biblical literature, linguistics (especially concerning the origins of language), philosophy (especially, ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of science) and physics (especially cosmology) directly contradict the conservative Christian worldview, which requires denigrating literacy, logic, and learning (1COR 1:20). Only foolish behavior leads to wisdom (1COR 3:18), since philosophy is vain (COL 2:8).^[23]
- Additionally, world literature challenges their perspectives. These include:^[23]
  - Facts are not required to be interpreted religiously. Faith cannot answer questions; it can only satisfy the believer.
  - Science and history can proceed as modes of inquiry without assuming or relying on the divine purpose of human affairs. All cosmic and historical teleologies are optional.
  - The Bible is too riddled with contradictions, misstatements, and conflicting interpretations to make any definitive claims, or be cited as decisive evidence.
  - Humans lack the criteria to needed determine divinely-engineered events from rare, unprecedented, or currently-unexplainable natural phenomena. Therefore, miracles cannot be cited as evidence] because there is no criteria for determining what constitutes a miracle.
There is a Christian tendency to view social science as subversive and morally compromising.^[24]
Christianity has as long and stormy past with evolution, largely because of its strong parallels to Hinduism, and because Darwinism inspired Marxism.^[25]
Christian (especially Catholic) theological arguments are based on Aristotelian logic, and ignore all of the advances in that field.^[26]
Christian homeschooling persists in the US, despite its obvious shortcomings. Because Christian homeschooling is intrinsically nonconformist and individualized, there is no way to quantify its efficacy. The performance of homeschoolers is intrinsically skewed because there is no basis for comparison.^[21] However:
- 19% of homeschooling parents lack a high school diploma or GED, and only 10 states require them to do so.^[21]
- Polling data indicates that school choice (i.e., public, parochial, or homeschooling) does not correlate with deconversion.^[22]

Stress-induced Maladies

Burnout is not caused by stress and frustration, per se; it is caused by how one responds to stress and frustration.^[2] 75% of pastors report going through a significant, ministry-related stress-induced crisis, and 40% of pastors have at least one serious conflict with a parishioner per month.^[17]

Excessive stress causes muscle tension, indigestion, headaches, and lowered immune function. Stress decreases productivity by exciting the limbic system and suppressing frontal lobe activity; this augments emotions and hinders problem-solving. Physically speaking, most pastors are train wrecks:

Only 50% of pastors receive the recommended minimum amount of exercise (i.e., 30 minutes, thrice a week).^[9]
- 28% of pastors do not exercise at all.^[9]
68-76% of pastors are overweight or obese, which is higher than the general population (61%).^[17]
- 15% of pastors are >50 lbs. (~22.5 kg) overweight.^[9]
~66% of pastors skip meals at least once per week.^[9]
- 39% of pastors skip 3+ meals per week.^[9]
88% of pastors eat fast food on a weekly basis.^[9]
- 33% of pastors eat fast food 3+ times per week.^[9]
~39% of pastors experience weekly digestive troubles.^[9]
- 14% of pastors experience digestive trouble 3+ times per week.^[9]
Only 16% of the clergy gets enough sleep.^[9]
- 87% of clergy have insufficient sleep once per week.^[9]
- 47% of clergy have insufficient sleep 3+ times per week.^[9]
~60% of pastors feel that their jobs keep them away from their families.^[9]
Interestingly, the youngest clergymen are the unhealthiest. This is likely due to the overwork needed further their careers and make names for themselves.^[9]
Pastors are more likely to suffer from depression. The exact figures vary greatly between surveys; between 16%^[9] and 80%^[6] of pastors are depressed. While this is too much variation to draw a definitive conclusion, all of these surveys agree that pastors suffer from depression far more than the general population does(~10%).^[9]
- 40% of pastors have occasional bouts of depression or are feel “worn out.”^[6]

The clergy often use a sort of eschatological fatalism to justify their lack of self-care. They feel that if they expend themselves completely in the Lord’s work, God will look after them -- body, mind, and spirit. Because their final goal is to be with the Lord, it’s alright to mortgage one’s body against this final eventuality.^[14]

These stress effects are compounded by their effects on the priest’s family. 80% of pastors believe the ministry has a negative effect on their families, and 33% of pastors will clearly state this outright. 94% of minister’s wives, and 91% of their children feel they are under extra pressure; and 54% of the wives and 46% of the children strongly feel this way.^[17] The resulting depression leads 80% of pastor’s children to seek professional help as adults.^[7] 95% of pastors say they would abandon their calling and seek another, if it would save their marriage,^[27] and 10% of the pastors who quit cite their inability to cope with unwritten expectations as their reason for leaving.^[1] 30-50% of clergy marriages end in divorce; while a pastor might avoid burnout, their wife might not because:^[7]

80% of pastor’s wives feel left out and unappreciated by their congregation.
80% of pastor’s wives feel wish their spouses chose a different profession.
80% of pastor’s wives feel pressured to do things and/or be someone they are not.
95% of pastors do not pray with their wives.
40% of pastors will enter inappropriate relationships with other women.

Inadequate Funding

Despite what was said earlier, the church manages to have little liquidity and dire cashflow problems. While religious institutions possess great wealth, it is tied up in investments and assets (i.e., real estate). Christianity lives off of the dwindling capital and clout it earned in the Constantinian Era. Christianity lost its political power when the monarchs were overthrown, lost its social position in the Enlightenment, and lost its psychological power by the worldliness of the modern age. As a result, Christianity limps along with its ancient metaphysical baggage, and the egotistic notion of its own importance acquired from when it was the empire’s official ideology.^[19]

As a result, pastors constantly struggle to stretch and optimize extremely limited resources, on both institutional and personal levels. Despite all of their tax advantages, most churches struggle to keep the lights on. 70% of typical church revenues go to overhead. This why churches are always planning, engaged in, or wrapping up capital drives, in order to:^[16]

Build an entirely “new, modern, and adequate church plant” at a recently acquired site.
Extensively renovating an existing facility; e.g., by installing a new organ, central air conditioning, Sunday school facilities, and/or parking complexes.
Raising money for earlier multi-stage projects whose “last stage” has now arrived.

While modern megachurches and elegant cathedrals convey the image of Christianity’s earthly power and influence, this exemplar role conceals a harsh truth -- 99% of all churches are not megachurches.^[18] The average American church only has 85-100 parishioners,^[2] and a total annual operating budget of $165,000. On average, American Christians donate roughly $1,000 per year to churches. However, that statistic is skewed by wealthy parishioners who make large donations to buy their community’s admiration. The median American donates about $100 per year to their church, so half of Americans donate less than that.^[18] This is why less than half of churches are capable of engaging in charity of any kind -- and this figure includes even the simplest things, like having children collect pennies for the poor.^[6] This is why:

80-85% of US churches are plateauing or declining,^[2] and 100,000 churches are "caught in death spirals."^[28]
Churches are closing at a rate of ~2,800 per year.^[1]^[2] Based on the approximation of 350,000 churches in the US^[29] and assuming a linear extrapolation, religion in the US will be completely extinct by 2135 CE. However, since linear trends are often confused for the beginning of exponential trends,^[30] this extinction date could come sooner, and at an ever-accelerating rate.
$14.8 million (adjusted for inflation) worth of dissolved church property is either sold or given away annually.^[2] Many dissolved churches are forced to sell their buildings, where they are converted into town halls (Auburn, NH) and dōjōs (Bedford, NH).^[22]
The outflow of worshipers greatly exceeds the inflow. The majority of the “inflow” is actually “re-circulation” -- most new churchgoers are not converts; they are existing Christians who have recently quit some other church.^[2]

In addition to these institutional-level struggles, pastors also equally struggle on a personal level. 70% of pastors feel grossly underpaid, and 30% of pastors will quit for this reason, because priests make less than garbagemen.^[1] Many priests must pay “the costs of employment” (e.g., Social Security, insurance, retirement, etc.) out-of-pocket; this can comprise as much as 40% of their salary, since the self-employed must pay Social Security tax at a higher rate. Granted, these costs are usually factored into their salaries, but this still gives a false impression of how much pastors really earn. The most experienced pastors make a median salary which is 30% more than a new priest, and much less than other professionals. 1 in 8 priests work two jobs. Cost-of-living increases do not keep up with inflation, giving priests less purchasing power each year. Many priests wind up on government assistance programs (e.g., food stamps, etc.). The wives of priests have a cultural expectation to do lots of unpaid volunteer work for the church, which is not factored into the pastor’s compensation package. The church essentially hires a pastoral couple, which is forced into a single-income lifestyle.^[2]

The Indifference of Youth

Like all cultures and institutions, Christianity is always one generation away from evaporation,^[22] since every wave of teenagers is essentially a “barbarian invasion” which must be domesticated before they overthrow society. Strangely, most religious communities face no problem with teenage rebellion. Instead, they are overwhelmed by teenage apathy.^[31]

Faith once played a large role in daily life, largely because Western culture was engineered to cultivate Christianity through community-wide religious indoctrination (e.g., mandatory Bible readings in public schools; nuclear families; popular entertainment based on a biblical worldview). These power structures have eroded,^[32] leading to our current “post-Christian era,” where Christianity still exists, but plays no significant role in shaping our culture. Many of the old ways were created in a time of Christian dominance (or at least of favored status), and they cannot counter the counterculture. Church services are now a temporary respite from daily burdens, where one can experience safety and a holy presence.^[17] Churches, by nature, are having difficulty adapting to a changing world because they exist to resist change, and reinforce this with:^[2]

Confusing form with function, leading to a focus on the institution, rather than its reason-for-being.
A socially self-perpetuating nature.
A tendency to yield to minority rule.
Excessive reverence for “yesterday’s innovators.”
Risk-aversion, and the unwillingness to suffer pain.

47% of US teens feel that the church is irrelevant due to its hypocrisy, inflexibility in a changing culture, and its “watering itself down” to attract new members. While 50% of young people regularly attend church, this is mostly because they enjoy the music. There is no correlation between church attendance and devotion. Many of the young people who go to church only do so out of social obligation or force-of-habit.^[22] The theological foundations of even the most faithful youth are at risk because:^[32]

They are skeptical about the original biblical manuscripts.
They read the Bible through the lens of pluralism.
Changing media behaviors and shorter attention spans make scripture a less effective medium.
They are less convinced of scripture’s commands for obedience.
Secular culture interferes with religious commitments and obligations.
Questions regarding the role which faith plays in politics, sexuality, science, media, technology, etc. are usually framed in a way that makes faith irrelevant.
Modern youths have more religiously diverse friends.
Clergymen are seen as interchangeable and disposable. Even the most popular and influential Christian leaders within living memory (i.e., Fulton Sheen) are unknown to the vast majority of modern Christians.
Young people will consult the internet long before consulting their pastors.
Relativism (i.e., “what’s right for you might not be right for me”) is more-or-less an accepted cultural norm.
Peers serve as moral and spiritual compasses.
Young Christians are exposed to a variety of religious content with no means of evaluating it.
Young people are interested in exploring spirituality on their own terms.
- It should be noted that many people claim to be “spiritual” as a dodge, since they don’t want to open their beliefs to scrutiny.^[33]

This trend is unlikely to end in the near future, as <20% of twenty-somethings regularly attend mass. 61% of American twenty-somethings were churchgoers as teens, but became "spiritually disengaged" (i.e., they do not actively attend a church, read the Bible, or pray). While 65% of American youth make a commitment to Jesus Christ at some point in their lives, only 3% of youths actually hold a biblical worldview.^[34] This is due in part, to the fact that 6% of Americans can’t remember when they last read the Bible, and 24% of Americans have never read the Bible.^[35] While 51% of twenty-somethings attend mass as “CEOs” (Christmas-Easter Only) to meet their family obligations, >30% of twenty-somethings report that attending mass never crosses their mind. Many were never introduced to faith, since 19% of twenty-somethings were never reached by the Christian community during their upbringing.^[22]

The National Study of Youth Religion (NSYR) Study from 2002-2005 highlighted a number of other interesting/disturbing trends:^[31]

Most American teenagers have a positive view of religion -- but only because they don’t give it much thought. They don’t approve per se; they are simply too indifferent to be hostile.
Most US teens simply mirror their parent’s faith.
Religious education in America is so shoddy that teens simply lack the theological language skills necessary to discuss religious feelings or issues.
- Church attendance does not correlate with improved theological language skills.
- Teens don’t see faith as being too deep for words, but as to vapid to require its own jargon.
A significant minority (8%) of American teenagers feel that faith is both important, and that faith makes a difference in their lives. These teenagers are doing objectively better in life when compared to their less-religious peers, according to several metrics. However, it should be noted that:
- Participating in any identity-bearing community -- religious or otherwise -- improves a young person’s likelihood to thrive.
- While religious teens seem to do better by every metric, this is an effect, and not a cause. Uninvolved or deadbeat parents don’t think to take their kids to church. Not attending church won’t make a kid a delinquent; but being a delinquent will make them not want to go to church.^[36]
- Religion frequently anesthetizes young people into compliance. This is mainly responsible for their “doing well,” because compliance is all that is asked of teenagers, and “doing well” in a broad sense usually just means conforming to social norms.
  - Compliance with social norms occasionally violates religious teachings, which is why the 8% who are “doing well” often have reputations as troublemakers within their spiritual community.
- These 8% view faith as a “way of life” rather than a “belief system.”
- These high-devoted Christian teenagers have operationalized Christian hope as a generalized trust that God has the future under control, without showing much familiarity with (or interest in) traditional Christian teachings. Hope, for the most part, provides highly-devoted teenagers with a tool for dealing with present problems -- which in turn gave them confidence that they have the necessary tools for facing future hardships.
When pressed about their faith, most of these teenagers are actually Moralistic Therapeutic Deists, and not Christians per se.

Unlike other generations, the current unchurched youth is unlikely to return when they age, because:^[35]

The youth deconversion rate has increased sixfold. Even if some percentage returns, this is still insufficient for most churches to remain solvent.
The turbulent, late-stage capitalist world keeps people from settling down. Additionally, extending adolescence until the late 20’s gives people more time to experiment with new ideas before settling down.
People are not having children until later in life. Typically, those who return to church only do so in order to be perceived as being good parents.

The longer church attendance is interrupted or discontinued, the less likely that person will ever return to religious life.^[35] 60% of church dropouts >65 will not even consider returning to the church, whereas 60% of 18-35 year olds would consider returning if their friends asked them to.^[3]

Churches Create an Alienating Environment

Young people aren't going to church because they are abandoning the concept of religion altogether. 73% of non-religious people were raised in religious homes;^[34] the biggest danger to Christianity are the Christians themselves. In all, 11% of US Christians -- 1 in 9 -- will eventually deconvert.^[32] Among those who leave:

Intellectual skepticism was only responsible for 32% of deconversions.^[37]
- Most people abandoned their faith for emotional reasons, then later found intellectual reasons to rationalize their decision.^[34]
58% left due to pastor-related or church-related reasons.^[3]
- 15% directly cited the moral or ethical failure of church leaders as their reason for quitting. While scandals are a significant cause of attrition, their effect is overhyped.^[3]
52% of church dropouts left because they developed conflicting religious, ethical, or political beliefs.^[3]
97% of church dropouts left because of lifestyle changes.^[3]
- Many churchgoers quit simply because they wanted to take a break. 70% of church dropouts saw church as a chore or time-waster, which made it the first item to eliminate when optimizing their to-do lists.^[3]
69% of church dropouts still consider the Bible to be important, but see churches as irrelevant. These people eventually to return to church life after having children, but as members of a different sect.^[32] Among those who return:^[22]
- 24% of returners still do not believe; they just want to look like good parents.
- 7% of returners still do not believe; they only come because they like the music.
- 0% of those who returned did so because they missed going to Sunday school.
- 56% of returners said that their science classes led them to doubt the Bible.
31% of deconverts consider both the Bible and the church to be irrelevant. These people will never return.^[22]
- 61% of deconverts regularly attended Sunday school. Their lack of faith was not the result of inadequate religious education; Sunday school simply has no impact on belief. If anything, Sunday school causes deconversions, since it only teaches on an inspirational or moral level.^[22]

Throughout the US, religion is on a downward trend by every metric, as demonstrated by the following facts:

80% of mainline denominations are dying, mostly due to mistreating outsiders with their polarizing rhetoric. ^[38]
Between 1978 and 2008, church membership dropped from 70% to 65% of the population.^[39] Bible literalists decreased from 40% to 30% of the population, and Bible skeptics grew from 10% to 20% of the population.
~25% of Americans actually attend mass on a typical Sunday.^[39], and only 22% have a positive view of church.^[40]
50% of American churches did not convert a single person in 2009. ^[41]
~33% of Americans who were raised Catholic will eventually stop identifying as being Catholic.^[41]
The Southern Baptists, the largest born-again sect, are baptizing at the same rate as they did 50 years ago, when the US population was half of what it is now.^[39]
This ecclesiastical decline is an international phenomenon. Only 6.3% of the UK population are regular churchgoers, and only 2.5% of the UK population participates in Bible-based worship. The average British congregation consists of 84 people, despite a parishioner-to-parish ratio of 1340:1.^[22]
82% of Evangelical church leaders begrudgingly admit that their movement is losing steam.^[10]
The Evangelical church lost 10% of its population between 2003-2013, and actuarial tables indicate that the majority of American conservative Christians will die by 2030. Evangelicals will drop to only 4% of the population.^[10]
Roughly 6,000 American Christians, and 1,000 Evangelicals, leave their faith each day.^[42]

Many parishioners leave because they were never believers in the first place. The style, venue, programs, and locations of worship services are irrelevant because people don’t believe in the doctrine itself.^[3] While there are a number of growing churches, the majority of these “new” members are not converts; they are existing Christians who transferred to a new-to-them church. Most “growth” is actually “recirculation.”^[10] In general, church membership is a meaningless statistic since membership rolls are rarely verified or updated. Many members who have died, moved away, or joined new churches are still counted.^[3] 30% of the people in megachurch attendance figures are marginally committed to the church, and 10% are merely casual return visitors. Since these people attend infrequently and may also attend other megachurches, megachurch rosters are often 80-100% higher than their typical Sunday attendance. Megachurches receive little money or time from these people, but they help fill out the big crowds which define the church’s reputation. ^[42] Please note that church attendance statistics are always overstated because:^[10]

Most religiosity polls are conducted by religious organizations seeking to improve their own self-image.
People tend to skew their survey responses to avoid feeling judged by the pollster. This is a persistent problem in sociology and political science.

There are as many reasons for deconversion as there are deconverts, but the abandonment of faith typically stems from perceiving the church as:

Overprotective

The notion of youth itself is coupled with impulses towards creative and cultural engagement. The young have a drive to reimagine, rethink, and reinvent. Churches stifle creativity in favor of tradition, and this stifles their own cultural relevance. Unwilling to simply preserve the status quo, creative youths are inadvertently driven out for want of a venue for their creative talents and urges. In particular, Christians tend to demonize everything and everyone which is not explicitly labeled as Christian;^[32] the church castrates life to make itself look more appealing.^[43] There is a Christian tendency to fear pop-culture, which is viewed as a slippery slope into vice, homosexuality, abortion, DUI, suicide, drunk driving, and general damnation.^[44]

As the Cold War ended, Americans collectively suffered an existential crisis once there were no longer any Soviets to demonize. Since most Americans defined themselves as being “not like them,” there was a desperate search for a new enemy -- a new “them” -- to fill this void. In the resulting “Culture War”^[19] many young Christians were told to fear “the world.” However, upon exploration, most of these youths found that “the world” isn’t so bad, and it is often better at explaining and expressing the human condition. These experiences cast doubt on every previous teaching, such as how:

Yoga, which was derived from Hindu practices, was branded as a “demonic doorway.”^[45]
Passive forms of meditation (e.g., zazen, "zoning out"), are “Satanic” whereas Christian meditation is active (e.g., reading, memorizing, etc.).^[45] Christianity encourages the constant performance of non-productive cognitive tasks as a means to prevent independent thought.
Martial arts were branded as "demonic," because the various stances and striking hand positions were interpreted as being mudra. Thus, martial arts are a de facto form of yoga,^[45] as are its breathing methods, centering techniques, and Zen influences.^[24] A traditional Japanese dōjō includes cultural elements (e.g., bowing to the kamiza, and to instructors) which are commonly confused with idolatry.^[45]
- One particularly-entertaining Christian author claimed to have been attacked by nunchaku-wielding Satanic martial artists. This is a dubious claim, since the event description indicated that the author had obviously never seen nunchaku before; they described “num-chucks [sic]” as being “a steel bar with steel balls on strings on each end.”^[46] Still, because the 1980s Ninja Craze coincided with the Satanic Panic, the possession and use of nunchaku remains illegal in several US states.
Rock music (in all its forms and derivatives) was considered evil because it induced hypnotic trances through “mindless chants” and repetition,^[45] even though this ignores how a repeating chorus defines the Western musical tradition. While Christians have historically targeted Metal music, their ire touches all genres. For example, John Denver was once considered “Satanic” for his claim that there was some degree of truth to every religion.^[47] Billy Joel received repeated death threats for his perceived anti-Catholicism.
- Rock music claims are a high-value target, since it rapidly devolves into lunacy. Some of the funnier examples included how:
  - The entire rock genre is one “massive cult dedicated to” Pan, which is “[r]ooted in the Druid demon worship of Celtic England and baptized in voodoo ceremonies of Africa and the Caribbean.”
  - Rock music is powered by “Satan’s special beat,” which allegedly originated with Voodoo practitioners. The beat’s hypnotic power results in “an instant loss of two-thirds of...normal muscle strength” while similar weakening occurs “[a]bove a certain decibel level.”^[44]
    - "Satanic" elements have been an established part of Western music theory since the 1700s. Fiddles were branded as “the devil’s instrument” in the 1800s, and 1920s jazz saxophonists were accused of playing the “devil’s flute.”^[44]
- Metal has borne most of the burden of Christian outrage, although this was largely by design:
  - The dress and décor of Metal musicians is deliberately silly and/or extreme, because concerts are a form of theatre.^[48]
  - While the earliest Metal bands (e.g., Venom, Coven, Slayer) sung about Satan, this was just a gimmick which they stumbled into; they had no philosophy other than juvenile rebellion, which they achieved via blasphemy.^[48]
    - Christians frequently directed their attacks at Black Sabbath, and their original frontman, Ozzy Osbourne. While their lyrics frequently mentioned the occult, they expressed a Christian-like fear of demons and sorcery.^[48]
    - The Christian backlash against Metal music only promoted the genre's popularity by cementing its edgy, rebellious reputation.
  - Satanists and metal fans tend to exist as separate groups. The average Satanist is a creative, intelligent white male from an upper-middle class home,^[24] who rebels against his overly-restrictive, traditional, religious background and its emphasis on how the world is an evil place. This differs from Metal music fans, who tend to be white working-class teens with diminished opportunities and no desire to attend college.^[47]
  - It is interesting to note that the typical metal-denouncing Christian continues to cite information which is 30 years out of date. While Metal originated as a harder exaggeration of rock (i.e., louder, more distorted, intricate, and shocking),^[47] the genre has exploded and splinted into hundreds of distinct subgenres.
Movies were considered a disruptive technology, since religious services are a form of live theatre. Movies are portable and require no specific skills or education to play. Movies have a wide appeal to all ages, genders, and social classes; they are cheap and profitable, even after the expense of building theatres. Americans attended movie theatres weekly by the 1920s, mostly on Sundays. The movie-going audiences were thrice that of all churchgoers in 1937, despite it being the height of the Great Depression.^[49]
- The Hays Code, which regulated early Hollywood, impeded the production of movies which could have addressed social issues. In particular, one of the greatest and most-honored films in cinematic history -- De Sica's The Bicycle Thief -- was nearly banned in the US for its non-explicit portrayals of public urination and the inside of a bordello.^[49]
- Christian scorn has been disproportionately focused on the horror genre. This is ironic, because it was the mundane tranquility and abundance which defined 1950s Christian America that fueled the demand for the genre, since there was no other way for audiences to express their Cold War anxieties.^[44]
  - Evangelical Christians make frequent use of horror (e.g., Chick Tracts, Hell Houses and the Left Behind novels) to express their complicated experience of existing in a culture which feels politically and religiously embattled.^[44]

The irony of Christian outrage is that is inadvertent free advertising for what they seek to suppress. Declaring something to be offensive to traditional values makes it a de facto counterculture element, making it seem edgy, dangerous, and/or cool. This is a variant of the Streisand Effect -- prohibiting or censoring information only creates an artificial demand for that information, which compels people to do things they would never otherwise consider, simply to break the rules.

Additionally, whatever parents try to shelter their children from becomes available when parents shift their focus to the next moral outrage. The author has met many Christians who cited the 1980s anti-D&D crusade as proof of their ability to shape and influence pop culture. However, D&D is more popular than ever; every major bookstore has a section dedicated to this game. This fact went unnoticed for decades, since these moral crusaders were too busy campaigning against Harry Potter to notice.

Sheltered

Christians are perceived as being old-fashioned, boring, and out-of-touch with reality. Many American pastors don’t realize that they are essentially missionaries in a foreign land. They open churches without understanding the needs, language, and culture of those they wish to minister too.^[50] Most pastors are too busy inside their churches to know what’s going on outside the church. The clergy is divorced from the actual needs of young people, and this is why these priests can’t convert them with the old go-to methods of preaching and altar calls. ^[51]

This view is shared by ~66% of non-believers, and ~25% of churchgoing Christians.^[52] Christians are seen as unwilling or unable to respond to the grisliness of reality in appropriately complex ways, preferring simplistic solutions and answers.^[52] Christians are seen as unable to collaborate, compromise, or find lasting solutions due to their rigid, black-or-white worldviews^[32] and the fact they communicate via an obfuscating jargon deliberately designed to alienate outsiders. The world has so profoundly changed in the last 50 years that linguistic drift has rendered much religious language unintelligible.^[37]

Christians enjoy being in their own community -- though the more they seclude themselves, the less they can function in the outside world.^[52] Thus, many churches have refined denial into an artform, responding to harsh truths with “Don’t talk like that,” a thought-terminating phrase to help escape the pain that always comes coupled with the truth.^[17] For this reason, Christians typically need to witness extreme, transparent, and blatant enmity before taking any action. American Christians quickly became anti-Communist, but only after watching the show trials and executions of Soviet clergymen. By contrast, German Christians were reluctant to become anti-Nazi, since the profoundly anti-communist Hitler never made anti-Christian proclamations. Thus, Christians easily convinced themselves that Hitler and Nazism were not the enemies of their religion, despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.^[4]

Shallow

Churches bill themselves as communities, but their gatherings and meetings involve little more than literally gathering and meeting somewhere. Churches are boring, and only offer slogans and platitudes in lieu of opportunities for young people to apply their individual gifts. Young people leave their churches because they offer no challenges. Church is largely a spectator sport, since participation is limited to supporting roles; all positions of responsibility are reserved for the clergy.^[3] According to a 2011 Barna Group survey, 23% of American Christians, ages 18-29 felt that the church did not help them find their purpose, or prepare them for life.^[32]

In particular, youth ministry is seen as "a holding tank with pizza," because it is only a matter of time before even the least cynical youths realize that it’s all just a ploy to keep them from getting into mischief.^[3] The most effective Christian youth groups are those which deliberately focus on providing entertainment and social interaction, but most of their members attend for these reasons alone; they are just another venue. This "success" is unattainable for most church groups; since only 50% of churches have <75 members, and only the top 10% of churches can afford a full-time youth minister.^[37]

One reason why people leave their churches is because it is far easier to leave a church than to join one. Joining often requires classes, initiations, and having to build networks from scratch. Leaving just requires not showing up, which is even easier when no one notices that you are gone. Most church dropouts felt disconnected with their fellow parishioners, and felt more connected with people outside of the church.^[3]

Anti-science

A 2011 Barna Group survey of revealed that 25% of American Christians, ages 18-29, believe that their church is an anti-science organization; and 18% believe their church is an anti-intellectual organization. These are difficult labels for Christians to denounce, since Paul explicitly conducted book burnings (ACT 19:19).^[53] In particular, 23% of young Christians have been turned off by the Creationists. Only 1% of youth pastors ever address scientific issues, despite 52% of young Christians wanting to pursue science-related careers.^[32]

Churches maintain an anti-science air out of necessity; science has granted us a better quality-of-life than anything the Bible, and its outdated work ethic could ever provide. The Bible assumes that all work is toil and labor, and makes no provisions for enjoyable or spiritually rewarding jobs. The Bible never considers the idea of efficiency, of doing more with less, or building labor-saving machines.^[19] Additionally, science trivializes the Bible’s most fantastic claims -- when Jesus healed a leper, it was miraculous; when the pharmaceutical industry cured every leper, it was business.

Repressive

Religious rules stifle young people, and are seen as “tyrannical,”^[32] and hypocritical when they were violated in Christianity’s historical crimes.^[34] The Baby Boomer's fringe views now define the Millennials and Generation Z.^[52] 21% of young people seek more freedom in life, which they cannot find in the walls of their church. 12% of young people cannot rectify the church’s desires with the world around them, forcing them to “live a double life.” 29% of young people feel forced to choose between their faith and their friends.^[32] Feeling concern for marginalized people is a frequent root cause of deconversions.^[34]

The church treats sex as though it were a street drug which first appeared in 1991, so people can never feel completely open or at ease when dealing with the clergy. This is especially true for Catholics (ages 18-29), 40% of whom^[32] feel that the Catholic Church’s chastity-over-prudence teachings are outdated.^[4] According to studies by Yale and Columbia, 89% of the teens who enter chastity pledges will break them before marriage.^[20]

Few, if any people leave the Catholic Church because they reject the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception; it is usually due to personal reasons.^[32] Catholics are forced to leave if they disagree with the Church, as they have no other means of recourse — the Church is the last absolute monarchy.^[4]

As a result, Christians are known for what they oppose, rather than what they are for,^[52] and Christian priest have become the new Pharisees by placing their emphasis on upholding religious law and tradition above all else. ^[54] This further compromises Christian credibility, since the average American church only has varying degrees of influence over 85-100 people,^[2] and thus lacks the power to persecute anyone for any perceived infractions.^[4] The harshest punishment which churches can deal are empty threats, which can be easily shrugged aside. This is demonstrated by how the overwhelming majority of deconverts and dechurched people do not have a victim mentality; they take full responsibility for choosing to leave.^[3]

Exclusive

The Millennials and Generation Z were raised in a culture that embraced open-mindedness, tolerance, and acceptance.^[32] This led to an awareness of how every religion has made the same unverifiable claim: “Our god(s) will protect and heal you if you pray to them and help support their priests.” Faith cannot validate religious claims, because faith is non-exclusive. Faith can equally validate any other religion. Likewise, miracles cannot be cited as evidence, since most religions feature miracle-performing gods to allow unexplained phenomena to validate their worldview. Claiming to practice the one, true faith is a hard sell -- even if a pastor were to successfully disprove all of the world’s other religions, they must still contend with the 41,000 different Christian denominations.^[55]

Young people view Christians as being obsessed with conveying an unreal, polished image; and that churches are cliques reserved for the most virtuous and morally-pure people.^[52] 22% of young people claim that church is “like a country club, only for insiders” which “ignores the problems of the real world.”

This view is exemplified by the Christian obsession to label things as being specifically Christian. This leads to specialized Christian music, fiction, television, magazines, artwork, schools, recreational sports leagues, cruises, investment portfolios, and GodTube, the Christian YouTube alternative. By creating these enclaves, Christians are essentially building walls to keep the outside world out so they can focus on their own community, like in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village.^[50]

Doubtless

A generation of young Christians can find no sanctuary in the church they were raised in, for these are unsafe and inhospitable places to express doubts. Many youths feel that they were offered half-baked answers to their thorny, honest questions, because they reject the “talking points” which satisfy older generations.^[32] Frequently, the church responds as though people could be talked out of doubting. This is not so; 36% of people ages 18-29 don’t feel that they can even ask their most pressing life questions in church, and 20% say that faith offers no help with their depression or other emotional problems.^[32]

The church's failure to address doubt is the leading cause of deconversion. Those who abandon Christianity altogether typically do so because their pastors were unable to provide answers to the “big questions,” such as:^[32]

The Problem of Evil
The fact that they were only Christian by default, as a result of geography and culture (had they been born in India, they would’ve been Hindu).
What to believe in the Bible, and why.
The relevance of Christianity when all religions converge on the same basic messages.

Christian doubtlessness borders on hubris, which will eventually be their undoing. The Christians are so convinced of Christ’s return and triumph that they have lulled themselves into a sense of complacency. The Christians have become so assured they will be the final victors, that they forego the actions necessary to ensure their victory, just like a pompous wannabe athlete who thinks he is “too good to practice.”^[4]

Overly-focused on Winning Converts

Young people are skeptical as to whether Christians genuinely care about them. The continual push to get non-believers to accept Christ and “become saved” continually fails because the majority (82%) of non-Christian Americans (ages 16-29) were once church-going Christians. Evangelism can't impress those who’ve seen it already. Most non-believers quit the church because they accepted, contemplated, and understood their church’s teachings -- and then consciously rejected them.^[52]

Christians persist in their elaborate and costly mass evangelism efforts, despite the fact these are ineffective and counterproductive. Television, radio, and tracts combined are only responsible for 0.5% of converts, while generating a negative response which is 3-10 ties greater. Moreover, mass evangelism efforts mostly reach marginally-churched adults, and “save” those who were “saved” once upon a time.^[52] All research indicates that televangelists are each vying for the same ~5 million people, who are mostly widows over age 49.^[35]

However, Christians have no alternative, because “greying” church populations now poses an existential threat. 19% of Evangelicals are elderly (i.e., > age 65), and they provide 46% of their donations. Actuarial charts indicate that 68% of these Evangelical donors will die before 2040 CE, and 50% of these donors will die before 2030 CE. The number of donors to churches and religious causes will soon permanently decrease. Surveys indicate that 69-80% of Christians now become “disengaged” or “dechurched” between ages 18-29. (While the magnitude of this trend is debated, its existence is agreed upon.) LifeWay's polling data indicated that only 35% of young church-leavers will eventually return like prodigal sons -- the other 65% never return. Even if the number of donors were to magically increase, it is unlikely they could sustain their churches. The amount donated at a given age has decreased with each subsequent generation (i.e., 30-year old Millennials donate less than the GenXer’s did at age 30, who in turn donated less than the Baby Boomers did at age 30, etc.). This is an accelerating trend; the amount donated has dropped 20-30% each year since the Great Recession of 2007-2010.^[10]

In 2010, Pat Robertson’s Regent University required a $95 million “booster shot” from CBN to remain operating; such collapses will soon become commonplace in the early 2040’s due to the looming 70% across-the-board drop in donations following the Baby Boomer die-off. While church leaders are right to worry about this, there is nothing that they can do, as this national trend is outside their locus of control.^[10]

Anti-LGBT

38% of young people view Christianity as an anti-LBGT organization^[32] which is fixated on “curing” homosexuals and leveraging politics against them.^[52]

Modern youths ignore the clergy's frequent claim that homosexuality is “unnatural”, since it is now common knowledge that birds and primates engage in homosexual play, and that homosexuality exists in all human societies. Furthermore, young people fail to see how the clergy is qualified to declare what is and is not natural.^[56] Clothing is unnatural, and it must be further supplemented by other unnatural practices (i.e., washing) to prevent disease. Yet, those two unnatural synergistic practices make people healthier than those who go without.^[57]

The Millennials and Generation Z came of age when “religion” was personified by the Religious Right, when its leaders placed repressing homosexuality and gay marriage at the top of their agenda, and at the core of their communal identity. Among the Millennials who have abandoned their religion, 31% say that their church’s negative treatment of gays and lesbians was an important causal factor in their decision — roughly twice the rate of seniors who felt the same way (15%). Moreover, 72% of Millennials agree that religious groups estrange young people by being too judgmental about gay and lesbian issues. Seniors are the only group where a minority (44%) agrees with this sentiment. Churches now face a dilemma since they are anchored to older Americans, both financially and in terms of lay support, and these benefactors are less likely to perceive a problem that concerns the overwhelming majority of younger Americans.^[58]

Note that the Bible never states nor implies that the “sin of Sodom” was homosexuality. If anything, it is implied to be inhospitality and failing to aid the poor (EZE 16:48-49). 1COR 6:9 and 1TIM 1:10 appear to admonish homosexuality, but only because scholars have trouble translating the word arsenokoitai; these passages are likely just condemn those who hire gay prostitutes, and not homosexuality itself. While LEV 18:22 and 20:13 explicitly condemns homosexuality, the majority of mainstream Christians freely ignore Leviticus’ numerous admonishments against haircuts, tattoos, working on the Sabbath, wearing garments made from mixed fabrics, or touching pigs.^[51]

Overly-political

Christians are perceived as the promoters of politically conservative agendas.^[52] Despite Christ’s liberal and groovy teachings, Christians tend to be conservative, because authoritarian personalities are attracted to the hierarchy and dogma which the church provides.^[4]

Additionally, churches serve as fertile ground for extremism, since their reason-for-being is to condition people to accept dogmatism.^[25] This is why most dangerous features of Communism were reminiscent of the medieval church (e.g., the fanatical acceptance of doctrines embodied in a sacred book; an unwillingness to examine those doctrines critically; and the savage persecution of those who rejected the doctrines).^[26]

Judgmental

Among those who have quit attending their church, there is a common theme of “we did not leave the church, but rather, the church left us.”^[32] Fundamentalists love the Bible more than they love Christ,^[59] which leads Christians to be seen as quick to judge others, and as being dishonest about their attitudes and perspectives when dealing with others. As such, their claim to “love thy neighbor” is doubted. This, when combined with the other listed items, cause young people to view Christians as hypocrites whose moral superiority it to be viewed with skepticism. While theological ignorance is on the rise, it still remains intuitive that making statements about what God thinks, or what God would or would not do, creates a graven image of a God which suits those individual tastes.^[60] This is insidious and ironic. This is insidious because 2/3 of outsiders think that Christians do not act authentically towards them. This is ironic, because 2/3 of Christians are convinced that outsiders think that they are authentic.^[38]

Case and point, “born-again” Christians believe homosexuality is sinful, yet 61% of “born-again” Christians believe divorce is not sinful, despite how Jesus Christ explicitly forbade divorces for reasons other than adultery (MAT 5:32).^[52] This is reinforced by the Christian tendency to reserve judgement against their own moral transgressions, and writing off their own wrongdoings with a variety of stock platitudes (e.g., “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven”).^[55] Only 53% of young churchgoing adults have beliefs which align with their church. In particular, among “born-again” Christians ages 23-41:^[3]

60% believe that cohabitation is morally acceptable.
40% believe that pre-marital sex is acceptable.
30% believe that pornography is acceptable.

Hostile Parishioners

Frustrated parishioners are a perpetual source of stress; 40% of pastors experience serious conflicts with parishioners on a monthly basis.^[1] Churches are magnets for weirdos and troublemakers, since unlike other professionals (e.g., doctors, lawyers, psychotherapists), priests cannot dismiss problematic people without being seen as cruel. Priests must stroke these parishioner’s egos, lest they become resentful and problematic from a lack of attention. This constant, fruitless work bleeds priests of their energy and willpower, which they are required to supply, even when there is no one to supply them.^[8]

There are as many reasons for parishioner hostility as there are hostile parishioners. These people are usually not troublesome unless they are ignored or put down; they only cause problems when their needs go unattended.^[5] Some of the more common hostile parishioners include:

Bored, floundering, underused, or unrecognized church members.^[5]
Older people who are unable to strongly influence the congregation’s agenda.^[5]
Older people who seek a traditional church experience, because those are one of the few things which remain from their youth. This includes requests for pastors to regularly visit parishioner's homes.^[2]
Younger people seeking services (e.g., day care, youth groups, etc.). Since younger people choose churches based on the services they provide, they view pastors not as community center managers instead of holy men.^[2]
New members who are eager to make their mark.^[5]
Deeply dedicated and energetic members who have not found adequate outlets for their need to serve.
Straight-up troublemakers who enjoy drama.^[5]
Rugged individualists who make poor “team players.”^[5]
Hyper-devout members who see heresies where none exist.^[4]
Troubled people who assume that they can go to any minister, at any time, and expect to be helped with their troubles -- even if they are not a member of that congregation.^[61] While people expect psychologists to charge for their services, they also expect priests to perform similar services for free.^[8]
- This sets up unequal, one-way relationships which makes the client feel guilty, and this impedes their healing.^[8]
- Since the client doesn’t pay, they won't take their counseling seriously.^[8]
- Some people (e.g., paranoid delusionals, psychopaths, sociopaths) simply cannot be saved, since they lack the requisite sense of moral values and/or the desire to change.^[8]
- Some people are “clinging vines” who demand to be propped up by other people or institutions, and use the strength of others exclusively, rather than cultivate any of their own. This is usually achieved via using guilt to manipulate others into helping them.^[8]

Each hostile parishioner drains a portion the priest’s time, forcing the pastor to work a little harder and little longer -- and burnout a little quicker. While the actions of individual hostile parishioners are trivial, their cumulative effect is profound. 63% of ex-pastors said that the resistance to their leadership is what drove them to quit; it is the leading cause of clergy attrition.^[1] Likewise, 43% of the people who leave their church do so because of issues with their pastor.^[6] Stone’s meta-analysis of Lifeway and Barna Group data reveals that parishioners are frequently unaware of leadership, directional, and relational issues.^[6] Many hostile parishioners cause trouble inadvertently; 40% of parishioners have no clue what frustrates their pastors -- and 12% of parishioners think that nothing does.^[6] Even if the pastor does everything right, it is literally a thankless job -- only 4% of congregants will affirm their clergyman in anyway -- and 46% of those who do affirm them merely call or write to say “thank you.”^[6]

Much of these struggles are based around the harsh fact that priests have no authority beyond their ability to persuade people.^[2] Priests are leaders, but not bosses. In the typical parish, the ministers aren’t the permanent fixture; the congregation is. Priestly promotions and demotions are not typically determined by the church's higher echelons, but by organization-minded laymen who have been entrusted with some degree of leadership because of their community status or business know-how. Priests are forced to outsource the business aspects of their parish’s operations to the congregation, since priests receive little to no business training in seminary. As a result, congregations can’t be led in directions that they don’t want to go -- they’ll only rebel, and replace the minister with another, and another, until they find one who agrees with them. Economic and political pressure supersedes ecclesiastic pressure.^[13] Even Catholics, who do not select their own priests, can still rebel against them. When priests do not respond to a parishioner’s actions, the parishioner can appeal by petitioning their bishop -- and if the bishop does not respond, the parishioner can petition the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and/or the pope directly, to address the bishop’s heresy.^[4]

A church’s prime motivation is to ensure its own survival, and then to ensure its own security; these are the metrics which determine a pastor's success and career survival. As such, churches and their pastors are under constant pressure to increase their membership; growth signifies success. Additionally, churches and pastors must periodically expand or renovate their buildings, to signify progress. These acts require funding, and an enormous consumption of the minister’s time, energy, and supervision -- all at the expense of other goals.^[13] This is complicated by the fact that churches grow rapidly, but erode slowly; parishioners are often unaware of their need to change, even when it's in their best interest.^[28]

Hostile parishioners are allowed to prosper because of:^[5]

Volunteer and paid leaders undergoing little or no pre-hire screening.
Using secondary channels to work outside of established procedures. This confers special privileges to individuals, robbing the existing political structure of its power.
Failed attempts to quell a parishioner’s anger which did not address the root cause.
Support systems failing to address issues and/or to defend the pastor.
- Allowing the “collateral damage” of drama/conflict to compromise a support system.
The denomination and/or bishop failing to intervene, because of their limited power and/or situational involvement. However, even if these authorities can’t directly intervene, they should still be able to assert their authority and/or mandate compliance.
A failure to understand how unresolved past issues continue to influence the present.
A failure to quell gossip.
Seminaries failing to teach their students how to deal with hostility.
Pastors failing to explore other options and opportunities.
Pastors lacking colleagues to turn too or collaborate with.
- This does not apply to Catholic priests, who are procedurally required to have a designated confessor.
Pastors who fail to assert their authority.
- Pastors are unusually prone to guilt, which makes them more vulnerable to manipulation from con artists or others who wish to extort money and/or services.
Pastors who fail to employ a “good-vs.-evil” mentality. Pastors often delude themselves into thinking that Christian love can overcome all; this leads them to deny, pamper, or excuse subversive actions. Likewise, this mentality renders pastors completely unable to deal with the mentally ill, or with the truly evil.
- Rational arguments, love, and negotiations are ineffective against the truly evil.
- The mentally ill become completely predictable once they’ve been diagnosed.
An uninformed and theologically-illiterate laity is vulnerable to the flattery, cajolery, misrepresentation, etc. of those who are trying to undermine their pastors.
Harmful or toxic pastors undermining themselves. This typically occurs with misfit pastors, whose personality, style, and conviction does not match that of their congregation.
A tendency for well-adjusted and successful Christians at the top of their fields to eventually quit attending church services because they gradually lose interest, or begin to see mass as a waste of time.^[6]
Meetings to alter the church's political structure degrading into venting sessions before quickly returning to the status quo. Such meetings accomplish less than nothing to alter the structure of a system; they only give the deceptive appearance that change is really happening.^[19]
Devoted Christians who are reluctant to stop their own persecution. Christ taught that allegiance to him results in persecution (MAT 5:10-11, 22; 13:13, LUK 6:22; 21:17, 1COR 1:18); thus, negative treatment is considered confirmation of correct living.^[52]

Spiritual Dilution

The world has changed and the churches have not, despite how foundation of American society underwent changes as drastic as the Exodus was to the Jews -- and this has happened twice. In 1900, 33% Americans worked in agriculture, as of 1998, only 3% were. (Sunday mass is held in the late morning because it’s between milking times.) In 1956, most Americans were worked in manufacturing; as of 1998, only 13% were, while 60-70% of people worked in information-related jobs.^[2]

Our culture is not merely different; it is discontinuously different. Modern culture is far different than the culture the Millennials were raised in -- which in turn was far different than the culture the Baby Boomers were raised in -- which in turn was far different than the culture the WWII Generation was raised in. No group has lived through such a rapidly-changing world. While Christians face far less persecution, the cultural changes are far greater and more daunting:^[32]

Teachers and pastors can be fact-checked in real-time.
Young people expect to participate as well as consume.
The phenomena of “learning piracy,” where the church is not seen as the sole arbiter of spiritual content.
A new expectation of flattened hierarchies.
A global connection to, and awareness of, others.
A desire to stay connected at all times.

Christians apply a static theology to an age of accelerating change -- and since “rapid social change” is just a euphemism for “revolution” -- they are trying to live in revolutionary times without a theology of revolution. This is especially problematic, as Christian ideology makes no provisions for revolutions, or counter-revolutions. The church's doctrines are infected with the ideology of preservation and permanence. Almost entirely past-oriented, churches derive their authority from various classical periods; from an alleged resemblance to an earlier form of church life; or from a theory of historical continuity.^[19]

While the American conservatives were preoccupied with threat of secular humanists encroaching on their hegemony, they ignored their own secularization -- science, technology, politics, and wealth have become the means used to justify their ends.^[24] This is because “secular” really means “non-religious,” instead of “anti-religious.” Everything that is not a church or church-related -- e.g., restaurants, public libraries, roads, parks, shopping plazas, parking garages, etc. -- are, by definition, secular institutions.^[4] Secularizing forces have no serious interest in persecuting any religion; secularization simply bypasses and undercuts religions as a means of accomplishing other goals. Secularization merely relativized religious worldviews, rendering them innocuous. Religion has been privatized; it now one's particular prerogative and point of view. Secularization has merely convinced people that they could be wrong, and that there are more important things than dying for one’s faith. The traditional gods aren’t needed to play their role within the public life of the secular metropolis.^[19]

Because of this, religious orders are gradually being replaced by organizations, which are:^[19]

Flexible. These groups change to meet their current needs -- reorganizing, merging, and disbanding on a whim. While traditions can form, they are of secondary importance.
Future-oriented. Religious orders view the present in terms of the past; whereas organizations work towards established goals.
Secularized. Tradition, ceremony, and taboo are replaced with procedures, which are criticized and refined. Traditions can exist, but these are frills which do not define the group.
Making limited membership claims. Since the organization’s authority is relative and not absolute, it only influence small portions of the member’s life. Organizations are like labor unions, whereas religious orders are like trade guilds. Organizations have non-exclusive membership; members can join many other organizations, and are free to come and go as they please.

The only way the clergy can ever compete is to change the way that the world perceives them, and refuse to play the role of antiquarian and spiritual middleman -- but this is difficult, because that is their job. Their only hope is to address the three key problems facing modern city life, which neither the Christians, nor anyone else have a standardized solution for:^[19]

The decentralization of authority. There is a lack of political structures to address each and every issue, causing some problems to go ignored or improperly treated.
Dealing with problems on a society-wide basis. The city’s problems are actually society's problems; they just seem more prevalent in cities because of their larger population.
The powerlessness of oppressed peoples. The poor and/or minorities are voiceless, since they lack the readiness, capacity, or channels needed to voice their legitimate needs.

Christians are unlikely to address these issues; they are based on pragmatism and worldliness, which have historically been the church’s worst events. Even the much-touted weekend service projects only aggravates these problems, by establishing a sense of co-dependency, and a dichotomy of "those-who-do" and "those-who-have-things-done-for-them."^[19]

Christianity can only compete with cultural change though assimilation; while Christianity will dissolve in the process, its surviving fragments might influence culture once again. While this is unpalatable to most Christians, it is also unstoppable. Even conservatism -- the resistance to cultural changes -- falters in the face of change. Since conservatives act be contrary to change, those who make changes also define and lead the direction which conservatism will follows.^[24] Even the Catholic Church, which stood stalwart through centuries of falling empires and countless wars, faltered before the “perfect storm” of Baby Boomer social upheavals:^[4]

Vatican II was a groundbreaking upheaval not because of the changes it made -- but because it allowed changes, and established a precedent for future changes.
The end of the “Catholic ghetto.” Like many other faiths, American Catholics were once relegated to cloistered enclaves of ethnic neighborhoods, which reinforced their own cultural norms. American culture is now more homogenized and pluralistic.^[31]
The American counter-cultural revolution of the 1960-70’s. The Civil Rights movement was really an anti-authoritarian movement -- it challenged the state’s authority to enact Jim Crow laws, and was a rebellion against political, social, business, and educational leaders for their failure to stand up against Jim Crow.

This is why Pope Pius X tried and failed to stop the modernization of the church with his 1907 encyclical letter, Pascendi Dominici Gregis.^[4] However, this failed to prevent Baby Boomer's social upheavals, and it will falter even further before the discontinuous changes induced by global warming and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The only alternative to assimilation -- a traditionalist victory across the entire remaining American church landscape -- would still only be a Pyrrhic victory. This surviving remnant of the church will be pessimistic from their legacy of failure, and the realization that they will never again play an important role in the thoroughly-secularized dominant culture to come; much like the Amish or the Hasidic Jews.^[4] “In the age of video games, Middle-town-wherever will always be closer to Mars than Jerusalem.”^[24]

Secularization made Christianity seem less real, privatization turned it into a personal preference, and cultural [Religious_Pluralism|pluralization] made the Christian religion into one among many. Religion has been so deeply relegated to the private sphere that it’s disappearance from the public sphere now goes largely unnoticed. To combat this this, Christians attempt to re-enter the public sphere by uncritically reduplicating the stances and styles of the public sphere itself (e.g., Christian rock, Christian superheroes, etc.). However, by using the secular world’s tools on the secular world’s terms only holds the Christians captive to whims of pop-culture.^[24]

American church-state separation broke up the state church's monopolies, forcing churches to compete on the free market for parishioners. Churches thus had to market themselves.^[24] This is a unique situation; even the various national churches of Europe viewed themselves as parts of one, larger collective church; national churches were just the only valid ones within the confines of their political borders.^[4] In the US, all 41,000 Christian denominations of ^[55] are at odds with each other, and with every other faith. This struggle is compounded by the fact the average American church has 85-100 parishioners,^[2] limiting their resources to a degree that leaves most churches struggling to maintain their overhead, let alone their hegemony.

American Churches are forming their own organizations in response to the threat posed by flexible, future-oriented, secularized, membership-limited organizations. This cooperation requires churches to ignore the theological differences between one another (especially the subtle differences), and only focus on what unites them -- to focus on what they have in common, instead of what divides or defines them. However, this is flatly incompatible with the notion of dogmatism. The end result is a generic Christian faith; a diluted form of Protestantism, which makes pithy attacks at Catholics, and no makes claims of Christ’s divinity to please Unitarians and Jews. It merely consists of the notion of God’s providence, the afterlife, the Ten Commandments, and an ambiguously-interpreted Bible. This denominational consensus erodes loyalty, since no one church -- and no one religion -- has any real advantage over another. These “Cafeteria Christians” then freely pick and choose which dogmas to follow, like the dishes on an à la carte line. This is generally accepted to be a recipe for a gradual ecclesial suicide via disintegration. Denominational consensus is the first step on the slippery slope to skepticism. By conceding their claim to a monopoly on the truth, these churches grow increasingly tolerant until they are incapable of opposing unorthodox beliefs, even inside their own church walls. In the end, they are not even able to outright oppose outright agnosticism and atheism, or to oppose Christianity’s historically condemned practices (e.g., abortion, homosexuality, and suicide). They will be left with no means for combating secularism, since the only non-denominationalist dogma is anti-dogmatism; they tolerate all religious viewpoints as being equal, except for those which say otherwise.^[4]

One example of these organizations would be the seemingly-powerful Southern Baptist Convention, which is actually a loose confederation of independent churches, which send “messengers,” who represent themselves, instead of delegates representing their church. These messengers tend to be the more conservative members of their congregations, because those are the only ones willing to attend conventions. The decisions made at Southern Baptist Conventions are non-binding resolutions which state what the majority of attendees believed on that particular day. This is rarely explained in news stories, because it would show that the power of the convention is overrated. The lack of representational power is magnified at the National Association of Evangelicals, where there are no delegates, and a board decides all policies.^[42]

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

The younger a person is, the less they understand the Christian faith. When it comes to faith, people mostly parrot what their parents taught them. The mass-media has assumed much of this role,^[55] pitching a bland, non-denominational Christianity as though it were toothpaste, laundry detergent, or any other consumer product.^[24] As a result, a many Americans are only tenuously Christian in any historical, traditional sense. Christianity is successfully resisting secularization, but only by degenerating into progressivly weaker versions of itself, until it is ultimately replaced by by Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, a pseudo-philosophy based on the following notions:^[34]

A god exists, who created and ordered the world, and watches over human life on earth.
God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible by most world religions.
The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life, except when God is explicitly needed to resolve a problem.
Good people go to heaven when they die.

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is an “alternative faith that co-opts if not devours” established religious traditions, as it “generally does not, and can not stand on its own.” Moralistic Therapeutic Deism has little to do with God or a sense of divine mission in the world. It offers comfort, bolsters self-esteem, helps solve problems, and lubricates interpersonal relationships by encouraging a mutually-bland common ground. Moralistic Thereputic Deism makes no pretense at changing lives; churches are seen only as useful communities to help people feel good about themselves via communicating a sanitized, culturally-cooperative, but wildly truncated version of Christianity. Moralistic Therapeutic Deism disrupts the faith of young people. Even if teenagers fully participate in youth ministry programs and churches, while avoiding distractions, trauma, and counter-influences, they are unlikely to grasp a “god” who is too limp to grasp them. As such, apart from “being nice,” teenagers do not think that religion influences their decisions, choice of friends, or behaviors. Religion is thus only used to justify the decisions that they were going to make anyway.^[31]

Young people practice Moralistic Therapeutic Deism not because they misunderstood what they were taught at church, but because it is what they were taught at church. Preaching and evangelism are ineffective against Moralistic Therapeutic Deism because calls to worship are also generalized and non-specific. Besides, the events being preached about (e.g., Christ’s death and resurrection) happened so long ago that they can no longer offer anything new or exciting.^[19] As a result, young people lack an articulate faith, because they see faith as too spineless to merit discussion. They don’t see faith as being too deep for words, but as to vapid to require its own jargon.^[31]

Even parochial schools and religiously-affiliated colleges cannot stop Moralistic Therapeutic Deism from spreading, because maintaining orthodoxy assumes teaching orthodox doctrines, and also that their students will never discover or experiment with any doctrine on their own. Religiously-affiliated schools and colleges have become secularized to compete in the academic free market.^[4] Catholic schools, in particular, have rebranded themselves into affluent college prep academies. In 1970, 2.3% of Catholic school students were non-Catholic; in 2003, it was 13.5%, which was enough of a demographic change to cause schools to shift their mission form religious development to academic development. Currently 95% of US Catholic school teachers are laity — and often non-Catholic, trained in secular universities, and using secular textbooks and other resources.^[36] Clergy are mostly relegated to administrative and counseling roles at parochial colleges and universities; even theology has been secularized into “religious studies,"^[4] which teaches about Christianity via its documents, doctrines, history, and moral codes.^[62] The individual churches are no better at teaching, since Christian education has been reduced to ritual preparations (e.g., pre-baptism counseling, first communion classes, confirmation classes, pre-marriage classes). This develops cliques instead of communities -- cliques which disband and disappear following the ritual.^[62] As a result, only 9% of Americans holds a Biblical worldview. While "born-again" Christians are only twice as likely to do so, that’s barely 1 in 5. In particular:^[18]

54% of born-agains do not believe in the existence of an absolute moral truth.
60% of born-agains do not believe in the existence of Satan.
53% of born-agains do not believe it is impossible to enter heaven via good behavior alone.
56% of adults, and 67% of Catholics, deny the existence of the Holy Spirit, and believe it is symbolic.

Interestingly, standardized tests from the Nehemiah Institute show that only 6% of Christian school students embrace a Biblical worldview, which is only slightly higher that public school attendees. In particular:^[37]

63% Christian school students do not believe Jesus is the son of the one true God.
65% Christian school students do not believe Satan is a real entity.
68% Christian school students do not believe that the Holy Spirit is a real entity.

A sudden revival of traditional religious education would prove ineffective. The word “catechism” is derived from “catechize,” meaning “to echo back” -- it’s rote learning, and that’s problematic since the modern youth was raised in a participatory culture, which seeks:^[31]

Low barriers to artistic and civic engagement.
Strong support for creative collaborations.
Informal mentorships that pass on experience to newcomers.
Confidence that their contributions will matter.
Social connection between group members, if only through appreciating their contributions.

Additionally, if important and/or influential church positions are only open to men, or to the upper socioeconomic classes, or if particular races are either implicitly or explicitly excluded from membership, a different lesson is taught.^[62]

Reliance on the Bible

The overwhelming challenge of modernity -- and the chronically divided Christian response to it -- has rendered a credible, united Christianity impossible.^[24] Christianity can survive as a personal religion based on individuals reading the Bible -- but this is a stumbling block for many^[63] because the Bible is not credible. Christianity, in nearly all of its varied forms, depends upon the authority of a divinely-inspired Bible -- and without this the Christians suddenly have no means to control others.^[45] This is easily achieved by accepting the Christians' claims of biblical authority, and using it to frame them into adopting absurd and indefensible positions.^[64] For example:

The writers of the New Testament had the opportunity to fix the errors in the Old Testament and in earlier gospels by drawing bullseye’s around the arrows they shot -- but they still didn’t.
Christians cannot write off, ignore, or rationalize their way out of any of the Old Testament laws, or the horrors which they have spawned, since Christ explicitly mentioned several times that every character of the old law is true and correct, and must be obeyed (MAT 5:17-19; JOH 7:19; LUK 16:17). Any attempt to dance around this problem defies Christ’s direct teachings.^[55]
Many of God’s laws are presented without any justification or explanation. The Bible tells us, via a revelation, that it’s against God’s law to boil a baby goat in its mother’s milk -- but the Bible never explains why that was ever a problem, or why it would offend God.^[25]
There is a large burden of proof on the Resurrection. This is crucial, because if the Resurrection is untrue, then the entire Christian religion is invalid (1COR 15:17).^[55]
Christians must abandon the entire concept of jurisprudence in order to comply with Christ’s maxim of “judge not lest ye be judged.”^[25]
The Gospel of Luke claims to be an eyewitness account (LUK 1:1-4), in contrast with basically the entire corpus of Biblical history studies.^[63]
While ancient slavery was more like indentured servitude, and did not involve the literal ownership of humans like the “chattel” slavery of the American South, the Bible was still used to endorse and rationalize that unforgivable practice, despite its clear prohibitions on kidnapping (1TIM 1:9-11) and slave trafficking (DEU 24:7).^[63]
Many, many, many more examples can be found elsewhere on this website.

The Clergy are "Unmanly"

While this article makes many traditional / stereotypical generalizations of gender traits and roles, it not an endorsement of that worldview. However, churches have historically catered to those who do hold these views on gender traits and roles, and they are now failing miserably at it.

Your system is perfectly designed to get you the results you’re getting.
—W. Edwards Deming

Churches are like baby showers; even if men are invited, they don’t want to be there. Church services are primary attended by women, children, and the elderly; churches now cater to those demographics to such a degree that they have become associated with childhood. As a result, many men fear going to church -- not because they fear God -- but because they fear it will damage their reputation. Churchgoing men are viewed as bland, milquetoast pushovers, like Ned Flanders. Granted there is a “Mafia exception” to this rule; mobsters attend church services without losing their street cred, but only because they live and act contrary to the Christian lifestyle. It’s the buy-in which makes church attendees unmanly. A random sampling of 100 non-churchgoing men all replied they didn’t attend mass because churches are for “kids, women, and wimps.”^[65]

While the clergy is a men’s club, every other aspect of the church is run and dominated by women; “churches are women’s clubs with male officers,” and based on the rolls of old New England churches, this has been an ongoing trend since the 1600s. This is because:^[65]

Women tend to produce more serotonin, which calms them and prevents the expression of anger. (This is why women tend to bottle up their anger until they snap.) Church aggressions must be handled in an overly-polite manner; men can’t ask their priest if he wants to step outside.
Women’s brains tend to have larger language centers; which in turn, allows them to be better at reading, singing, speaking, networking, etc. -- in short, to be better at what churches require.

There are a number of differences in the male brain which drive their desires, shape their cultures, and are being largely unmet by the modern church:

Men tend to have larger amygdala, resulting in stronger fight-or-flight responses, and a greater tendency for flashbacks. Men have extreme difficulty overcoming any unpleasant, painful, or humiliating past experiences, because of the influence of this region of the brain, and the fact that it does not reason -- it responds.^[65]
Men tend to have a smaller corpus callosum, which allows less traffic between brain hemispheres. As a result, men have greater difficulty with verbal learning methods (e.g., sermons, bible studies, etc.)^[65]
- Men need to be able to ask questions and challenge the status quo. If their input is not valued, then they are not valued. Men need dialogue, not monologue. There needs to be give-and-take, and a chance to argue.
- Men enjoy learning through personal discovery; they tend to be active, hands-on learners who learn by doing, and through interacting with objects.
- The average male attention span is 6-8 minutes, but the average sermon is 30 minutes. Lesson plans must focus on a single point or concept, because what is not concise is lost.
- Men require visually-explained plans towards a pre-defined goal, so they can measure their progress. Otherwise, they will feel aimless and run aground.^[65]
- Christian sermons and monologues never present any novel or useful ideas. Even at their most intense, they are rehashes of clichéd macho posturing (e.g., the “baptize in fire!” from MAR 9:49-50).^[45]
  - “If we have authority over the devil in Jesus’ name, how many times do we have to bind him before it works? If it does work, why does the devil keep getting free?”^[66]
- Modern preaching is ineffective because it relies on generalized, non-specific terms to discuss events which happened so long ago that they no longer offer a new worldview or anything else to get excited about.^[17]
  - Modern people judge what they encounter through the lenses of pragmatism and profanity -- they are profane in the classical sense of the world (i.e., literally meaning “outside the temple”). For something to be relevant, it must contain a sense of “this-worldness.”^[17]
- Catholics tend to give low-quality sermons because they are literally filler material. Catholics see the Eucharist as the means to achieve grace, as opposed to Protestantism, where the sermon is the means to achieve grace. Poor sermons signal that a Catholic priest is a disappointment, and that a Protestant priest is a failure.^[4]
Men are made uncomfortable by the modern terminology used in modern worship:
- “A personal relationship with Christ,” “a passionate relationship with Christ,” and “intimacy with God” all carry unwanted sexual connotations.^[65]
- Praying Christians tend to assume Elizabethan speech patterns (“We beseech thee, O Lord…”) and/or mantra-like repetition of God’s name (“Lord, we thank you for this day, O Lord.)” These are both perceived as grandstanding to create an illusion of holiness, and are not considered to be genuine devotion,^[65] which is why this “god-talk” has little or no resonance outside of religious communities.^[67]
- “Being saved” makes men feel like damsels-in-distress.^[65]
- “Sharing how you feel” makes men feel like they’re in kindergarten.^[65]
- “The Lord” is meaningless and unrelatable outside of a monarchy; if anything men are now conditioned to rebel against anyone demanding to be called “Lord.”^[65]
Men’s ministries fail because they’re essentially women’s ministries for men, where they sit around read, weep, hold hands, sing, hug, listen, and share.
- The masculine spirit is regarded as unholy because it is frequently uncouth.^[65]
- Guilt, duty, and obligation tend to be poor motivators for men.^[65]
- Men have difficulty with gathering, praying, and the laying-of-hands because they associate personal space with safety, whereas women tend to associate closeness with safety.^[65]
- Men fear psychic regression (i.e., returning to a second infancy to evade reality), because the men who regress (e.g., those who run back to their mommies) are perceived as failures. Men must move out, and they can’t return home.^[65]
- Christianity repels men because it’s based on risk-avoidance; it’s all about “don’t do this” and “play it safe.” Men must play for keeps; without a real threat from a real enemy, they cannot fight, and lose interest.^[65]
  - Christianity only caught on because it was originally seen as subversive, thrilling, dangerous, and exciting; the risk of being fed to lions was its selling point. Why would anyone get excited about going to a sanctuary?^[65]
- Men fear Heaven, because it sounds so boring. There are no challenges, no uncertainties, and no fun activities other than singing for billions of years.^[65]
Men have an urge to constantly prove themselves in their own way, according to their own skill. “Real manhood differs from simple anatomical maleness, that it is not a natural condition that comes about spontaneously through biological maturation but rather is a precarious or artificial state that boys must win against power odds.” Manhood is something you earn.^[65]
- Men don’t just want to be great; they want to be recognized as being great. Therefore, they won’t do anything unless it offers them a shot at greatness. Their constant posturing and one-upmanship benefits society through its by-products: bravery, heroism, generosity, self-sacrifice, and innovation.^[65]
- The modern church has no need for the traditionally masculine skills and traits, especially since they would disrupt the church’s predominately “soft skill”-based tasks (e.g., child care, teaching children, preparing soup, etc.). Men have a need to be needed, but aside from ushers, all of the traditionally “male” jobs are reserved for the clergy.^[65]
- Male volunteers are prone to burnout from failing to see the fruits of their labors. This is commonly due churches with too many ministry programs, many of which have little effect. Since churches attract passivity activists who expend most of their energy on fighting change, most churches are unwilling to cull their unproductive programs and their divert resources towards the better programs.^[65]
  - Men’s greatest desire is reproduction, but churches are failing to grow. Even the fastest growing churches only show a 1.17% increase.^[65]
Clergy tend to exhibit more “feminine” personality traits than men of other professions, and on average produce less testosterone.^[65]
- Homosexuals are disproportionately attracted to religious vocations, because the church is one of the society's few institutions where men are not expected to conform to traditional male roles; it is the only place where men are praised for displaying feminine traits.^[65] Priests are expected to be a sort of asexual, sinless “third gender,” which is shielded from the world and its myriad of corrupting influences.^[2]
- Priests wield no power or authority beyond their persuasive abilities.^[2] While clergy serve in the holy office of ministry, it is the office that is holy, not the person.^[14]
- Priests must be perfect pacifists and avoid conflict, lest they be hypocrites. While some Christians argue that “turning the other cheek” is a figure of speech, the context of MAT 5:40-42 reveals that Jesus literally advocated inviting mistreatment.^[68]
  - The Cubans could have staged a counter-revolution at any time, but their Christian ideology prevented them from doing so, as it does not allow for either revolutions or counter-revolutions.^[17]

As a result, some (mostly fundamentalist) Christians overcompensate by fostering a culture of toxic masculinity. The emasculation which results from submission to the church authority is offset by the further surrender of their conscience, accountability, and empathy. The domination which men are encouraged to practice over women and children is a reflection of the domination they are taught to endure outside of the home.^[69]

Control and force is used to raise obedient, unquestioning, and fearful children who will not be tempted to challenge powerful male figures as adults. These children are conditioned to rely on external authority for moral choice. They obey out of fear, since the refusal to submit to authority is heresy. The child learns to distrust outsiders, until their benign and trivial differences are exaggerated to Satanic proportions.^[69] This process perpetuates childhood, allowing adult to bask in the protection of an all-powerful father, masking themselves from their shortcomings, weaknesses, and frailties. This also makes mature, loving relationships impossible to build, since everything revolves around the believer's needs, desires, protection, and advancement. Relationships -- even within families -- splinter and fracture in the face of what the church and its leaders dictate within their binary world of right and wrong. People are judged not by their intrinsic qualities, actions, self-sacrifice, or compassion, but by the rigidity of their obedience. This obedience is vital, because in many ways, these toxic leaders fear love the most, for it is love that unleashes passions and breaks bonds that can defy the carefully constructed hierarchies which keep followers trapped and enclosed.^[69]

Fundamentalism correlates with right-wing authoritarian personalities, which in turn correlates with racism, homophobia, ethnocentrism, and punitiveness. The aggression, prejudice, and schadenfreude-coupled vindictiveness directed against out-groups is what defines the in-group.^[19]
Fundamentalists target women, homosexuals, Jews, atheists, blacks, and a host of other groups when confronted with our culture's imperfections because scapegoats act as a safety valve against the pressure of disappointment. This is why religious leaders point blame at outsiders as a means to prevent malcontent among their own members.^[19]
Rigid sex role socialization is one of the propagators of rape. Women are taught not to show interest, while men are taught to take a leading role, which establishes a rape culture.^[19]
- Misogyny is another cause of rape, as the majority of rapists seek power, not sex. They seek to humiliate, degrade, subordinate, and injure women to boost their own egos. Fundamentalists will even go as far as to tell rape victims that “it is good to suffer,” because their suffering will “earn them God’s special favor.” As a result, nothing is done to protect the innocent. The attack is written off as being God’s will, and the victim is told to forget the incident; to move on; and most importantly -- forgive their unrepentant attacker.^[19]
- Among the general population, sex abuse is mostly perpetrated by step-fathers, and not fathers. This is not true for fundamentalist Christians, who have a disproportionate incest rate. Fundamentalism correlates with incest, but this probability decreases with increasing degree of community involvement. Only those who don’t get out often will turn to incest.^[19]
- Conservatives have historically deplored welfare initiatives because they give abused women a means to escape, which challenges an absolute patriarchy. Contrary to popular belief, there are no incentives for welfare mothers to have additional children. Additional child benefits mostly come in non-cash forms (e.g., SNAP, WIC, Medicaid, and housing and daycare allowances which are paid directly to the providers).^[19]

Difficult Theological Problems are Piling Up

Theological advancements are produced at a glacial pace, if at all. Many topics have been debated for centuries without progress. Technological progress moves at a much faster rate, and society has had to, and soon will, completely reform itself to cope with its changes. As a result, theological conundrums are being generated faster than they can ever be resolved, which both highlights and hastens Christianity's irrelevance of Christianity.^[50] Some of these unsolvable questions which no one else is asking include:

Would human clones have souls?
Would human-animal hybrids (e.g., humanzees) have souls?
Would self-aware androids have souls?
- If Data doesn’t have a soul, then no one deserves one.
Would intelligent extraterrestrial lifeforms have souls?
- The Catholic Church has been playing with this idea since c.2005. It is generally accepted in Catholic circles that intelligent extraterrestrial lifeforms have souls, which were also corrupted by Original Sin, and were also redeemed via Jesus’ crucifixion. However, this is not a Catholic dogma, and the issue has gone virtually unnoticed by other Christian sects.
If you were to gradually replace all your organs and body parts with transplanted and/or cloned body parts, are you still the same person?
What happens to the souls of the cryopreserved? In the unlikely event that these people were to be resurrected with future science, would their souls return to their preserved bodies, like the Ba of ancient Egypt? If not, were their souls frozen too?
- Would placing a live person into cryogenic suspension be murder?^[70]
- Would failing to reanimate them be murder?^[70]
If suicide bombers go to heaven for killing the enemy, what happens when the two sides make peace?^[71]
If “there is nothing is new under the sun,” (ECC 1:7) then how did the entirely-novel Apollo moon landings occur?^[34]

References

↑ ^1.00 ^1.01 ^1.02 ^1.03 ^1.04 ^1.05 ^1.06 ^1.07 ^1.08 ^1.09 ^1.10 ^1.11 ^1.12 ^1.13 B. Lane, Why Pastors Quit (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014)
↑ ^2.00 ^2.01 ^2.02 ^2.03 ^2.04 ^2.05 ^2.06 ^2.07 ^2.08 ^2.09 ^2.10 ^2.11 ^2.12 ^2.13 ^2.14 ^2.15 ^2.16 ^2.17 ^2.18 ^2.19 ^2.20 ^2.21 ^2.22 ^2.23 ^2.24 ^2.25 ^2.26 ^2.27 ^2.28 G. L. McIntosh and R. L. Edmondson, It Only Hurts on Monday: Why Pastors Quit and What You Can Do About It (Churchsmart Resources, 1998).
↑ ^3.00 ^3.01 ^3.02 ^3.03 ^3.04 ^3.05 ^3.06 ^3.07 ^3.08 ^3.09 ^3.10 ^3.11 ^3.12 ^3.13 ^3.14 T. Rainer and S. S. Rainer III, The Essential Church (B&H Books, 2008).
↑ ^4.00 ^4.01 ^4.02 ^4.03 ^4.04 ^4.05 ^4.06 ^4.07 ^4.08 ^4.09 ^4.10 ^4.11 ^4.12 ^4.13 ^4.14 ^4.15 ^4.16 ^4.17 D. Carlin, The Decline and Fall of the Catholic Church in America (Sophia Institute Press, 2003).
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 ^5.3 ^5.4 ^5.5 ^5.6 ^5.7 ^5.8 ^5.9 G. L. Rediger, Clergy Killers: Guidance for Pastors and Congregations and Under Attack (Westminster John Knox Press,1997).
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 ^6.2 ^6.3 ^6.4 ^6.5 ^6.6 ^6.7 ^6.8 ^6.9 C. Stone, Five Ministry Killers and How to Defeat Them (Bethany House Publishers, 2011).
↑ ^7.00 ^7.01 ^7.02 ^7.03 ^7.04 ^7.05 ^7.06 ^7.07 ^7.08 ^7.09 ^7.10 ^7.11 C. A. Wickman, Pastors at Risk (Morgan James Faith, 2014).
↑ ^8.00 ^8.01 ^8.02 ^8.03 ^8.04 ^8.05 ^8.06 ^8.07 ^8.08 ^8.09 ^8.10 ^8.11 ^8.12 ^8.13 ^8.14 ^8.15 ^8.16 ^8.17 ^8.18 ^8.19 ^8.20 ^8.21 J. A. Sanford, Ministry Burnout (Westminster John Knox Press, 1992).
↑ ^9.00 ^9.01 ^9.02 ^9.03 ^9.04 ^9.05 ^9.06 ^9.07 ^9.08 ^9.09 ^9.10 ^9.11 ^9.12 ^9.13 ^9.14 ^9.15 ^9.16 ^9.17 ^9.18 ^9.19 ^9.20 ^9.21 ^9.22 ^9.23 ^9.24 ^9.25 ^9.26 ^9.27 ^9.28 ^9.29 ^9.30 ^9.31 ^9.32 ^9.33 ^9.34 A. M. Miller, Mad Church Disease: Healing from Church Burnout (Oh, Those Millers!, Inc., 2014).
↑ ^10.0 ^10.1 ^10.2 ^10.3 ^10.4 ^10.5 ^10.6 J. S. Dickerson, The Great Evangelical Recession (Baker Books, 2008).
↑ A. Melville, "The Secret Sins of the Sanctuary," in The Book Your Church Doesn't Want You to Read (Truth Seeker Company, Inc., 1993).
↑ ^12.0 ^12.1 D. Olshine, Youth Ministry: What's Gone Wrong (Abingdon Press, 2013).
↑ ^13.0 ^13.1 ^13.2 ^13.3 ^13.4 J. D. White, Burnout Busters: Stress Management for Ministry (Our Sunday Visitor, 2007)
↑ ^14.0 ^14.1 ^14.2 F. Lehr, Clergy Burnout: Recovering from the 70-Hour Week... and Other Self-Defeating Practices (Augsburg Books, 2005).
↑ S. Lewis, Elmer Gantry (Dell Publishing, 1960).
↑ ^16.0 ^16.1 A. Balk, The Religion Business (John Knox Press, 1968).
↑ ^17.00 ^17.01 ^17.02 ^17.03 ^17.04 ^17.05 ^17.06 ^17.07 ^17.08 ^17.09 ^17.10 ^17.11 ^17.12 H. Cox, The Secular City: Secularization and Urbanization in Theological Perspective (Princeton University Press, 2013).
↑ ^18.0 ^18.1 ^18.2 ^18.3 G. Barna, Futurecast (BarnaBooks, 2011).
↑ ^19.00 ^19.01 ^19.02 ^19.03 ^19.04 ^19.05 ^19.06 ^19.07 ^19.08 ^19.09 ^19.10 ^19.11 ^19.12 ^19.13 ^19.14 ^19.15 ^19.16 ^19.17 ^19.18 K. Blaker, The Fundamentals of Extremism: The Christian Right in America (New Boston Books, 2003).
↑ ^20.0 ^20.1 ^20.2 K. Roose, The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University (Grand Central Publishing, 2010).
↑ ^21.0 ^21.1 ^21.2 K. Ham, B. Beemer, and T. Hillard, Already Gone: Why Your Kids Will Quit Church and What You Can Do to Stop It (Master Books, 2009).
↑ ^22.0 ^22.1 ^22.2 ^22.3 ^22.4 ^22.5 ^22.6 ^22.7 ^22.8 ^22.9 O. Guinness, The Gravedigger Files: Papers on the Subversion of the Modern Church (Intervarsity Press, 1983).
↑ ^23.0 ^23.1 D. McKown, "Born-Again Student Meets Secular Professor," in The Book Your Church Doesn't Want You to Read (Truth Seeker Company, Inc., 1993).
↑ ^24.0 ^24.1 ^24.2 ^24.3 ^24.4 ^24.5 ^24.6 ^24.7 ^24.8 ^24.9 J. Michaelsen, Like Lambs to the Slaughter (Harvest House Publishing, 1989).
↑ ^25.0 ^25.1 ^25.2 ^25.3 B. Russell, edited by P. Edwards, Why I Am Not a Christian (Touchstone, 1967).
↑ ^26.0 ^26.1 R. M. Oswald, Clergy Self-Care: Finding a Balance for Effective Ministry (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1995).
↑ J. Qualben, Peace in the Parish (Langmarc Publications, 1992).
↑ ^28.0 ^28.1 T. S. Rainer, Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive (B&H Books, 2014).
↑ Hartford Institute for Religion Research, Fast Facts About American Religion, [Online]. Available: http://hirr.hartsem.edu/research/fastfacts/fast_facts.html. [Accessed 1 FEB 2017].
↑ M. Gladwell, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (Back Bay Books, 2002).
↑ ^31.0 ^31.1 ^31.2 ^31.3 ^31.4 ^31.5 K. C. Dean, Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church (Oxford University Press, 2010).
↑ ^32.00 ^32.01 ^32.02 ^32.03 ^32.04 ^32.05 ^32.06 ^32.07 ^32.08 ^32.09 ^32.10 ^32.11 ^32.12 ^32.13 ^32.14 ^32.15 ^32.16 ^32.17 ^32.18 D. Kinnaman and A. Hawkins, You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church... and Rethinking Faith (Baker Books, 2016).
↑ G. Graffin and S. Olson, Anarchy Evolution: Faith, Science, and Bad Religion in a World Without God (Harper Perennial, 2011).
↑ ^34.0 ^34.1 ^34.2 ^34.3 ^34.4 ^34.5 ^34.6 D. Dyck, Generation Ex-Christian (Moody Publishers, 2010).
↑ ^35.0 ^35.1 ^35.2 ^35.3 T. C. Leedom, The Book Your Church Doesn't Want You to Read (Truth Seeker Company, Inc., 1993).
↑ ^36.0 ^36.1 C. Smith, Soul Searching (Oxford University Press, 2005).
↑ ^37.0 ^37.1 ^37.2 ^37.3 J. McDowell, The Last Christian Generation (Baker Books, 2006).
↑ ^38.0 ^38.1 D. Stark, Reaching Millennials (Bethany House Publishers, 2016).
↑ ^39.0 ^39.1 ^39.2 V. J. Stenger, The New Atheism: Taking a Stand for Science and Reason (Oxford Prometheus Books, 2009)
↑ D. Ferguson and J. Ferguson, Exponential: How You and Your Friends Can Start a Missional Church Movement (Zondervan, 2010).
↑ ^41.0 ^41.1 P. Zuckerman, Living the Secular Life (Penguin Press, 2014).
↑ ^42.0 ^42.1 ^42.2 C. Wicker, The Fall of the Evangelical Nation (HarperOne, 2008).
↑ F. Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols: or How to Philosophize with a Hammer (Oxford Paperbacks, 1998).
↑ ^44.0 ^44.1 ^44.2 ^44.3 ^44.4 J. C. Bivins, Religion of Fear: The Politics of Horror in Conservative Evangelicalism (Oxford University Press, 2008).
↑ ^45.0 ^45.1 ^45.2 ^45.3 ^45.4 ^45.5 ^45.6 R. Brown, Prepare for War (Whitaker House, 1992).
↑ D. Ryder, Breaking the Circle of Satanic Ritual Abuse: Recognizing and Recovering from the Hidden Trauma (Compcare Publications, 1992).
↑ ^47.0 ^47.1 ^47.2 J. S. Victor, Satanic Panic: The Creation of a Contemporary Legend (Open Court Publishing Company, 1993).
↑ ^48.0 ^48.1 ^48.2 M. Moynihan and D. Søderlind, Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground (Feral House, 2003).
↑ ^49.0 ^49.1 R. L. Moore, Selling God: American Religion in the Marketplace of Culture (Oxford University Press, 1995).
↑ ^50.0 ^50.1 ^50.2 T. Stevens, Pop Goes the Church (Power Publishing, 2008).
↑ ^51.0 ^51.1 D. Kimball, They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations (Zondervan, 2007).
↑ ^52.00 ^52.01 ^52.02 ^52.03 ^52.04 ^52.05 ^52.06 ^52.07 ^52.08 ^52.09 ^52.10 ^52.11 D. Kinnaman and G. Lyons, unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity… and Why it Matters (Baker Books, 2012).
↑ M. Onfrey, In Defense of Atheism: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam (Penguin Canada, 2008).
↑ H. Becker and H. E. Barnes, Social Thought from Lore to Science, vol. 1. (Dover Publications, 1961).
↑ ^55.0 ^55.1 ^55.2 ^55.3 ^55.4 ^55.5 G. P. Harrison, 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian (Prometheus Books, 2013).
↑ C. Hitchens, God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (Twelve, 2009).
↑ B. Russell, What I Believe (Routledge, 2004).
↑ R. P. Jones, The End of White Christian America (Simon & Schuster, 2016).
↑ K. Deyoung and T. Kluck, Why We're Not Emergent (Moody Publishers, 2008).
↑ D. J. Kennedy, Evangelism Explosion, 4th ed. (Tyndale House Publishing, 2002).
↑ D. Barker, Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist (Freedom from Religion Foundation, 1992).
↑ ^62.0 ^62.1 ^62.2 J. H. Westerhoff, Will Our Children Have Faith? (Morehouse Publishing, 2012).
↑ ^63.0 ^63.1 ^63.2 T. Keller, Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism (Penguin Books, 2009).
↑ E. D. Cohen, Mind of the Bible-Believer (Prometheus Books, 1988).
↑ ^65.00 ^65.01 ^65.02 ^65.03 ^65.04 ^65.05 ^65.06 ^65.07 ^65.08 ^65.09 ^65.10 ^65.11 ^65.12 ^65.13 ^65.14 ^65.15 ^65.16 ^65.17 ^65.18 ^65.19 ^65.20 ^65.21 ^65.22 ^65.23 D. Murrow, Why Men Hate Going to Church (Thomas Nelson, 2005).
↑ E. Paulk, Satan Unmasked: Exposing the Work of Satan in the World Today (Dimension Publishers, 1984).
↑ P. W. Eaton, Engaging the Culture, Changing the World (IVP Academic , 2011).
↑ D. Barker, Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists (Ulysses Press, 2008).
↑ ^69.0 ^69.1 ^69.2 C. Hedges, American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America (Free Press, 2008).
↑ ^70.0 ^70.1 M. Shermer, Why People Believe Weird Things (W. H. Freeman & Co., 1997).
↑ S. Harris, The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason (W. W. Norton, 2005).

[.E2.80.9DLane.22-1] 1.00 ^1.01 ^1.02 ^1.03 ^1.04 ^1.05 ^1.06 ^1.07 ^1.08 ^1.09 ^1.10 ^1.11 ^1.12 ^1.13 B. Lane, Why Pastors Quit (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014)

[Monday-2] 2.00 ^2.01 ^2.02 ^2.03 ^2.04 ^2.05 ^2.06 ^2.07 ^2.08 ^2.09 ^2.10 ^2.11 ^2.12 ^2.13 ^2.14 ^2.15 ^2.16 ^2.17 ^2.18 ^2.19 ^2.20 ^2.21 ^2.22 ^2.23 ^2.24 ^2.25 ^2.26 ^2.27 ^2.28 G. L. McIntosh and R. L. Edmondson, It Only Hurts on Monday: Why Pastors Quit and What You Can Do About It (Churchsmart Resources, 1998).

[Rainer-3] 3.00 ^3.01 ^3.02 ^3.03 ^3.04 ^3.05 ^3.06 ^3.07 ^3.08 ^3.09 ^3.10 ^3.11 ^3.12 ^3.13 ^3.14 T. Rainer and S. S. Rainer III, The Essential Church (B&H Books, 2008).

[Carlin-4] 4.00 ^4.01 ^4.02 ^4.03 ^4.04 ^4.05 ^4.06 ^4.07 ^4.08 ^4.09 ^4.10 ^4.11 ^4.12 ^4.13 ^4.14 ^4.15 ^4.16 ^4.17 D. Carlin, The Decline and Fall of the Catholic Church in America (Sophia Institute Press, 2003).

[ClergyKillers-5] 5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 ^5.3 ^5.4 ^5.5 ^5.6 ^5.7 ^5.8 ^5.9 G. L. Rediger, Clergy Killers: Guidance for Pastors and Congregations and Under Attack (Westminster John Knox Press,1997).

[5Killers-6] 6.0 ^6.1 ^6.2 ^6.3 ^6.4 ^6.5 ^6.6 ^6.7 ^6.8 ^6.9 C. Stone, Five Ministry Killers and How to Defeat Them (Bethany House Publishers, 2011).

[Wickman-7] 7.00 ^7.01 ^7.02 ^7.03 ^7.04 ^7.05 ^7.06 ^7.07 ^7.08 ^7.09 ^7.10 ^7.11 C. A. Wickman, Pastors at Risk (Morgan James Faith, 2014).

[Ministry_Burnout-8] 8.00 ^8.01 ^8.02 ^8.03 ^8.04 ^8.05 ^8.06 ^8.07 ^8.08 ^8.09 ^8.10 ^8.11 ^8.12 ^8.13 ^8.14 ^8.15 ^8.16 ^8.17 ^8.18 ^8.19 ^8.20 ^8.21 J. A. Sanford, Ministry Burnout (Westminster John Knox Press, 1992).

[MCD-9] 9.00 ^9.01 ^9.02 ^9.03 ^9.04 ^9.05 ^9.06 ^9.07 ^9.08 ^9.09 ^9.10 ^9.11 ^9.12 ^9.13 ^9.14 ^9.15 ^9.16 ^9.17 ^9.18 ^9.19 ^9.20 ^9.21 ^9.22 ^9.23 ^9.24 ^9.25 ^9.26 ^9.27 ^9.28 ^9.29 ^9.30 ^9.31 ^9.32 ^9.33 ^9.34 A. M. Miller, Mad Church Disease: Healing from Church Burnout (Oh, Those Millers!, Inc., 2014).

[Dickerson-10] 10.0 ^10.1 ^10.2 ^10.3 ^10.4 ^10.5 ^10.6 J. S. Dickerson, The Great Evangelical Recession (Baker Books, 2008).

[Melville-11] A. Melville, "The Secret Sins of the Sanctuary," in The Book Your Church Doesn't Want You to Read (Truth Seeker Company, Inc., 1993).

[Olshine-12] 12.0 ^12.1 D. Olshine, Youth Ministry: What's Gone Wrong (Abingdon Press, 2013).

[White-13] 13.0 ^13.1 ^13.2 ^13.3 ^13.4 J. D. White, Burnout Busters: Stress Management for Ministry (Our Sunday Visitor, 2007)

[Lehr-14] 14.0 ^14.1 ^14.2 F. Lehr, Clergy Burnout: Recovering from the 70-Hour Week... and Other Self-Defeating Practices (Augsburg Books, 2005).

[Lewis-15] S. Lewis, Elmer Gantry (Dell Publishing, 1960).

[Balk-16] 16.0 ^16.1 A. Balk, The Religion Business (John Knox Press, 1968).

[Cox-17] 17.00 ^17.01 ^17.02 ^17.03 ^17.04 ^17.05 ^17.06 ^17.07 ^17.08 ^17.09 ^17.10 ^17.11 ^17.12 H. Cox, The Secular City: Secularization and Urbanization in Theological Perspective (Princeton University Press, 2013).

[Futurecast-18] 18.0 ^18.1 ^18.2 ^18.3 G. Barna, Futurecast (BarnaBooks, 2011).

[Blaker-19] 19.00 ^19.01 ^19.02 ^19.03 ^19.04 ^19.05 ^19.06 ^19.07 ^19.08 ^19.09 ^19.10 ^19.11 ^19.12 ^19.13 ^19.14 ^19.15 ^19.16 ^19.17 ^19.18 K. Blaker, The Fundamentals of Extremism: The Christian Right in America (New Boston Books, 2003).

[Roose-20] 20.0 ^20.1 ^20.2 K. Roose, The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University (Grand Central Publishing, 2010).

[Ham-21] 21.0 ^21.1 ^21.2 K. Ham, B. Beemer, and T. Hillard, Already Gone: Why Your Kids Will Quit Church and What You Can Do to Stop It (Master Books, 2009).

[Gravedigger-22] 22.0 ^22.1 ^22.2 ^22.3 ^22.4 ^22.5 ^22.6 ^22.7 ^22.8 ^22.9 O. Guinness, The Gravedigger Files: Papers on the Subversion of the Modern Church (Intervarsity Press, 1983).

[McKown-23] 23.0 ^23.1 D. McKown, "Born-Again Student Meets Secular Professor," in The Book Your Church Doesn't Want You to Read (Truth Seeker Company, Inc., 1993).

[Lambs-24] 24.0 ^24.1 ^24.2 ^24.3 ^24.4 ^24.5 ^24.6 ^24.7 ^24.8 ^24.9 J. Michaelsen, Like Lambs to the Slaughter (Harvest House Publishing, 1989).

[Russell-Not-25] 25.0 ^25.1 ^25.2 ^25.3 B. Russell, edited by P. Edwards, Why I Am Not a Christian (Touchstone, 1967).

[Oswald-26] 26.0 ^26.1 R. M. Oswald, Clergy Self-Care: Finding a Balance for Effective Ministry (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1995).

[Qualben-27] J. Qualben, Peace in the Parish (Langmarc Publications, 1992).

[Autopsy-28] 28.0 ^28.1 T. S. Rainer, Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive (B&H Books, 2014).

[29] Hartford Institute for Religion Research, Fast Facts About American Religion, [Online]. Available: http://hirr.hartsem.edu/research/fastfacts/fast_facts.html. [Accessed 1 FEB 2017].

[Gladwell-30] M. Gladwell, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (Back Bay Books, 2002).

[Dean-31] 31.0 ^31.1 ^31.2 ^31.3 ^31.4 ^31.5 K. C. Dean, Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church (Oxford University Press, 2010).

[YouLostMe-32] 32.00 ^32.01 ^32.02 ^32.03 ^32.04 ^32.05 ^32.06 ^32.07 ^32.08 ^32.09 ^32.10 ^32.11 ^32.12 ^32.13 ^32.14 ^32.15 ^32.16 ^32.17 ^32.18 D. Kinnaman and A. Hawkins, You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church... and Rethinking Faith (Baker Books, 2016).

[Graffin-33] G. Graffin and S. Olson, Anarchy Evolution: Faith, Science, and Bad Religion in a World Without God (Harper Perennial, 2011).

[Dyck-34] 34.0 ^34.1 ^34.2 ^34.3 ^34.4 ^34.5 ^34.6 D. Dyck, Generation Ex-Christian (Moody Publishers, 2010).

[Leedom-35] 35.0 ^35.1 ^35.2 ^35.3 T. C. Leedom, The Book Your Church Doesn't Want You to Read (Truth Seeker Company, Inc., 1993).

[SoulSearching-36] 36.0 ^36.1 C. Smith, Soul Searching (Oxford University Press, 2005).

[McDowell-37] 37.0 ^37.1 ^37.2 ^37.3 J. McDowell, The Last Christian Generation (Baker Books, 2006).

[Stark-38] 38.0 ^38.1 D. Stark, Reaching Millennials (Bethany House Publishers, 2016).

[NewAtheism-39] 39.0 ^39.1 ^39.2 V. J. Stenger, The New Atheism: Taking a Stand for Science and Reason (Oxford Prometheus Books, 2009)

[Ferguson-40] D. Ferguson and J. Ferguson, Exponential: How You and Your Friends Can Start a Missional Church Movement (Zondervan, 2010).

[Zuckerman-41] 41.0 ^41.1 P. Zuckerman, Living the Secular Life (Penguin Press, 2014).

[Wicker-42] 42.0 ^42.1 ^42.2 C. Wicker, The Fall of the Evangelical Nation (HarperOne, 2008).

[TwilightIdols-43] F. Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols: or How to Philosophize with a Hammer (Oxford Paperbacks, 1998).

[Bivins-44] 44.0 ^44.1 ^44.2 ^44.3 ^44.4 J. C. Bivins, Religion of Fear: The Politics of Horror in Conservative Evangelicalism (Oxford University Press, 2008).

[Brown-45] 45.0 ^45.1 ^45.2 ^45.3 ^45.4 ^45.5 ^45.6 R. Brown, Prepare for War (Whitaker House, 1992).

[Ryder-46] D. Ryder, Breaking the Circle of Satanic Ritual Abuse: Recognizing and Recovering from the Hidden Trauma (Compcare Publications, 1992).

[SatanicPanic-47] 47.0 ^47.1 ^47.2 J. S. Victor, Satanic Panic: The Creation of a Contemporary Legend (Open Court Publishing Company, 1993).

[LordsOfChaos-48] 48.0 ^48.1 ^48.2 M. Moynihan and D. Søderlind, Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground (Feral House, 2003).

[Moore-49] 49.0 ^49.1 R. L. Moore, Selling God: American Religion in the Marketplace of Culture (Oxford University Press, 1995).

[Stevens-50] 50.0 ^50.1 ^50.2 T. Stevens, Pop Goes the Church (Power Publishing, 2008).

[D._Kimball-51] 51.0 ^51.1 D. Kimball, They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations (Zondervan, 2007).

[unChristian-52] 52.00 ^52.01 ^52.02 ^52.03 ^52.04 ^52.05 ^52.06 ^52.07 ^52.08 ^52.09 ^52.10 ^52.11 D. Kinnaman and G. Lyons, unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity… and Why it Matters (Baker Books, 2012).

[Onfrey-53] M. Onfrey, In Defense of Atheism: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam (Penguin Canada, 2008).

[Becker-54] H. Becker and H. E. Barnes, Social Thought from Lore to Science, vol. 1. (Dover Publications, 1961).

[Harrison-55] 55.0 ^55.1 ^55.2 ^55.3 ^55.4 ^55.5 G. P. Harrison, 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian (Prometheus Books, 2013).

[Hitchens-56] C. Hitchens, God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (Twelve, 2009).

[Russell-Believe-57] B. Russell, What I Believe (Routledge, 2004).

[Jones-58] R. P. Jones, The End of White Christian America (Simon & Schuster, 2016).

[Emergent-59] K. Deyoung and T. Kluck, Why We're Not Emergent (Moody Publishers, 2008).

[Kennedy-60] D. J. Kennedy, Evangelism Explosion, 4th ed. (Tyndale House Publishing, 2002).

[Barker-61] D. Barker, Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist (Freedom from Religion Foundation, 1992).

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[Cohen-64] E. D. Cohen, Mind of the Bible-Believer (Prometheus Books, 1988).

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[Shermer-70] 70.0 ^70.1 M. Shermer, Why People Believe Weird Things (W. H. Freeman & Co., 1997).

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v t e Smiting Shepherds

Warning!	• Be Aware of the Potential Consequences!

Strategic Assessment	• The Church's Strengths • The Church's Weaknesses

Methodology	• Our Strategy

Points of Contention	• The Nature of God • The Book of Genesis • The Life of Moses • The Life of Christ • The Nature of Christ • The Biblical Narrative • The Christian Lifestyle • Minor Points of Contention

Arguments for God	• Cosmological Argument • Teleological Argument (Intelligent Design) • Pascal's Wager • Ontological Argument • Argument from Common Consent • There are Souls and/or the “Spark of Life” • Argument from the Idea of God • Argument from Miracles • Argument from Beauty • Preventing Totalitarianism

Arguments Against God	• Problem of Evil • Omnipotence and Omniscience Arguments • All the Arguments for God are Weak • Creationism is False • There is no Afterlife • Hell does not Exist • The Bible is not Credible • Religious Pluralism • The Clergy are not Moral Exemplars

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-The church’s greatest weakness is that it requires priests.
+[[File:weakness.png|center]]
-While we have previously discussed their many strengths, advantages, and abilities, it is interesting that most pastors are in precarious situations. Essentially, they are being set up to fail, and do so at astonishing rates. The great majority of pastors will have short careers. Only 10% of pastors will make it to retirement, and (depending on the survey) 50-80% of ministers won’t last 5 years [1], and surveys show that this has been a constant, ongoing trend since 1975. The average Protestant priest (of any denomination) will, on average, only last for 2.5 years before quitting, and there is no evidence that this will change [2].  As of 2001, the average tenure of an American pastor (of all faiths, sects, and denominations) was 3.8 years. 50% priests report that they want to quit, and only remain priests simply because they have no other means to make a living [1]. In particular, the Catholic Church has suffered greatly from a want of vocations as demonstrated by the following: [3]
+Despite their many [[The_Church%27s_Strengths|strengths and advantages]], most pastors are in precarious situations. Essentially, they are being set up to fail, and do so at astonishing rates. '''The great majority of pastors will have short careers.''' Only 10% of pastors will last until retirement, and 50-80% of ministers won’t last 5 years<ref name=”Lane">B. Lane, ''Why Pastors Quit'' (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014) </ref> -- and surveys indicate that this has been a consistent, ongoing trend since 1975. The average Protestant priest (of any denomination) quits after an average of 2.5 years, and there is no evidence that this will change.<ref name="Monday"> G. L. McIntosh and R. L. Edmondson, ''It Only Hurts on Monday: Why Pastors Quit and What You Can Do About It'' (Churchsmart Resources, 1998).</ref> As of 2001, the average tenure of an American pastor (of all faiths, sects, and denominations) was 3.8 years. Only 40% of church employees feel that they have any real impact on their community or the world itself,<ref name="Rainer">T. Rainer and S. S. Rainer III, ''The Essential Church'' (B&H Books, 2008).</ref> and '''50% priests report that they want to quit, yet remain priests simply because they have no other way to make a living.'''<ref name=”Lane"></ref> In particular, the Catholic Church has suffered greatly from a want of vocations: <ref name="Carlin">D. Carlin, ''The Decline and Fall of the Catholic Church in America'' (Sophia Institute Press, 2003).</ref>
-•	Between 1965 and 2002, the number of Catholic priests in the US dropped 22%, from 59,000 to 46,000.
+*Between 1965 and 2002, the population of Catholic priests in the US dropped 22%, from 59,000 to 46,000.
-•	In 1965, the number of ordinations exceeded the number of priests lost through death and departure, for a net gain of 725 American Catholic priests. In 1998, death and departures increased to such a degree that there was a net loss of 810 priests that year.
+*In 1965, the number of ordinations exceeded the number of priests lost through death or departure, for a net gain of 725 priests. In 1998, ordinations dropped and deaths or departures increased to such a degree that there was a net loss of 810 priests that year.
-•	In 1965, 3% of churches had no resident priest; in 2002, it was 15%.
+*In 1965, 3% of churches had no resident priest; in 2002, it was 15%.
-•	In 1965, there were 7.87 diocesan priests per 10,000 Catholics. In 2002, this number decreased to 4.6, a decline of 41%.
+*In 1965, there were 7.87 diocesan priests per 10,000 Catholics. In 2002, this number decreased to 4.6, a 41% decline.
-•	As of 1999, there are more diocesan priests in the 80-84 age group than in the 30-34 age group.
+*In 1999, there number of diocesan priests in the 80-84 age group exceeded the number of priest in the 30-34 age group.
-•	In 1965, there were 49,000 seminarians in the US; in 2002, there were only 4,700 -- despite an additional 20 million Catholics entering the US.
+*In 1965, there were 49,000 seminarians in the US; in 2002, there were only 4,700 -- a 90.4% decrease -- despite a population increase of 20 million Catholics.
-•	In 1965, there were 180,000 nuns in the US. By 2002, there were 75,500 -- and half of them were over age 75.
+*In 1965, there were 180,000 nuns in the US. By 2002, there were 75,500 -- half of whom were over age 75.
-As a result, American pastors are quitting at a rate of 1,500-1,700 per month [1], despite having no other means of supporting themselves [1]. There are many, many more
+{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin-left: 10px;"
-Reasons Why Pastors Quit [4]
+!colspan="2"|Reasons Why Pastors Quit<ref name="ClergyKillers">G. L. Rediger, ''Clergy Killers:  Guidance for Pastors and Congregations and Under Attack'' (Westminster John Knox Press,1997).</ref>
+|-
+|Personality conflicts
+|43%
+|-.
+|Conflicting long-term goals
+|17%
+|-
+|Financially strained congregations
+| style="text-align:right;"|7%
+|-
+|Theological differences
+| style="text-align:right;"|5%
+|-
+|Moral wrongdoings
+| style="text-align:right;"|5%
+|-
+|Unrealistic expectations
+| style="text-align:right;"|4%
+|-
+|Other reasons
+|19%
+|-
+|}
-Personality conflicts	43%
+As a result, '''American pastors are quitting at a rate of 1,500-1,700 per month, despite having no other means of supporting themselves.'''<ref name=”Lane"></ref> There are many, many more pastors who want to leave their posts, but cannot due to the social stigmas they would face. It is difficult for clergy to leave the ministry and pursue another vocation without owing people explanations or apologies. Former priests are assumed to have:<ref name=”Lane"></ref>
-Conflicting long-term goals	17%
+*Committed a terrible sin, leading to their firing or resignation.
-Financially strained congregations	7%
+*Been too weak to handle the pressure.
-Theological differences	5%
+*Rejected their “true” calling for secular work.
-Moral malfeasance	5%
+In addition to priests who quit, many priests will be fired by their own congregations.  Between 23% <ref name="5Killers">C. Stone, ''Five Ministry Killers and How to Defeat Them'' (Bethany House Publishers, 2011). </ref> and 50%<ref name="Wickman"> C. A. Wickman, ''Pastors at Risk'' (Morgan James Faith, 2014).</ref> of pastors will experience a forced termination, and 91% of pastors know a pastor who has. <ref name="5Killers"></ref> These terminations are usially brought on by the actions of 3-4 of their parish’s leaders.<ref name="Wickman"></ref> Many of these clergymen will apply to become the pastors of a different church; for most of them, this is the only lifestyle they knew. Among those who are forced out 29% will take 10-15 months to find their new positions, and 40% never will.<ref name="Wickman"></ref> However, 25% of these re-employed pastors failed to grow, learn, or correct their bad habits after their ordeal, so they will eventually fail at their new church.<ref name="Wickman"></ref> As a result, pastors with fifteen years of experience often have only three years of experience, five times over.<ref name="Monday"></ref>
-Unrealistic expectations	4%
-Other	19%
-pastors who want to leave their posts, but cannot due to the social stigmas they would face.  It is difficult for clergy to leave the ministry to pursue another vocation without owing people explanations or apologies. Former priests are assumed to have: [1]
-•	Committed a terrible sin, leading to their firing or resignation.
-•	Been too weak to handle the pressure.
-•	Rejected their “true” calling for secular work.
-In addition to priests who quit, many are fired by their own congregations. 23% of pastors will experience a forced termination, and 91% of pastors know a pastor who has [5]. Many of these clergymen apply to become pastors at different churches, since for many, this is the only lifestyle that they know. However, since they did not have an opportunity to grow, learn, or correct their bad habits, so they will fail again somewhere else. As a result, a pastor with 15 years of experience often has only 3 years of experience, 5 times over [2].
+Priests are severely weakened by [[The_Church%27s_Weaknesses#Burnout|burnout]], [[The_Church%27s_Weaknesses#The_Indifference_of_Youth|indifferent]] or [[The_Church%27s_Weaknesses#Hostile_Parishioners|hostile congregations]], the [[The_Church%27s_Weaknesses#Churches_Create_a_Alienating_Environment|alienating environments]] they create for themselves, [[The_Church%27s_Weaknesses#Spiritual_Dilution|spiritual dilution]], [[The_Church%27s_Weaknesses#Reliance_on_the_Bible|over-reliance on the Bible]], their personal perception as [[The_Church%27s_Weaknesses#The_Clergy_are_.22Unmanly.22|being unmanly]], and the [[The_Church%27s_Weaknesses#Difficult_Theological_Problems_are_Piling_Up|difficult questions they keep ignoring]].
-Priests are severely weakened by burnout, indifferent or hostile congregations, and spiritual dilution.
+== Burnout ==
-________________________________________
+Burnout has always plagued the clergy; not even Paul was safe from its effects (2COR 1:8). Despite their special relationship with the divine and its unearthly power, clergymen are mortals who are susceptible to all human frailties. It particular, relatively few pastors can withstand their job stress. Most of the clergy’s work-related problems cannot be outsourced or delegated to others -- they are personal issues, which the priest must face alone. Because of this, the clergy are more prone to burnout (15%) than the general population (8-12%).<ref name="ClergyKillers"></ref>
- BURNOUT
-	The problem of burnout has always been a plague on Christian clergy; not even Paul was safe from its effects [2COR 1:8]. Despite their claims to access the divine and its unearthly power, clergymen are still mortals, and are therefore susceptible to all human frailties. It particular, relatively few pastors are capable of withstanding their job stress. Most of the clergy’s work-related problems cannot be outsourced or delegated to others -- they are personal issues, which the priest must face alone. Because of this, the clergy are more prone to burnout (15%) than the general population (8-12%) [4].
-	Burnout is technical term, used in forestry. Severe forest fires char the humus, rendering the soil infertile and unnourishing; the gutted forest cannot renew itself. Analogous to this is psychological burnout, which is caused when a person becomes exhausted with their major life activity to the point of malfunction [6].  Symptoms include:
-•	Insomnia. [6] [7]
-•	Weight loss/gain. [6] [7]
-•	Loss of appetite. [6]
-•	Headaches. [6] [7]
-•	Gastrointestinal trouble. [6]
-•	Chronic fatigue. Sleep cannot repair this, and vacations only temporarily alleviate it. [6]
-•	Persistent low-level depression [6], as a result of mourning the death of their hope and ideals [7]. 70% of priests suffer from depression [1].
-•	Nagging boredom. [6]
-•	Angry and/or resentful outbursts. [6] [7]
-•	Spiritual emptiness (i.e., a lack of desire to pray or study scriptures) [7]
-•	Avoiding accountable relationships [7]
-•	Negativity [7]
-•	Cynicism [7]
-•	Paranoia [7]
-•	Lack of self-worth [7]
-•	Lack of satisfaction from achievements [7]
-•	Anxiety/worry [7]
-•	Panic attacks [7]
-•	Use of vice as a form of escapism [7]
-•	A craving for isolation and seclusion, leading to a withdrawal from friends and family. [7]
-•	Social anxiety. [7]
-Often pastors will burn out several times before quitting or getting fired. Each bout of despair is eventually met with a rededication and commitment to push themselves harder, which only sets them up on a downward spiral [7]. The clergy burnout for a number of interrelated and overlapping reasons:
+"Burnout" is a jargon term used in forestry. Severe forest fires char the humus, and the gutted forest cannot renew itself in the infertile soil. Analogous to this is psychological burnout, when a person becomes exhausted with their major life activity to the point of malfunction.<ref name="Ministry Burnout">J. A. Sanford, ''Ministry Burnout'' (Westminster John Knox Press, 1992).</ref> Symptoms of this “erosion of the soul”<ref name="Wickman"></ref> include:
-Overwork. Pastors confuse their ministry with their identity, and lose their sense of self; they literally become their job [1]. The perceived importance and responsibility of their work, and its eternal consequences, causes priests to work harder or longer than they should. There is no real way to gauge how many hours they work, or when they are “on the clock;” priests are always on-call. [2] This is why 90% of pastors work between 55-75 hours per week. Despite this, 50% of pastors still feel unable to meet the demands of their job [1], or to even meet its most basic criterion of being a “holy man” -- the average pastor only prays for 39 minutes per day, and 15% of pastors prays for < 15 minutes a day [7].
+*Chronic fatigue. Sleep cannot repair this, and vacations only temporarily alleviate it. <ref name="Ministry Burnout"></ref> 90% of pastors are frequently fatigued a weekly and/or daily basis.
+*Persistent low-level depression,<ref name="Ministry Burnout"></ref> from mourning the death of their hopes and ideals.<ref name="MCD"> A. M. Miller, ''Mad Church Disease:   Healing from Church Burnout'' (Oh, Those Millers!, Inc., 2014).</ref> 70% of priests suffer from depression.<ref name=”Lane"></ref>
+*Insomnia.<ref name="Ministry Burnout"></ref> <ref name="MCD"></ref> 62% of clergy only sleep for 5-6 hours per night.<ref name="Wickman"></ref>
+*Weight loss/gain.<ref name="Ministry Burnout"></ref> <ref name="MCD"></ref>
+*Loss of appetite.<ref name="Ministry Burnout"></ref>
+*Headaches.<ref name="Ministry Burnout"></ref> <ref name="MCD"></ref>
+*Gastrointestinal trouble.<ref name="Ministry Burnout"></ref>
+*Nagging boredom.<ref name="Ministry Burnout"></ref>
+*Angry and/or resentful outbursts.<ref name="Ministry Burnout"></ref> <ref name="MCD"></ref>
+*Spiritual emptiness (i.e., a lack of desire to pray or study scriptures).<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+**Only 26% of pastors maintain regular personal devotions and feel spiritually fed.<ref name=" Dickerson ">J. S. Dickerson, ''The Great Evangelical Recession'' (Baker Books, 2008). </ref>
+*Avoiding accountable relationships.<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+*Negativity.<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+*Cynicism.<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+*Paranoia.<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+*Lack of self-worth.<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+*Lack of satisfaction from achievements.<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXatoCG13tw Anxiety]/worry.<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+*Panic attacks.<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+*Vice, as a means of escapism.<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+**Alcoholism is prevalent among the Catholic clergy, since drinking is often the only legal and ecclesiastically acceptable way to dull the emotional pain and loneliness of celibacy imposes.<ref name="Melville">A. Melville, "The Secret Sins of the Sanctuary," in The Book Your Church Doesn't Want You to Read (Truth Seeker Company, Inc., 1993).</ref>
+*A craving for isolation and seclusion, leading to a withdrawal from friends and family.<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+*Social anxiety.<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+**Isolation and loneliness are different from aloneness, because you can feel lonely in a crowd. Loneliness is a feeling of seclusion and separateness, sometimes accompanied by feelings of abandonment, rejection, and insecurity.<ref name="Wickman"></ref>
-Since priests typically do not have formal job descriptions, they become overloaded with tasks. This is compounded by the fact that fatigue compromises efficiency, causing those who work longer hours to accomplish less. Many clergy will work even longer hours to make up for this lost productivity, only to establish a vicious circle that leaves them ragged and unaccomplished. The many long nights eventually take their toll on the clergyman; inadequate sleep strongly correlates with depression, anxiety, and other emotional problems [8] [9] [2].
+Note that all of these symptoms are part of the human condition to some degree; only the persistence of these symptoms is  problematic.<ref name="Olshine">D. Olshine, Youth Ministry: What's Gone Wrong (Abingdon Press, 2013).</ref> '''Pastors will often burnout several times before quitting or getting fired.''' Each bout of despair is eventually countered with a re-dedication and commitment to push themselves harder, fueling their downward spiral.<ref name="MCD"></ref> The clergy burnout for a number of interrelated and overlapping reasons:
-The end result is that priests have difficulty renewing themselves, because they have little leisure time to do so. Since there is always something going on, their rest is often disturbed, and any interruption in relaxation forces them to start relaxing all over again [6].
+===Overwork===
+Pastors confuse their ministry with their identity, and lose their sense of self; they literally become their job.<ref name=”Lane"></ref> The perceived importance, responsibility, and eternal consequences of their tasks causes priests to work harder or longer than they should. There is no real way to gauge how much time priests spend “on the clock” since they are always on-call.<ref name="Monday"></ref> This is why '''90% of pastors report working 55-75 hours per week, and 80% of pastors take no days off.<ref name="Wickman"></ref> Despite this, 50% of pastors still feel unable to meet their job demands''',<ref name=”Lane"></ref> or to even meet its most basic criterion of "being a holy man" -- the average pastor only prays for 39 minutes per day, and 15% of pastors pray for <15 minutes a day.<ref name="MCD"></ref>
-•	Lack of Closure. Ministry produces no tangible products. Carpenters can take pride in completed houses, and doctors can see patients improve.  Priests, however, face an endless, Sisyphean cycle of masses, weddings funerals, crises, holidays, sick people, etc. A minister’s job is endlessly repetitive and never done. Holidays come and go, and masses take on the same form. One sick person dies, only to be replaced by another.
+Priests become overloaded with tasks, since they typically lack formal job descriptions. Fatigue compromises efficiency, so working longer hours to compensate actually accomplishes less. This leads many clergy to work even longer hours to make up for these productivity losses, but this turns the vicious circle, leaving them ragged and unaccomplished. These [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xArmqniFiJ8 long nights] eventually take their toll on the clergyman; inadequate sleep strongly correlates with depression, anxiety, and other emotional problems.<ref name="Monday"></ref><ref name="White"> J. D. White, ''Burnout Busters:  Stress Management for Ministry'' (Our Sunday Visitor, 2007)</ref><ref name="Lehr"> F. Lehr, ''Clergy Burnout:  Recovering from the 70-Hour Week... and Other Self-Defeating Practices'' (Augsburg Books, 2005).</ref>
+Overworked priests are unable to renew themselves, because they have little leisure time to do so. Since there is always something going on, their rest is often disturbed, and interrupting relaxation requires starting over again.<ref name="Ministry Burnout"></ref> Constantly burning the midnight oil soon leaves them with no oil.<ref name="Olshine"></ref>
-The clergy exists to maintain traditions; so there is never anything new or changing about their job. This lack of creativity leads to boredom and exhaustion once the novelty wears off. A pastor can guide their flocks for months or years without knowing if they have moved them spiritually.
+A pastor’s work is rarely acknowledged because they mostly work alone, and typical parishioners have no idea how pastors spend that time. Even if a pastor has a group of staff members, those helpers usually work independently on their own tasks.  Most fallen pastors suffered no catastrophic moral failure; they were undone by the cumulative effect of many small, unchecked failures.<ref name="Monday"></ref>
-“Of what value were doggerel hymns raggedly sung?  What value in sermons, when the congregation seemed not at all different from people who never heard sermons?  Were all ministers and all churches, Frank wondered, merely superstitious survivals, merely fire-insurance?"  -- From Elmer Gantry
+{{Quotebox|
+|width=38%
+|align=right
+|quote=Of what value were doggerel hymns raggedly sung?  What value in sermons, when the congregation seemed not at all different from people who never heard sermons?  Were all ministers and all churches, Frank wondered, merely superstitious survivals, merely fire-insurance?
+|source= Sinclair Lewis<ref name="Lewis"> S. Lewis, ''Elmer Gantry'' (Dell Publishing, 1960).</ref>
+|}}
-The immaterial nature of priestly work provides no metric for the clergy to gauge their results. The need to see that they have created something of lasting value leads many clergy to obsess over capital building projects [6]. This ongoing thirst for legacy is a persistent trend that is not confined to any one denomination. ( At one point, 10% of all American charitable giving was spent building church facilities. As a result, churches owned more land than the five largest corporations combined [10].)
+=== Lack of Closure ===
+Ministry produces no tangible products. Carpenters can take pride in completed houses, and doctors can see patients improve. The clergy exists to maintain traditions; there is never anything new or changing in their job. Priests face an endless, Sisyphean cycle of masses, weddings funerals, crises, holidays, sick people, etc. One sick person dies, only to be replaced by another. A minister’s job is endlessly repetitive and never done. Holidays come and go, and masses take on the same form. This lack of creativity leads to boredom and exhaustion once the novelty wears off.
-Pastors have accountability issues because they work alone most of the time, and most parishioners, and leaders, have no idea how they spend that time.  Even when there is a group of staff members, they work independently on their own tasks. Most pastors make no large moral failures, but many small ones that go unchecked, each one pushing the boundary a little further. Flaws are overlooked until catastrophic failure. [2]
+The immaterial nature of priestly work provides no metric for the clergy to gauge their results; a pastor can guide their flocks for months or years without knowing if they have been moved spiritually. There are several reasons for this:<ref name="Monday"></ref>
+#The effects of pastoral work are mostly indirect. Administration and programs play a role in spiritual development, but it is unclear how.
+#Many factors which control a church's success or failure are outside of the clergy's control.
+#Expectations and success criteria vary from church to church; there is no standard for measurement.
+The need to create something of lasting value leads many clergy to obsess over building projects.<ref name="Ministry Burnout"></ref> This ongoing thirst for legacy is a persistent trend which is not confined to any one denomination; 10% of all American charitable giving has been spent building church facilities, leading churches to own more land than the five largest corporations combined.<ref name="Balk"> A. Balk, ''The Religion Business'' (John Knox Press, 1968).</ref> When a pastor begins to feel that they have little to no effect on their world, they begin to detach from the decision-making process; they develop feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and feelings of benign resignation, since “that’s the way it goes.” The resulting powerlessness is a precursor to weariness, anger, and despair.<ref name="Wickman"></ref>
-Three factors that make pastoral success undefinable:
+===Unsustainable Image===
-.	Much of a pastor’s work has an indirect effect. Programs and administration play a role in spiritual development, but it’s not clear what or how.
+'''Clergy serve in the holy office of the ministry; it is the office that is holy, not the person.'''<ref name="Cox"> H. Cox, ''The Secular City:  Secularization and Urbanization in Theological Perspective'' (Princeton University Press, 2013).</ref> Regardless, people have unrealistic assumptions and expect clergymen to be extraordinarily gifted and holy. Priests are expected to be great teachers, pastors, counselors, financial wizards, and maintainers of the old traditions. Clergy are expected to possess and use all of these talents to call on their parishioners and the sick; attend community events and social functions; to champion the poor and the fight for civil rights; and to serve as a personal counselor and advisor to anyone who asks. No one has the power, talent, or energy to meet all of these expectations. However,  priests must constantly fight to meet these unrealistic demands, because the parishioners that pay the priest’s bills via tithing ultimately determine if the priest stay.<ref name="Ministry Burnout"></ref> Pastors were trained to live up to God’s expectations, and not the thousands of expectations their parishioners impose, which are mostly based on projections:<ref name="Wickman"></ref>
-.	Much of makes a church succeed or fail is outside their control.
+*Current pastors are always discussed in comparison to the previous pastors, especially regarding their knowledge and/or ability to meet parish-specific unwritten social rules and expectations.
-.	Expectations and success criteria vary from church to church, so there is no standard to measure success by. [2]
+*A charisma matching megachurch pastors and/or television ministries is expected from mediocre small-church pastors, who cannot compete because they are literally in a different league.
-•	Unsustainable Image. Clergy serve in the holy office of ministry; it is the office that is holy, not the person [11]. Regardless, people have unrealistic expectations and assumptions of clergymen as being extraordinarily gifted and holy. Priests are expected to be a great teachers, pastors, counselors, financial wizards, and maintainers of the old traditions. Clergy are expected to possess and use all of these talents to call on their parishioners and the sick; attend community events and social functions; to champion the poor and for civil rights; and to be a personal counselor and advisor to anyone who asks. No one has the power, talent, or energy to meet all of these expectations; yet the priest must constant fight to meet these unrealistic demands, because the parishioners hold power over them. It is the parishioners, via tithing, who pay the priest’s bills -- and in some denominations -- determine if they stay [6].
+Image issues are a root cause of overwork. Since clergy exist to serve God and man, denying any request is perceived as selfishness, leading to inadequate rest or leisure. This problem is compounded by the common misconception that priests only work a few days a week. People have great expectations of the clergy, and will react extremely negatively to any of their pastor’s failures or mistakes. This causes priests to live in cultivated personas, hiding their true selves under a metaphorical mask. Priests are expected to be a sort of third gender which is asexual, sinless, and shielded from corrupting influences; they are paid not to have problems of their own.<ref name="Monday"></ref> Priests must constantly look and act the part to everyone; they cannot appear tired or unhappy in public. Wearing this mask requires great energy and generates lots of negative feelings; this creates a need to further mask themselves, establishing a vicious circle. Eventually, the priest loses touch with their true selves, resulting in an identity crisis, or it reduces them to a bland, humorous, and unlikable plastic caricature.<ref name="Ministry Burnout"></ref> Humor and lightheartedness are notoriously difficult for clergymen, since their role requires solemnity, dignity, decorum, and piousness -- all of which exclude humor, by definition.<ref name="ClergyKillers"></ref> As such, 70% of pastors claim to have a poor self-image as a direct result of their career.<ref name="Cox"></ref>
-Image issues are a root cause of overwork. Since clergy exist to serve God and their fellow man, the denial of any request -- especially to make time for rest and leisure -- is perceived as selfishness. This problem is compounded by the misconception among the laity that priests only work a few days a week. People have great expectations of the clergy, and will react extremely negatively to any of their pastor’s failures or mistakes. This causes priests to live in cultivated personas, hiding their true selves under a metaphorical mask. Priests are expected to be a sort of third gender, asexual and sinless, shielded from the world’s corrupting influences; they are paid with the unrealistic expectation of not having problems of their own [2]. Priests must constantly look and act the part to everyone; they cannot appear tired or unhappy in public. Wearing this mask requires great energy and generates lots of negative feelings; this requires the priest to mask themselves further, establishing a vicious circle. Eventually, the priest loses touch with their true selves, and they will either suffer an identity crisis; or they will reduce themselves to a bland, humorous, and unlikable plastic caricature [6]. Humor and lightheartedness are notoriously difficult for clergymen, since their role requires solemnity, dignity, decorum, and piousness, all of which exclude humor, by definition [4]. As such, 70% of pastors claim to have a poor self-image as a direct result of their time as a pastor [11].
+Defending one’s image is to defend the ego, and a ministering person cannot serve both God and their own egocentricity. The problem of the persona strikes at the heart of spiritual development. Jesus' main focus was not against stealing, sexual sins, or even violence -- it was against hypocrisy (i.e., identification with a false persona which prevents one from being genuine or real). While this was intended as a direct attack against the Pharisees, Christ also issued this teaching as a general blanket statement. Since parishioners require clergymen to assume a persona, priests are in constant danger of losing themselves. This is especially damning because creativity is a product of the real self, and catering to the ego is to abandon one’s creative gifts.<ref name="Ministry Burnout"></ref>
-However, to defend one’s image and perception is to cater to and defend the ego, and a ministering person cannot serve both God and his egocentricity. The problem posed by the persona is the most important, for it strikes at the heart of spiritual development. The main attack Jesus made on the evils of his time was not against stealing, sexual sins, or even violence, but against hypocrisy (i.e., identification with a false persona that prevents one from being genuine or real). While this attack was focused at the Pharisees, Christ issued this as a general blanket statement that lead to Christ making many enemies, who in turn, crucified him. Since the ministering person functions in a role in which she is handed a persona by the persons she serves, they are constantly in danger of losing themselves. This is especially damning because creativity is a product of the real self; to cater to the ego is to abandon one’s creative gifts [6].
+===Lack of Support Networks===
+Pastors are essentially professional Christians. Since they spend much of their time at work, most of their friends are congregation members -- so their social life is their profession. Since most people are not clergy, they don't understand what their job entails, and the clergy lacks a common ground with their community members. This sharply contrasts with restaurant workers or tradesmen, whose common plights allow deep friendships to quickly form with coworkers and competitors alike. A pastor's professional and personal lives are further complicated because they often live and work in the communities which they support,<ref name="White"></ref> so priests can never "cut loose."<ref name="Monday"></ref>
-•	Lack of Support Networks. Pastors are essentially professional Christians. Since they spend so much time at work, most of their friends are the other congregation members -- their social life is their profession. Since most people are not clergy, and are thus unable to understand what their job entails. The clergy lacks common ground with the members of their community. This sharply contrasts with restaurant workers or tradesmen, whose common plights allow them to quickly form deep friendships with coworkers and competitors alike. Their professional and personal lives are further complicated by the fact that the clergy often live and work in the communities which they try to support [8], so priests can never “cut loose [2].”
+Because of this, 70% of pastors report having no close friends.<ref name=”Lane"></ref> <ref name="Cox"></ref> While priests are expected to be friends to everyone, few are people are friends to them. This is because no one feels comfortable about “letting their hair down” in front of a priest, and because priests are frequently called upon to love intrinsically unlovable people.<ref name="Monday"></ref> Without ordinary human relationships, people will become disconnected from their darker sides and become humorless, plastic caricatures of people.<ref name="Ministry Burnout"></ref> This isolation results in subjectivity, which in turn leads to self-pity and poor decisions. The self-pitying perspectives born from isolation often breed further isolation and greater self-pity; creating a vicious circle.<ref name="Monday"></ref>
-Because of this, 70% of pastors report that they have no close friends [1] [11]. While priests are expected to be friends to everyone, few are people are friends to them because no one feels comfortable about “letting their hair down” in front of a priest, and because priests are frequently called upon to love intrinsically unlovable people [2]. Without ordinary human relationships, people will become disconnected from their darker sides and become humorless, plastic caricatures of people [6]. This isolation results in subjectivity, which in turn leads to self-pity and poor decisions. The self-pitying perspectives born from isolation often breeds further isolation and greater self-pity; creating a vicious circle [2].
+Without close friends, no one can give priests honest feedback and constructive criticism. As a result, priests have little accountability, and they cannot see their weakness or blind spots. Accountability is the only defense against mediocrity. '''Most parishioners won’t hold priests accountable for their actions, out of politeness or other social obligation.''' Without corrective criticism, priests will never reach excellence, because [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect they will think they have already achieved it]. Pastors will lose satisfaction in their work from the lack of challenge, and the church will suffer from their poor performance.<ref name="Monday"></ref>
-Without close friends, there is no one to give priests honest feedback and constructive criticism; as a result, priests have little accountability, and they cannot see their weakness or blind spots. Accountability is the only defense against mediocrity. Most parishioners won’t hold priests accountable, either out of politeness or other social obligation. Without corrective criticism, a priest will never reach excellence, because they will think they have already achieved it. The priest will lose satisfaction in their work, since it no longer provides a challenge, and the church will also suffer from their poor performance. [2]
+===Inadequate Training ===
+Despite the fact that >50% of pastors have master’s degrees, and 10% have doctorates,<ref name="Monday"></ref> '''90% of pastors feel that they were inadequately trained,'''<ref name=”Lane"></ref><ref name="Cox"></ref> '''to the point where 50% of pastors feel they are unable to meet their job demands'''.<ref name="Cox"></ref> This is because pastors must serve two masters -- they must be both spiritual teachers and corporate administrators.<ref name="White"></ref>
-•	Inadequate Training.  Despite the fact that over 50% of pastors have Master’s degrees, and 10% have doctorates [2], 90% of pastors feel that ministry was nothing like they imagined it to be [1], and they were inadequately trained [1] [11], to the point where 50% of pastors feel that they are unable to meet their job demands [11]. This is because a pastor has to perform several disparate job functions -- a spiritual counsellor/teacher, and corporate administrator level. They must serve two masters [10].
+While seminaries and bible colleges offer specialized clergy training, there is no “lab” or “practicum” component to these studies. Instead, they concentrate on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermeneutics hermeneutics], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homiletics homiletics], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liturgics liturgics], isagogics, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exegesis exegesis], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apologetics apologetics], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymnology hymnology], and classical languages (e.g., Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic). Few seminaries teach the skills needed for the actual day-to-day operations of a parish (e.g., accounting, psychology, project management) -- and even fewer cover these subjects in sufficient detail. Seminaries teach everything ''except'' what priests need, and much of what the clergy learns must be unlearned in order to succeed -- and the shock and frustration of this fact drives many pastors to quit. Seminaries teach how to be true to one’s faith, but not how to communicate that faith in a turbulent world. Seminaries resist change to avoid the inevitable theological implications of change -- but as a result, they prepare their students for a long-forgotten Victorian world.<ref name="Monday"></ref>
-While seminaries and bible colleges offer specialized training for clergy, there is no “lab” or “practicum” component to their studies. Instead, they concentrate on hermeneutics, chrestomathy, pericopes, exegesis, homiletics, liturgics, isagogics, apologetics, hymnology, and classical languages (e.g., Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic). Few seminaries teach the skills which are critical to the actual day-to-day operations of a parish (e.g., accounting, psychology, project management) -- and even fewer cover these subjects in sufficient detail. Seminaries teach everything except what a priest needs to know, and much of what they do learn must be unlearned in order to succeed -- and the shock and frustration of this drives many pastors to quit. A seminary education teaches how to be true to one’s faith, but not how to communicate that faith in a turbulent world.  Seminaries resist change and the inevitable theological implications of change -- but as a result, they prepare their students to face a long-forgotten Victorian world [2].
+The reformation which seminaries need to correct these issues is unlikely to occur any time soon. During the Great Recession of 2007-2010, cash-strapped parishes were forced to downsize thousands of seminary-trained pastors. This flooded the already-competitive parish priest market; the intensity of this competition led half of seminary graduates to enter parachurch options or to seek other career paths. This market shift caused bible college and seminary enrollments to drop by ~60%. Unlike secular universities, these schools receive no public funding, and they have smaller endowments (because their graduates make less money, they tend to donate less). 40% of the institutions comprising the Association of Theological Schools reported being “financially stressed,” i.e., only having a year’s worth of spendable assets. American seminaries have thus been forced to reduce programs, lay-off staff and instructors, decrease salaries and benefits, reorganize, merge, or close.<ref name="Futurecast">G. Barna, ''Futurecast'' (BarnaBooks, 2011). </ref>
-These issues are compounded by Christianity’s turbulent relationship with academia. While the churches founded the universities to train and educate their future leaders, this has historically backfired, as the exchange of ideas inevitably creates new heresies [12]. This aversion persists in the following forms:
+The clergy rarely turn to secular universities to address their training deficiencies, due in part to Christianity’s turbulent relationship with academia. While the churches originated the concept of universities for training their clerks and future leaders, this has historically backfired, as the exchange of ideas inevitably creates new heresies.<ref name="Blaker"> K. Blaker, ''The Fundamentals of Extremism:  The Christian Right in America'' (New Boston Books, 2003).</ref>
-•	The amount of religious training needed to become a priest comes at a considerable expense.  In the United States, parochial schools must charge exorbitant tuitions, since the government only funds secular schools [12]
-•	Religious schools tend to recruit subpar instructors, as the academic elite prefer to work for secular schools, where they are guaranteed freedom from church interference [12].
-•	Fundamentalists are discouraged from attending college, as they believe that higher education causes people to lose their faith [13]. Interestingly, this claim has no basis in reality. Among evangelicals, 90% of the twenty-somethings who de-converted did so prior to going to college; and 40% lost their faith before entering high school [14].
-•	There is a Christian tendency to view social science as subversive and morally compromising [15].
-•	Christianity has as long and stormy past with evolution, largely because of its strong parallels to Hinduism, and because it inspired Marxism [16].
-•	Christian (especially Catholic) theological arguments are based on Aristotelian logic, ignoring all of the advances in the field of logic since then [17].
-•	Christian homeschooling persists in the United States, despite its obvious shortcomings. Because Christian homeschooling is intrinsically nonconformist and individualized, there is no way to quantify its efficacy. No universal or random data samples can exist, so the performance of homeschoolers is intrinsically skewed because there is no norm to compare them too [13]. However:
-o	19% of homeschooling parents lack a high school diploma or GED, and only 10 states require that they have one. [13]
-o	Polling data indicates that choice of schooling (public, parochial, or homeschooling) has no correlation as to whether or not a child will leave their church [14].
-Stress-induced maladies.
+Contrary to popular belief, research has definitively proven that college does not cause deconversion; while 69% of college students between ages 18-22 stop attending church for at least one year, so do 71% of non-college attending 18-22 year olds. College does not cause young people to quit their churches -- that is the result of ineffective churches failing to instill spiritual habits. It’s easy for young adults to abandon their churches, and even faith itself, because it was never a real part of their lives to begin with.<ref name="Rainer"></ref> Nevertheless, academia remains a convenient scapegoat, and the Christian aversion to higher learning persists in the following forms:
-Burnout is not caused by stress and frustration, per se; it is caused by how one responds to stress and frustration [2]. 75% of pastors report going through a significant, ministry-related stress-induced crisis, and 40% of pastors have at least one serious conflict with a parishioner per month [11].
+*Formal religious training is considerably expensive. In the United States, religious schools must charge exorbitant tuition, since the government can only fund secular schools.<ref name="Blaker"></ref>
+*Religious schools tend to recruit subpar instructors. The academic elite prefer to work at secular schools, which can guarantee freedom from church interference.<ref name="Blaker"></ref>
+**[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_University Liberty University] went 30 years without granting tenure to ''anyone'', so that the administration could retain full control over ''all'' lesson material. <ref name="Roose"> K. Roose, ''The Unlikely Disciple:  A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University'' (Grand Central Publishing, 2010).</ref>
+*To preserve faith, seminary students often learn from cherry-picked anthologies and readers to prevent the divergence of thought that could arise from independently reading source materials.
+**For this reason, Liberty University had no library until their regional accreditation board mandated one.<ref name="Roose"></ref>
+*Fundamentalists are discouraged from attending college, as they believe that higher education causes people to lose their faith.<ref name="Ham"> K. Ham, B. Beemer, and T. Hillard, ''Already Gone:  Why Your Kids Will Quit Church and What You Can Do to Stop It'' (Master Books, 2009).</ref> Interestingly, this claim has no basis in reality. 90% of the evangelical twenty-somethings who deconverted did so ''before'' entering college; and ''40% lost their faith before entering high school''.<ref name="Gravedigger"> O. Guinness, ''The Gravedigger Files:  Papers on the Subversion of the Modern Church'' (Intervarsity Press, 1983).</ref>
+**The false notion of universities as liberal propaganda centers endures because much of critical thinking, general science, biology, psychology, prehistory, ancient history, biblical literature, linguistics (especially concerning the origins of language), philosophy (especially, ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of science) and physics (especially cosmology) directly contradict the conservative Christian worldview, which requires denigrating literacy, logic, and learning (1COR 1:20). Only foolish behavior leads to wisdom (1COR 3:18), since philosophy is vain (COL 2:8).<ref name="McKown">D. McKown, "Born-Again Student Meets Secular Professor," in ''The Book Your Church Doesn't Want You to Read'' (Truth Seeker Company, Inc., 1993).</ref>
+**Additionally, world literature challenges their perspectives. These include:<ref name="McKown"></ref>
+***Facts are not required to be interpreted religiously. Faith cannot answer questions; it can only satisfy the believer.
+***Science and history can proceed as modes of inquiry without assuming or relying on the divine purpose of human affairs. All cosmic and historical teleologies are optional.
+***The Bible is too [[Points_of_Contention|riddled with contradictions, misstatements, and conflicting interpretations]] to make any definitive claims, or be cited as decisive evidence.
+***Humans lack the criteria to needed determine divinely-engineered events from rare, unprecedented, or currently-unexplainable natural phenomena. Therefore, [[Argument_from_Miracles|miracles cannot be cited as evidence]]] because there is no criteria for determining what constitutes a miracle.
+*There is a Christian tendency to view social science as subversive and morally compromising.<ref name="Lambs"> J. Michaelsen, ''Like Lambs to the Slaughter'' (Harvest House Publishing, 1989).</ref>
+*Christianity has as [[Creationism_is_False|long and stormy past with evolution]], largely because of its strong parallels to Hinduism, and because Darwinism inspired Marxism.<ref name="Russell-Not"> B. Russell, edited by P. Edwards, ''Why I Am Not a Christian'' (Touchstone, 1967).</ref>
+*Christian (especially Catholic) theological arguments are based on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Term_logic Aristotelian logic], and ignore all of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_logic#Rise_of_modern_logic advances in that field].<ref name="Oswald"> R. M. Oswald, ''Clergy Self-Care:  Finding a Balance for Effective Ministry'' (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1995).</ref>
+*Christian homeschooling persists in the US, despite its obvious shortcomings. Because Christian homeschooling is intrinsically nonconformist and individualized, there is no way to quantify its efficacy. The performance of homeschoolers is intrinsically skewed because there is no basis for comparison.<ref name="Ham"></ref> However:
+**19% of homeschooling parents lack a high school diploma or GED, and only 10 states require them to do so.<ref name="Ham"></ref>
+**Polling data indicates that school choice (i.e., public, parochial, or homeschooling) does not correlate with deconversion.<ref name="Gravedigger"></ref>
-Excessive stress causes muscle tension, indigestion, headaches, and lowered immune function. Stress decreases productivity, since stress excites the limbic system and suppresses frontal lobe activity; emotions hinder problem-solving. Physically speaking, most pastors are train wrecks:
+===Stress-induced Maladies===
-•	Only 50% of pastors receive the recommended minimum amount of exercise (i.e., 30 minutes a day, thrice a week)  [7].
+Burnout is not caused by stress and frustration, ''per se''; it is caused by how ''one responds'' to stress and frustration.<ref name="Monday"></ref> 75% of pastors report going through a significant, ministry-related stress-induced crisis, and 40% of pastors have at least one serious conflict with a parishioner per month.<ref name="Cox"></ref>
-o	28% of pastors do not exercise at all [7].
-•	68-76% of pastors are overweight or obese, which is higher than the general population (61%) [11].
-o	15% of pastors are >50 lbs. overweight [7].
-•	~66% of pastors skip meals at least once a week.
-o	39% of pastors skip 3+ meals per week.
-•	88% of pastors eat fast food on a weekly basis.
-o	33% of pastors eat fast food 3+ times /week.
-•	~39% of pastors experience weekly digestive troubles [7].
-o	 14% of pastors experience digestive trouble 3+ times/week [7].
-•	Only 16% of the clergy gets enough sleep. [7].
-o	87% of clergy have insufficient sleep once a week [7].
-o	47% of clergy have insufficient sleep 3+ times/week [7].
-•	~60% of pastors feel that their jobs keep them away from their families [7].
-•	Interestingly, the youngest clergymen are the unhealthiest. This is likely due to the overwork needed further their careers and make name for themselves [7].
-•	Pastors are more likely to suffer from depression. (The exact figures vary greatly between surveys; between 16% [7] and 80% [5] of pastors are depressed, which is admittedly to much variation to draw a definitive conclusion; however, all of these surveys show that depression occurs more frequently in pastors than it does for the general population (~10%) [7].
-o	40% of pastors have occasional bouts of depression or are feel “worn out” [5].
-Not only are they [the clergy] not just taking care of themselves, but they often use a sort of eschatological fatalism or justify their lack of self-care. They feel that if they expend themselves completely in the Lord’s work, God will look after them -- body, mind, and spirit. Because their final goal is to be with the Lord, it’s alright to mortgage one’s body against this final eventuality [9].
+Excessive stress causes muscle tension, indigestion, headaches, and lowered immune function. Stress decreases productivity by exciting the limbic system and suppressing frontal lobe activity; this augments emotions and hinders problem-solving. Physically speaking, most pastors are train wrecks:
+*Only 50% of pastors receive the recommended minimum amount of exercise (i.e., 30 minutes, thrice a week).<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+**28% of pastors do not exercise at all.<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+*68-76% of pastors are overweight or obese, which is higher than the general population (61%).<ref name="Cox"></ref>
+**15% of pastors are >50 lbs. (~22.5 kg) overweight.<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+*~66% of pastors skip meals at least once per week.<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+**39% of pastors skip 3+ meals per week.<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+*88% of pastors eat fast food on a weekly basis.<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+**33% of pastors eat fast food 3+ times per week.<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+*~39% of pastors experience weekly digestive troubles.<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+**14% of pastors experience digestive trouble 3+ times per week.<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+*Only 16% of the clergy gets enough sleep.<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+**87% of clergy have insufficient sleep once per week.<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+**47% of clergy have insufficient sleep 3+ times per week.<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+*~60% of pastors feel that their jobs keep them away from their families.<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+*Interestingly, the youngest clergymen are the unhealthiest. This is likely due to the overwork needed further their careers and make names for themselves.<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+*Pastors are more likely to suffer from depression. The exact figures vary greatly between surveys; between 16%<ref name="MCD"></ref> and 80%<ref name="5Killers"></ref> of pastors are depressed. While this is too much variation to draw a definitive conclusion, all of these surveys agree that pastors suffer from depression far more than the general population does(~10%).<ref name="MCD"></ref>
+**40% of pastors have occasional bouts of depression or are feel “worn out.”<ref name="5Killers"></ref>
-These stress effects are compound by the effects they have on the priest’s family.  80% of pastors believe the ministry has a negative effect on their families, and 33% of pastors will clearly state that outright. 94% of minister’s wives, and 91% of their children feel they are under extra pressure; and 54% of the wives and 46% of the children strongly feel this way [11]. 10% of pastors will quit because their families cannot cope with these unwritten expectations [1].
+The clergy often use a sort of eschatological fatalism to justify their lack of self-care. They feel that if they expend themselves completely in the Lord’s work, God will look after them -- body, mind, and spirit. Because their final goal is to be with the Lord, it’s alright to mortgage one’s body against this final eventuality.<ref name="Lehr"></ref>
-•	Inadequate funding. The Church lives off of the capital and clout it earned in the Constantinian era, which has dwindled since then. The church lost its political power in 200 years of revolutions, lost its social position in the Enlightenment, and lost its psychological power by the worldliness of the modern age. As a result, Christianity limps along with its ancient metaphysical baggage, along with the egotistic notion of its own importance acquired from when it was still the empire’s official ideology [12].
+These stress effects are compounded by their effects on the priest’s family.  80% of pastors believe the ministry has a negative effect on their families, and 33% of pastors will clearly state this outright.  94% of minister’s wives, and 91% of their children feel they are under extra pressure; and 54% of the wives and 46% of the children strongly feel this way.<ref name="Cox"></ref> The resulting depression leads 80% of pastor’s children to seek professional help as adults.<ref name="Wickman"></ref>  95% of pastors say they would abandon their calling and seek another, if it would save their marriage,<ref name="Qualben">J. Qualben, ''Peace in the Parish'' (Langmarc Publications, 1992).</ref>  and 10% of the pastors who quit cite their inability to cope with unwritten expectations as their reason for leaving.<ref name=”Lane"></ref> 30-50% of clergy marriages end in divorce; while a pastor might avoid burnout, their wife might not because:<ref name="Wickman"></ref>
+*80% of pastor’s wives feel left out and unappreciated by their congregation.
+*80% of pastor’s wives feel wish their spouses chose a different profession.
+*80% of pastor’s wives feel pressured to do things and/or be someone they are not.
+*95% of pastors do not pray with their wives.
+*40% of pastors will enter inappropriate relationships with other women.
-As a result, pastors constantly struggle to stretch and optimize extremely limited resources, on both institutional and personal levels. Despite all of their tax advantages, most churches struggle to keep the lights on.  70% of typical church revenues go to overhead. This why churches are, at all times, either planning, engaged in, or wrapping up capital drives, in order to:
+===Inadequate Funding===
-.	Build an entirely “new, modern, and adequate church plant” at a recently acquired site
+Despite what was said [[The_Church%27s_Strengths#Capital|earlier]], the church manages to have little liquidity and dire cashflow problems. While religious institutions possess great wealth, it is tied up in investments and assets (i.e., real estate).  Christianity lives off of the dwindling capital and clout it earned in the Constantinian Era. Christianity lost its political power when the monarchs were overthrown, lost its social position in the Enlightenment, and lost its psychological power by the worldliness of the modern age. As a result, Christianity limps along with its ancient metaphysical baggage, and the egotistic notion of its own importance acquired from when it was the empire’s official ideology.<ref name="Blaker"></ref>
-.	Extensively renovating an existing facility, by installing a new organ, central AC, Sunday school facilities, and parking complexes
-.	Raising money for earlier multi-stage projects whose “last stage” has now arrived [10].
-The average American church only consists of 85-100 people [2], there is a small pool of capital for churches to draw upon. This is why less than half of even the most liberal churches are able to engage in charity of any kind -- and this figure includes even the simplest things, like having children collect pennies for the poor [5]. This is why:
+As a result, pastors constantly struggle to stretch and optimize extremely limited resources, on both institutional and personal levels. Despite all of their tax advantages, most churches struggle to keep the lights on. '''70% of typical church revenues go to overhead.''' This why churches are always planning, engaged in, or wrapping up capital drives, in order to:<ref name="Balk"></ref>
-•	80-85% of US churches are plateauing or declining [2], and 100,000 churches are caught in death spirals [18].
+#Build an entirely “new, modern, and adequate church plant” at a recently acquired site.
-•	Churches are closing at a rate of ~2800/year [1, 2]. Based on the approximation of 350,000 churches in the US [19] and assuming a linear continuation of this trend, American religion will be completely extinct by 2135. However, since linear trends are often confused for the beginning of exponential trends [20], this extinction date could come sooner, and at ever-accelerating rate.
+#Extensively renovating an existing facility; e.g., by installing a new organ, central air conditioning, Sunday school facilities, and/or parking complexes.
-•	$14.8 million (adjusted for inflation) dissolved church property is either given away annually [2]. Many dissolved churches are forced to sell their buildings, where they are converted into condominiums [CITATION!] town halls (Auburn, NH) and dōjōs (Bedford, NH) [14].
+#Raising money for earlier multi-stage projects whose “last stage” has now arrived.
-•	The outflow of worshippers greatly exceeds the inflow. The majority of the “inflow” is actually “recirculation” -- most of the new churchgoers are not converts; they are existing Christians who have come from other churches [2].
-In addition to these institutional-level struggles, pastors also equally struggle on a personal level.
+While modern megachurches and elegant cathedrals convey the image of Christianity’s earthly power and influence, this exemplar role conceals a harsh truth -- 99% of all churches are not megachurches.<ref name="Futurecast"></ref> The average American church only has 85-100 parishioners,<ref name="Monday"></ref> and a total annual operating budget of $165,000. On average, American Christians donate roughly $1,000 per year to churches. However, that statistic is skewed by wealthy parishioners who make large donations to buy their community’s admiration. '''The median American donates about $100 per year to their church, so half of Americans donate ''less'' than that.'''<ref name="Futurecast"></ref> This is why less than half of churches are capable of engaging in charity of ''any'' kind -- and this figure includes even the simplest things, like having children collect pennies for the poor.<ref name="5Killers"></ref> This is why:
-% of pastors feel grossly underpaid, and 30% of pastors will quit for this reason, because priests make less than garbagemen [1].
+*80-85% of US churches are plateauing or declining,<ref name="Monday"></ref> and 100,000 churches are "caught in death spirals."<ref name="Autopsy"> T. S. Rainer, ''Autopsy of a Deceased Church:  12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive'' (B&H Books, 2014).</ref>
+*Churches are closing at a rate of ~2,800 per year.<ref name=”Lane"></ref><ref name="Monday"></ref> Based on the approximation of 350,000 churches in the US<ref>Hartford Institute for Religion Research, ''Fast Facts About American Religion'', [Online]. Available: http://hirr.hartsem.edu/research/fastfacts/fast_facts.html. [Accessed 1 FEB 2017].</ref> and assuming a linear extrapolation, religion in the US will be completely extinct by 2135 CE. However, since linear trends are often confused for the beginning of exponential trends,<ref name="Gladwell"> M. Gladwell, ''The Tipping Point:  How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference'' (Back Bay Books, 2002).</ref> this extinction date could come sooner, and at an ever-accelerating rate.
+*$14.8 million (adjusted for inflation) worth of dissolved church property is either sold or given away annually.<ref name="Monday"></ref> Many dissolved churches are forced to sell their buildings, where they are converted into town halls (Auburn, NH) and dōjōs (Bedford, NH).<ref name="Gravedigger"></ref>
+*The outflow of worshipers greatly exceeds the inflow. The majority of the “inflow” is actually “re-circulation” -- most new churchgoers ''are not'' converts; they are existing Christians who have recently quit some other church.<ref name="Monday"></ref>
-Additionally, many priests must pay “the costs of employment” (e.g., Social Security, insurance, retirement, etc.) out-of-pocket, and this can comprise as much as 40% of their salary, since the self-employed must pay Social Security tax at a higher rate. Granted, these costs are usually factored into their salaries, but this gives a false impression of how much pastors really earn. The most experienced pastors still make a median salary that is 30% more than a new priest, and much less than other professionals.  1 in 8 priests work two jobs. Cost-of-living increases do not keep up with inflation, giving them less purchasing power each year. Many priest wind up on government assistance programs, like food stamps. The wives’ of priests have a cultural expectation to do lots of unpaid volunteer work for the church, which is not factored into the pastor’s compensation package. The church essentially hires a pastoral couple, which is typically forced into a single-income lifestyle [2].
+In addition to these institutional-level struggles, pastors also equally struggle on a personal level. 70% of pastors feel grossly underpaid, and 30% of pastors will quit for this reason, because '''priests make less than garbagemen'''.<ref name=”Lane"></ref> Many priests must pay “the costs of employment” (e.g., Social Security, insurance, retirement, etc.) out-of-pocket; this can comprise as much as 40% of their salary, since the self-employed must pay Social Security tax at a higher rate. Granted, these costs are usually factored into their salaries, but this still gives a false impression of how much pastors really earn. The most experienced pastors make a median salary which is 30% more than a new priest, and much less than other professionals. 1 in 8 priests work two jobs. Cost-of-living increases do not keep up with inflation, giving priests less purchasing power each year. Many priests wind up on government assistance programs (e.g., food stamps, etc.). The wives of priests have a cultural expectation to do lots of unpaid volunteer work for the church, which is not factored into the pastor’s compensation package. The church essentially hires a pastoral couple, which is forced into a single-income lifestyle.<ref name="Monday"></ref>
-________________________________________
-The Indifference of Youth.
-Like all cultures and institutions, Christianity is always one generation away from evaporation [14], since every generation of teenagers is essentially a “barbarian invasion;” they must be domesticated, they will overthrow society. Strangely though, most religious communities face no problem with teenage rebellion. Instead, they are being overwhelmed by teenage apathy [21].
+== The Indifference of Youth ==
+Like all cultures and institutions, Christianity is always one generation away from evaporation,<ref name="Gravedigger"></ref> since every wave of teenagers is essentially a “barbarian invasion” which must be domesticated before they overthrow society. Strangely, most religious communities face no problem with teenage rebellion. Instead, they are overwhelmed by ''teenage apathy''.<ref name="Dean"> K. C. Dean, ''Almost Christian:  What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church'' (Oxford University Press, 2010).</ref>
-Faith played a large role in daily life in the past, largely because Western culture was engineered to cultivate Christian faith through community, church, religious indoctrination, public schools (which had Bible reading), nuclear families, and popular entertainment (which was somewhat based on a biblical worldview). These power structures have since eroded [22], leading to our current “post-Christian era,” where Christianity still exists, no longer plays a significant role in the shaping of our culture. Many of the old ways were not designed for such a counterculture era, as they were born out of a time of Christian dominance (or at least of favored status). Church services are now merely a temporary respite from one’s daily burdens, where one can feel safety and a holy presence [11]. Churches, by nature, are having difficulty adapting to a changing world because they exist to resist change, and reinforce this with: [2]
+Faith once played a large role in daily life, largely because Western culture was engineered to cultivate Christianity through community-wide religious indoctrination (e.g., mandatory Bible readings in public schools; nuclear families; popular entertainment based on a biblical worldview). These power structures have eroded,<ref name="YouLostMe"> D. Kinnaman and A. Hawkins, ''You Lost Me:  Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church... and Rethinking Faith'' (Baker Books, 2016).</ref> leading to our current “post-Christian era,” where Christianity still exists, but plays no significant role in shaping our culture. Many of the old ways were created in a time of Christian dominance (or at least of favored status), and they cannot counter the counterculture. Church services are now a temporary respite from daily burdens, where one can experience safety and a holy presence.<ref name="Cox"></ref> '''Churches, by nature, are having difficulty adapting to a changing world because they exist to resist change''', and reinforce this with:<ref name="Monday"></ref>
-•	A confusion of form with function, leading to a focus on the institution, rather than its reason-for-being.
+*Confusing form with function, leading to a focus on the institution, rather than its reason-for-being.
-•	A socially self-perpetuating nature.
+*A socially self-perpetuating nature.
-•	A tendency to yield to minority rule.
+*A tendency to yield to minority rule.
-•	Excessive reverence for “yesterday’s innovators.”
+*Excessive reverence for “yesterday’s innovators.”
-•	Risk-aversion / the unwillingness to suffer pain.
+*Risk-aversion, and the unwillingness to suffer pain.
-As such, the church is seen as irrelevant. This is a result of hypocrisy, inflexibility in the face of cultural change, and a general “watering-down” of the religion itself to attract new members. This is especially true for young people.  47% of US teens feel that the church is irrelevant. While 50% of young people regularly attend church, it is mostly because they enjoy the music, because there is no correlation between church attendance and devotion. Many young people who go to church only do so out of social obligation or force-of-habit [14]. The theological foundations of even the most faithful youth are at risk because: [22]
+% of US teens feel that the church is irrelevant due to its hypocrisy, inflexibility in a changing culture, and its “watering itself down” to attract new members. While 50% of young people regularly attend church, this is mostly because they enjoy the music. '''There is no correlation between church attendance and devotion. Many of the young people who go to church only do so out of social obligation or force-of-habit.'''<ref name="Gravedigger"></ref> The theological foundations of even the most faithful youth are at risk because:<ref name="YouLostMe"></ref>
-•	They are skeptical about the original biblical manuscripts.
+*They are [[The_Bible_is_not_Credible|skeptical about the original biblical manuscripts]].
-•	They read the Bible through the lens of pluralism.
+*They read the Bible through the lens of [[Religious_Pluralism|pluralism]].
-•	Changing media behaviors and shorter attention spans make Scripture a less effective medium.
+*Changing media behaviors and shorter attention spans make scripture a less effective medium.
-•	They are less convinced of scripture’s commands for obedience.
+*They are less convinced of scripture’s commands for obedience.
-•	Secular culture interferes with religious commitments and obligations.
+*Secular culture interferes with religious commitments and obligations.
-•	Questions of the role that faith plays in politics, sexuality, science, media, technology, etc. are usually framed in a way that makes faith irrelevant.
+*Questions regarding the role which faith plays in politics, sexuality, science, media, technology, etc. are usually framed in a way that makes faith irrelevant.
-•	Youth today have more religiously diverse friends.
+*Modern youths have more religiously diverse friends.
-•	Even the biggest-names Christian leaders of earlier generations (i.e., Fulton Sheen) are unknown to the vast majority of today’s Christians.
+*Clergymen are seen as interchangeable and disposable. Even the most popular and influential Christian leaders within living memory (i.e., [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulton_J._Sheen Fulton Sheen]) are unknown to the vast majority of modern Christians.
-•	Young adults consult the internet long before consulting their pastors.
+*Young people will consult the internet long before consulting their pastors.
-•	Relativism (“What’s true for you might not be true for me”) is more-or-less an accepted cultural norm.
+*Relativism (i.e., “what’s right for you might not be right for me”) is more-or-less an accepted cultural norm.
-•	Peers serve as moral and spiritual compasses.
+*Peers serve as moral and spiritual compasses.
-•	Young Christians are exposed to a variety of religious content with no means of evaluating it.
+*Young Christians are exposed to a variety of religious content with no means of evaluating it.
-•	Young people are interested in exploring spirituality on their own terms.
+*Young people are interested in exploring spirituality on their own terms.
-o	It should be noted that many of the people calming to be “spiritual” are just use the term as a dodge, as they don’t want to open their beliefs to scrutiny [23].
+**It should be noted that many people claim to be “spiritual” as a dodge, since they don’t want to open their beliefs to scrutiny.<ref name="Graffin"> G. Graffin and S. Olson, ''Anarchy Evolution:  Faith, Science, and Bad Religion in a World Without God'' (Harper Perennial, 2011).</ref>
-This trend is unlikely to end in the near future, as fewer than 20% of twenty-somethings regularly attend mass. 61% of American twenty-somethings were churchgoers as teens, but they have since become spiritually disengaged, (i.e., they do not actively attending a church, read the Bible, or pray). While 51% of twenty-somethings attend mass as “CEOs” (Christmas-Easter Only) to meet their family obligations, over 30% of twenty-somethings report that the thought of attending mass never crosses their mind. This may be to the fact that they were never introduced to faith, as 19% of twenty-somethings were never reached by the Christian community during their upbringing [14].
+This trend is unlikely to end in the near future, as <20% of twenty-somethings regularly attend mass. 61% of American twenty-somethings were churchgoers as teens, but became "spiritually disengaged" (i.e., they do not actively attend a church, read the Bible, or pray). While 65% of American youth make a commitment to Jesus Christ at some point in their lives, only 3% of youths actually hold a biblical worldview.<ref name="Dyck"> D. Dyck, ''Generation Ex-Christian'' (Moody Publishers, 2010).</ref>  This is due in part, to the fact that '''6% of Americans can’t remember when they last read the Bible, and 24% of Americans have ''never'' read the Bible.'''<ref name="Leedom">T. C. Leedom, ''The Book Your Church Doesn't Want You to Read'' (Truth Seeker Company, Inc., 1993).</ref> While 51% of twenty-somethings attend mass as “CEOs” (Christmas-Easter Only) to meet their family obligations, >30% of twenty-somethings report that attending mass never crosses their mind. Many were never introduced to faith, since '''19% of twenty-somethings were never reached by the Christian community during their upbringing'''.<ref name="Gravedigger"></ref>
-The National Study of Youth Religion (NSYR) Study from 2002-2005 highlighted a number of other interesting/disturbing trends: [21]
+The National Study of Youth Religion (NSYR) Study from 2002-2005 highlighted a number of other interesting/disturbing trends:<ref name="Dean"></ref>
-•	Most American teenagers have a positive view of religion -- but only because they don’t give it much thought. They don’t approve per se; they are simply too indifferent to be hostile.
+*Most American teenagers have a positive view of religion -- but only because they don’t give it much thought. They don’t approve ''per se''; they are simply too indifferent to be hostile.
-•	Most US teens simply mirror their parent’s faith.
+*Most US teens simply mirror their parent’s faith.
-•	Teenagers are severely lacking the theological language needed to express their faith or interpret their experiences.
+*Religious education in America is so shoddy that teens simply lack the theological language skills necessary to discuss religious feelings or issues.
-o	Teens don’t talk about religion because religious education in America is so shoddy that they simply don’t know how to talk about religious feelings or issues.
+**Church attendance ''does not'' correlate with improved theological language skills.
-o	Church attendance does not correlate with improved theological language skills.
+**Teens don’t see faith as being too deep for words, but as to vapid to require its own jargon.
-o	Teens don’t see faith as being too deep for words, but as to vapid to require its own jargon.
+*A significant minority (8%) of American teenagers feel that faith is both important, and that faith makes a difference in their lives. These teenagers are doing objectively better in life when compared to their less-religious peers, according to several metrics. However, it should be noted that:
-•	A significant minority (8%) of American teenagers say that religious faith is both important and that it makes a difference in their lives. While these teenagers are objectively doing better in life when compared to their less-religious peers, based on a number of metrics, it should be noted that:
+**Participating in ''any'' identity-bearing community -- religious or otherwise -- improves a young person’s likelihood to thrive.
-o	Participating in any identity-bearing community, religious or otherwise, improves a young person’s likelihood to thrive.
+**While religious teens seem to do better by every metric, this is an ''effect'', and not a ''cause''. Uninvolved or deadbeat parents don’t think to take their kids to church. Not attending church won’t make a kid a delinquent; but being a delinquent will make them not want to go to church.<ref name="SoulSearching"> C. Smith, ''Soul Searching'' (Oxford University Press, 2005).</ref>
-o	Religion frequently anesthetizes young people into compliance, which is mainly responsible for their “doing well.” For the most part, compliance is all that is asked of teenagers, and those who are “doing well” in a broad sense are usually just conforming to social norms.
+**Religion frequently anesthetizes young people into compliance. This is mainly responsible for their “doing well,” because compliance is all that is asked of teenagers, and “doing well” in a broad sense usually just means conforming to social norms.
-	It should be noted that compliance with social norms occasionally contravenes with religious teachings, which is why these 8% who are “doing well” are often have reputations as troublemakers within their spiritual community.
+***Compliance with social norms occasionally violates religious teachings, which is why the 8% who are “doing well” often have reputations as troublemakers within their spiritual community.
-o	These 8% view faith as a “way of life” rather than a “belief system.”
+**These 8% view faith as a “way of life” rather than a “belief system.”
-o	These high-devoted Christian teenagers have operationalized Christian hope as a generalized trust that God has the future under control, without showing much familiarity with (or interest in) traditional Christian teachings. Hope, for the most part, provided highly-devoted teenagers with a tool for dealing with present  problems -- which in turn gave them confidence that they had the tools necessary to face future hardships.
+**These high-devoted Christian teenagers have operationalized Christian hope as a generalized trust that God has the future under control, without showing much familiarity with (or interest in) traditional Christian teachings. Hope, for the most part, provides highly-devoted teenagers with a tool for dealing with present problems -- which in turn gave them confidence that they have the necessary tools for facing future hardships.
-•	When pressed about their faith, most of these teenagers are actually Moralistic Therapeutic Deists, and not Christians per se.
+*When pressed about their faith, most of these teenagers are actually [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moralistic_therapeutic_deism Moralistic Therapeutic Deists], and not Christians ''per se''.
-However, coupled to this is a much deeper problem -- it’s not that people aren’t going to church, it’s that droves of young people are abandoning the concept of religion altogether. There are as many reasons for de-conversion as there are de-converts, but the abandonment of faith typically stems from the church being perceived as:
+Unlike other generations, the current unchurched youth is unlikely to return when they age, because:<ref name="Leedom"></ref>
-.	Overprotective. Youth is coupled with an impulse towards creative and cultural engagement. They want to reimagine, rethink, and reinvent. Churches stifle creativity -- and with it, cultural relevance -- in favor of tradition. In particular: [22]
+#The youth deconversion rate has increased sixfold. Even if some percentage returns, this is still insufficient for most churches to remain solvent.
-a.	Christians demonize everything, and everyone, that is not explicitly labeled as Christian.
+#The turbulent, late-stage capitalist world keeps people from settling down.  Additionally, extending adolescence until the late 20’s gives people more time to experiment with new ideas before settling down.
-b.	Christians fear pop-culture; in particular, movies and music. Although they young Christians are told to fear “the world,” upon exploration, they typically find that it’s not so bad, and often better at explaining and expressing the human experience.
+#People are not having children until later in life. Typically, those who return to church only do so in order to be perceived as being good parents.
-i.	Movies were a disruptive technology to the religious establishment, as religious services were traditionally seen as a form of live theatre. Movies were easily portable and require no specific skills or education to watch. Movies have a wide appeal to all ages, genders, and social classes; they were cheap and profitable even after the expense of building theatres. Americans attended movie theatres weekly by the 1920s, mostly on Sundays.  The movie-going audiences were thrice that of all churchgoers in 1937, despite it being at the height of the Great Depression [24].
-ii.	Christians have historically feared popular music because it offers a venue for free expression. Limiting expression is crucial for controlling discourse [25]. While heavy metal, and its subgenres, are historically the Christian’s frequent target, their ire touches all genres.  For example, John Denver was once considered “Satanic,” for his claim that there was some degree of truth to every religion [26].
-c.	Many young Christians fail to establish a separation between the sacred and the secular.
-d.	Christians seek to preserve the status quo, they inadvertently drive out creative youths, as they search for venues for their talents and creative urges.
-.	Sheltered. Christians are thought of as being old-fashioned, boring, and out-of-touch with reality. This view is shared by ~66% of non-believers, as well as ~25% of churchgoing Christians [27].  Christians are seen as unable to respond to the grisliness of reality in appropriately complex ways, preferring simplistic solutions and answers [27] and assuming a rigid, black-or-white worldview [22], and are only able to communicate among themselves via a jargon designed to obfuscates communication with outsiders.
+The longer church attendance is interrupted or discontinued, the less likely that person will ever return to religious life.<ref name="Leedom"></ref> 60% of church dropouts >65 will not even consider returning to the church, whereas 60% of 18-35 year olds would consider returning if their friends asked them to.<ref name="Rainer"></ref>
-Christians enjoy being in their own community, even though the more they seclude themselves, the less they can function in the outside world [27]. To this end, many churches have refined denial into an artform, responding to harsh truths with the thought-terminating line “Don’t talk like that” as a means of escaping the pain that always comes coupled with the truth [11].  For this reason, Christians need to witness extreme, transparent, and blatant enmity before they can recognize their enemies for what they are. American Christians quickly became anti-Communist after watching the show trials and executions of clergymen. By contrast, it was not at all easy for German Christians to be anti-Nazi, since Hitler, who openly proclaimed himself to be anti-communist and anti-Jewish, did not openly proclaim himself to be anti-Christian. Thus, Christians found it easy to convince themselves, despite an enormous mass of evidence to the contrary, that Hitler and Nazism were not the enemies of their religion [3].
+==Churches Create an Alienating Environment==
+'''Young people aren't going to church because they are abandoning the concept of religion altogether.''' 73% of non-religious people were raised in religious homes;<ref name="Dyck"> D. Dyck, ''Generation Ex-Christian'' (Moody Publishers, 2010).</ref> the biggest danger to Christianity are the Christians themselves. '''In all, 11% of US Christians -- 1 in 9 -- will eventually deconvert.'''<ref name="YouLostMe"></ref> Among those who leave:
+*Intellectual skepticism was only responsible for 32% of deconversions.<ref name="McDowell">J. McDowell, ''The Last Christian Generation'' (Baker Books, 2006). </ref>
+**'''Most people abandoned their faith for emotional reasons, then later found intellectual reasons to rationalize their decision.'''<ref name="Dyck"></ref>
+*58% left due to pastor-related or church-related reasons.<ref name="Rainer"></ref>
+**15% directly cited the moral or ethical failure of church leaders as their reason for quitting. While scandals are a significant cause of attrition, their effect is overhyped.<ref name="Rainer"></ref>
+*52% of church dropouts left because they developed conflicting religious, ethical, or political beliefs.<ref name="Rainer"></ref>
+*97% of church dropouts left because of lifestyle changes.<ref name="Rainer"></ref>
+**Many churchgoers quit simply because they wanted to take a break. 70% of church dropouts saw church as a chore or time-waster, which made it the first item to eliminate when optimizing their to-do lists.<ref name="Rainer"></ref>
+*69% of church dropouts still consider the Bible to be important, but see churches as irrelevant. These people eventually to return to church life after having children, but as members of a different sect.<ref name="YouLostMe"></ref>  Among those who return:<ref name="Gravedigger"></ref>
+**24% of returners still do not believe; they just want to look like good parents.
+**7% of returners still do not believe; they only come because they like the music.
+**0% of those who returned did so because they missed going to Sunday school.
+**56% of returners said that their science classes led them to doubt the Bible.
+*31% of deconverts consider both the Bible and the church to be irrelevant.  These people will never return.<ref name="Gravedigger"></ref>
+**61% of deconverts regularly attended Sunday school. Their lack of faith was not the result of inadequate religious education; Sunday school simply has no impact on belief. If anything, Sunday school causes deconversions, since it only teaches on an inspirational or moral level.<ref name="Gravedigger"></ref>
-.	Shallow. Churches are boring, and only offering slogans and platitudes, rather than opportunities or young people to apply their individual gifts. According to a 2011 Barna Group survey, 23% of American Christians, ages 18-29 feel that the church does not help them find their purpose, or prepare them for life [22].
+Throughout the US, religion is on a downward trend by every metric, as demonstrated by the following facts:
+*80% of mainline denominations are dying, mostly due to mistreating outsiders with their polarizing rhetoric. <ref name="Stark"> D. Stark, ''Reaching Millennials'' (Bethany House Publishers, 2016). </ref>
+*Between 1978 and 2008, church membership dropped from 70% to 65% of the population.<ref name="NewAtheism"> V. J. Stenger, ''The New Atheism: Taking a Stand for Science and Reason'' (Oxford Prometheus Books, 2009)</ref> Bible literalists decreased from 40% to 30% of the population, and Bible skeptics grew from 10% to 20% of the population.
+*~25% of Americans actually attend mass on a typical Sunday.<ref name="NewAtheism"></ref>, and only 22% have a positive view of church.<ref name="Ferguson"> D. Ferguson and J. Ferguson, ''Exponential:  How You and Your Friends Can Start a Missional Church Movement'' (Zondervan, 2010). </ref>
+*50% of American churches did not convert a single person in 2009. <ref name="Zuckerman"> P. Zuckerman, ''Living the Secular Life'' (Penguin Press, 2014).</ref>
+*~33% of Americans who were raised Catholic will eventually stop identifying as being Catholic.<ref name="Zuckerman"></ref>
+*The Southern Baptists, the largest born-again sect, are baptizing at the same rate as they did 50 years ago, when the US population was half of what it is now.<ref name="NewAtheism"></ref>
+*This ecclesiastical decline is an international phenomenon. Only 6.3% of the UK population are regular churchgoers, and only 2.5% of the UK population participates in Bible-based worship.  The average British congregation consists of 84 people, despite a parishioner-to-parish ratio of 1340:1.<ref name="Gravedigger"></ref>
+*82% of Evangelical church leaders begrudgingly admit that their movement is losing steam.<ref name=" Dickerson"></ref>
+*The Evangelical church lost 10% of its population between 2003-2013, and actuarial tables indicate that the majority of American conservative Christians will die by 2030. Evangelicals will drop to only 4% of the population.<ref name="Dickerson"></ref>
+*Roughly 6,000 American Christians, and 1,000 Evangelicals, leave their faith each day.<ref name="Wicker"> C. Wicker, ''The Fall of the Evangelical Nation'' (HarperOne, 2008). </ref>
-.	Anti-science. A 2011 Barna Group survey of revealed that 25% of American Christians, ages 18-29, believe that their church is an anti-science organization; and 18% believe their church is an anti-intellectual organization. In particular, 23% of young Christians have been turned off by the creationists. This is especially critical, because 52% of young Christians wish to pursue science-related careers, and only 1% of youth pastors/workers ever address scientific issues [22].
+'''Many parishioners leave because they were never believers in the first place.''' The style, venue, programs, and locations of worship services are irrelevant because people don’t believe in the doctrine itself.<ref name="Rainer"></ref> While there are a number of growing churches, the majority of these “new” members are not converts; they are existing Christians who transferred to a new-to-them church. Most “growth” is actually “recirculation.”<ref name=" Dickerson "></ref> In general, church membership is a meaningless statistic since membership rolls are rarely verified or updated. Many members who have died, moved away, or joined new churches are still counted.<ref name="Rainer"></ref> 30% of the people in megachurch attendance figures are marginally committed to the church, and 10% are merely casual return visitors. Since these people attend infrequently and may also attend other megachurches, megachurch rosters are often 80-100% higher than their typical Sunday attendance. Megachurches receive little money or time from these people, but they help fill out the big crowds which define the church’s reputation. <ref name="Wicker"></ref> Please note that church attendance statistics are ''always'' overstated because:<ref name=" Dickerson "></ref>
+*Most religiosity polls are conducted by religious organizations seeking to improve their own self-image.
+*People tend to skew their survey responses to avoid feeling judged by the pollster. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect| This is a persistent problem in sociology and political science].
-Part of this is resistance is because science grants a better quality-of-life than anything the Bible could provide with its outdated work ethic. The Bible assumes that all work is toil and labor, and makes no provisions for jobs which are enjoyable or spiritually rewarding. The Bible makes no thought of efficiency, of doing more with less, or with labor-saving machines [12].
+There are as many reasons for deconversion as there are deconverts, but the abandonment of faith typically stems from perceiving the church as:
-Additionally, science trivializes much of the Bible’s most fantastic claims: When Jesus healed a leper, it was miraculous; but when the pharmaceutical industry cured every leper, it was merely business.
+===Overprotective===
+The notion of youth itself is coupled with impulses towards creative and cultural engagement. The young have a drive to reimagine, rethink, and reinvent. Churches stifle creativity in favor of tradition, and this stifles their own cultural relevance. Unwilling to simply preserve the ''status quo'', creative youths are inadvertently driven out for want of a venue for their creative talents and urges. In particular, Christians tend to demonize everything and everyone which is not explicitly labeled as Christian;<ref name="YouLostMe"></ref> '''the church castrates life to make itself look more appealing.'''<ref name="TwilightIdols">F. Nietzsche, ''Twilight of the Idols:  or How to Philosophize with a Hammer'' (Oxford Paperbacks, 1998).</ref> There is a Christian tendency to fear [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jrMoVWl5KA pop-culture], which is viewed as a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slippery_slope slippery slope] into [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lfgf9HatIHI vice], [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulPgWVC08KI homosexuality], abortion, DUI, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODV6mxVVRZk suicide], drunk driving, and general damnation.<ref name="Bivins"> J. C. Bivins, ''Religion of Fear:  The Politics of Horror in Conservative Evangelicalism'' (Oxford University Press, 2008).</ref>
-.	Repressive. Religious rules (especially sexual rules) stifle young people, and are seen as “tyrannical [22].” Activities and viewpoints that were on the fringe for Baby Boomers now define Generation X and the Millennials [27]. 21% of young people seek more freedom in life, and cannot find it in the church. 12% of young people cannot rectify the church’s desires with the world around them, forcing them to “live a double life [22].”
+As the Cold War ended, Americans collectively suffered an existential crisis once there were no longer any Soviets to demonize. Since most Americans defined themselves as being “not like them,” there was a desperate search for a new enemy -- a new “them” -- to fill this void. In the resulting “Culture War”<ref name="Blaker"></ref> many young Christians were told to fear “the world.” However, upon exploration, most of these youths found that [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=861auPCqqAk “the world” isn’t so bad], and it is often [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1ysoohV_zA better at explaining and expressing the human condition]. These experiences [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mud8PLSvrXk cast doubt] on every previous teaching, such as how:
+*Yoga, which was derived from Hindu practices, was branded as a “demonic doorway.”<ref name="Brown"></ref>
+*Passive forms of meditation (e.g., [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zazen ''zazen''], "zoning out"), are “Satanic” whereas Christian meditation is active (e.g., reading, memorizing, etc.).<ref name="Brown"></ref> Christianity encourages the constant performance of non-productive cognitive tasks as a means to prevent independent thought.
+*Martial arts were branded as "demonic," because the various stances and striking hand positions were interpreted as being [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudra ''mudra'']. Thus, martial arts are a ''de facto'' form of yoga,<ref name="Brown"></ref> as are its breathing methods, centering techniques, and Zen influences.<ref name="Lambs"></ref> A traditional Japanese dōjō includes cultural elements (e.g., bowing to the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamiza ''kamiza''], and to instructors) which are commonly confused with idolatry.<ref name="Brown"></ref>
+**One particularly-entertaining Christian author claimed to have been attacked by nunchaku-wielding Satanic martial artists. This is a dubious claim, since the event description indicated that the author had obviously ''never seen'' nunchaku before; they described “num-chucks [sic]” as being “a steel bar with steel balls on strings on each end.”<ref name="Ryder"> D. Ryder, ''Breaking the Circle of Satanic Ritual Abuse:  Recognizing and Recovering from the Hidden Trauma'' (Compcare Publications, 1992).</ref> Still, because the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja_in_popular_culture 1980s Ninja Craze] coincided with the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satanic_ritual_abuse Satanic Panic], the possession and use of nunchaku remains illegal in several US states.
+*Rock music (in all its forms and derivatives) was considered evil because it induced hypnotic trances through “mindless chants” and repetition,<ref name="Brown"></ref> even though this ignores how a repeating chorus defines the Western musical tradition. While Christians have historically targeted Metal music, their ire touches all genres. For example, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diwuu_r6GJE John Denver] was once considered “Satanic” for his claim that there was some degree of truth to every religion.<ref name="SatanicPanic"> J. S. Victor, ''Satanic Panic:  The Creation of a Contemporary Legend'' (Open Court Publishing Company, 1993).</ref> Billy Joel received repeated death threats for his [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERWREcPIoPA perceived anti-Catholicism].
+**Rock music claims are a high-value target, since it rapidly devolves into lunacy. Some of the funnier examples included how:
+***The entire rock genre is one “massive cult dedicated to” [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_(god) Pan], which is “[r]ooted in the Druid demon worship of Celtic England and baptized in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b07Z_qfchFk voodoo ceremonies] of Africa and the Caribbean.”
+***Rock music is powered by “Satan’s special beat,” which allegedly originated with Voodoo practitioners. The beat’s hypnotic power results in “an instant loss of two-thirds of...normal muscle strength” while similar weakening occurs “[a]bove a certain decibel level.”<ref name="Bivins"></ref>
+****"Satanic" elements have been an [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritone established part of Western music theory] since the 1700s. Fiddles were branded as “[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh7BZf7D5Bw the devil’s instrument]” in the 1800s, and 1920s jazz saxophonists were accused of playing the “[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaoLU6zKaws devil’s flute].”<ref name="Bivins"></ref>
+**Metal has borne most of the burden of Christian outrage, although this was largely [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwF9CDTWKfMby by design]:
+***The dress and décor of Metal musicians is deliberately silly and/or extreme, because concerts are a form of theatre.<ref name="LordsOfChaos">M. Moynihan and D. Søderlind, ''Lords of Chaos:  The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground'' (Feral House, 2003).</ref>
+***While the earliest Metal bands (e.g., [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u-qmfUFeXI Venom], [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wGs_tIRINU Coven], [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6_zsJ8KPP0 Slayer]) sung about Satan, this was just a gimmick which they stumbled into; they had no philosophy other than juvenile rebellion, which they achieved via blasphemy.<ref name="LordsOfChaos"></ref>
+****Christians frequently directed their attacks at [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qanF-91aJo Black Sabbath], and their original frontman, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4nI2V07X6k Ozzy Osbourne]. While their lyrics frequently mentioned the occult, they expressed [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lVdMbUx1_k a ''Christian-like fear of demons and sorcery''].<ref name="LordsOfChaos"></ref>
+****The Christian backlash against Metal music only promoted the genre's popularity by cementing its edgy, rebellious reputation.
+***Satanists and metal fans tend to exist as separate groups. The average Satanist is a creative, intelligent white male from an upper-middle class home,<ref name="Lambs"></ref> who rebels against his overly-restrictive, traditional, religious background and its emphasis on how the world is an evil place.  This differs from Metal music fans, who tend to be white [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNE8nbxEmm8 working-class teens with diminished opportunities] and no desire to attend college.<ref name="SatanicPanic "></ref>
+***It is interesting to note that the typical metal-denouncing Christian continues to cite information which is 30 years out of date. While Metal originated as a harder exaggeration of rock (i.e., louder, more distorted, intricate, and shocking),<ref name="SatanicPanic "></ref> the genre has exploded and splinted into hundreds of distinct subgenres.
+*Movies were considered a disruptive technology, since religious services are a form of live theatre. Movies are portable and require no specific skills or education to play. Movies have a wide appeal to all ages, genders, and social classes; they are cheap and profitable, even after the expense of building theatres. Americans attended movie theatres weekly by the 1920s, mostly on Sundays. The movie-going audiences were thrice that of all churchgoers in 1937, despite it being the height of the Great Depression.<ref name="Moore"> R. L. Moore, ''Selling God:  American Religion in the Marketplace of Culture'' (Oxford University Press, 1995).</ref>
+**[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Production_Code The Hays Code], which regulated early Hollywood, impeded the production of movies which could have addressed social issues. In particular, one of the greatest and most-honored films in cinematic history  -- De Sica's [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3jnzXX9mXs The Bicycle Thief] -- was nearly banned in the US for its non-explicit portrayals of public urination and the inside of a bordello.<ref name="Moore"></ref>
+**Christian scorn has been disproportionately focused on the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEB4QjM9uxg horror genre]. This is ironic, because it was the mundane tranquility and abundance which defined 1950s Christian America that fueled the demand for the genre, since there was no other way for audiences to express their [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq9IKsH9BXg Cold War anxieties].<ref name="Bivins"></ref>
+***Evangelical Christians make frequent use of horror (e.g., [http://www.chick.com/catalog/tractlist.asp?q=172&Language=English Chick Tracts], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell_house Hell Houses] and the ''Left Behind'' novels) to express their complicated experience of existing in a culture which feels politically and religiously embattled.<ref name="Bivins"></ref>
-This is especially true for young Catholics (18-29), 40% of whom [22] feel that the Catholic Church’s teachings on sexuality, which favor chastity over prudence [3], are out of date. No one leaves the Catholic Church because they reject the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception; it is usually due to other personal, and often sexually-motivated, reasons [22]. Catholics are forced to leave the church if they disagree with it, as they have no other means of recourse -- the Church is the very opposite of a democracy; it is an absolute monarchy, somewhat resembling the constitutional system of Louis XIV of France (“The state is me”) [3].
+The irony of Christian outrage is that is inadvertent free advertising for what they seek to suppress. '''Declaring something to be offensive to traditional values makes it a ''de facto'' counterculture element, making it seem edgy, dangerous, and/or cool. This is a variant of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect Streisand Effect] -- prohibiting or censoring information only creates an artificial demand for that information, which compels people to do things they would never otherwise consider, simply to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABhDiXbUaBE break the rules].'''
-As a result, Christians have become famous for what they oppose, rather than what they are for [27]. This outrage only further compromises Christian credibility, since the average American church only has varying degrees of influence over 85-100 people [2], which is too little power to persecute anyone for their perceived infractions [3]. As such, the worst that punishment that churches can ever inflict are empty threats which can be easily shrugged aside.
+Additionally, whatever parents try to shelter their children from becomes available when parents shift their focus to the next moral outrage. The author has met many Christians who cited the 1980s anti-[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yShqF1YSfDs D&D] crusade as proof of their ability to shape and influence pop culture. However, D&D is more popular than ever; every major bookstore has a section dedicated to this game. This fact went unnoticed for decades, since these moral crusaders were too busy campaigning against [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_40JRZmqTo Harry Potter] to notice.
-.	Exclusive. The current generation of young people was raised in a culture that embraced open-mindedness, tolerance, and acceptance [22]. Compounding this is the fact that pretty much every religion that has ever existed has made the same claims: “Our god or gods will protect and heal you if you pray to them and help support their priests.”  This is further complicated by the fact there is no way of proving or disproving any of these claims. (Faith cannot validate religious claims, because faith is not exclusive, and it can be used to equally validate any other religion. Likewise, miracles cannot be cited as evidence. Since most religions feature gods who can perform miracles, any unexplained phenomena can be used as a proof for most faiths.) Claiming that Christianity is the one, true faith is a hard sell -- even if one were to write off the rest of the world’s religions, one must still contend with the 41,000 denominations of Christianity [28].
+===Sheltered===
-Young people see Christians as obsessed with conveying an unreal, polished image; that the Church is only for virtuous and morally-pure people [27]. 22% of young people claim that the church is “like a country club, only for insiders” that “ignores the problems of the real world.” As such, 29% of young people feel forced to choose between their faith and their friends [22].
+Christians are perceived as being old-fashioned, boring, and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D00M2KZH1J0 out-of-touch] with reality.  Many American pastors don’t realize that they are essentially missionaries in a foreign land. They open churches without understanding the needs, language, and culture of those they wish to minister too.<ref name="Stevens"> T. Stevens, ''Pop Goes the Church'' (Power Publishing, 2008).</ref>  Most pastors are too busy inside their churches to know what’s going on outside the church. The clergy is divorced from the actual needs of young people, and this is why these priests can’t convert them with the old go-to methods of preaching and altar calls. <ref name="D. Kimball">D. Kimball, ''They Like Jesus but Not the Church:  Insights from Emerging Generations'' (Zondervan, 2007).</ref>
-Among those who have quit attending their church, there is a common theme of “we did not leave the church, but rather, the Church left us” [22].
+This view is shared by ~66% of non-believers, and ~25% of churchgoing Christians.<ref name="unChristian"> D. Kinnaman and G. Lyons, ''unChristian:  What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity… and Why it Matters'' (Baker Books, 2012).</ref> Christians are seen as [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oBx7Jg4m-o unwilling or unable to respond to the grisliness of reality] in appropriately complex ways, preferring simplistic solutions and answers.<ref name="unChristian"></ref> Christians are seen as unable to collaborate, compromise, or find lasting solutions due to their rigid, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTFE8cirkdQ black-or-white] worldviews<ref name="YouLostMe"></ref> and the fact they communicate via an obfuscating jargon deliberately designed to alienate outsiders. The world has so profoundly changed in the last 50 years that linguistic drift has rendered much religious language unintelligible.<ref name="McDowell"></ref>
-.	Doubtless. “A generation of young Christians believes that the churches in which they were raised are not safe and hospitable places to express doubts. Many feel that they have been offered slick or half-baked answers to their thorny, honest questions, and they are rejecting the “talking heads” and “talking points” they see among older generations. ” [22]  Frequently, the church’s response is trivial and fact-focused, as though people can be talked out of doubting.  This is not so, as 36% of people ages 18-29 don’t feel as though they can even ask their most pressing life questions in church, and 20% say that faith doesn’t help with their depression or other emotional problems [22].
+Christians enjoy being in their own community -- though the more they seclude themselves, the less they can function in the outside world.<ref name="unChristian"></ref> Thus, many churches have refined denial into an artform, responding to harsh truths with “Don’t talk like that,” a thought-terminating phrase to help escape the pain that always comes coupled with the truth.<ref name="Cox"></ref>  For this reason, Christians typically need to witness extreme, transparent, and blatant enmity before taking any action. American Christians quickly became anti-Communist, but only after watching the show trials and executions of Soviet clergymen. By contrast, German Christians were reluctant to become anti-Nazi, since the profoundly anti-communist [[Atheism_Leads_to_Totalitarianism|Hitler never made anti-Christian proclamations]]. Thus, Christians easily convinced themselves that Hitler and Nazism were not the enemies of their religion, despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.<ref name="Carlin"></ref>
-Failure to address doubt is one of the leading causes of de-conversion, as those who leave Christianity altogether typically do so because their pastors were unable to provide answers to the “big questions,” namely: [22]
+===Shallow===
-i.	The Problem of Evil
+Churches bill themselves as communities, but their gatherings and meetings involve little more than literally gathering and meeting somewhere.  Churches are boring, and only offer slogans and platitudes in lieu of opportunities for young people to apply their individual gifts. Young people leave their churches because they offer no challenges. Church is largely a spectator sport, since participation is limited to supporting roles; all positions of responsibility are reserved for the clergy.<ref name="Rainer"></ref> According to a 2011 Barna Group survey, 23% of American Christians, ages 18-29 felt that the church did not help them find their purpose, or prepare them for life.<ref name="YouLostMe"></ref>
-ii.	The fact that they were only Christian by default, as a result of geography and culture (had they been born in India, they would’ve been Hindu).
-iii.	What to believe in the Bible, and why.
-iv.	All religions converge on the same basic messages, so why does Christianity remain exclusive?
-This doubtlessness borders on hubris, which will eventually become the Christians’ undoing. The Christians are so convinced of Christ’s return and triumph that they have lulled themselves into a sense of complacency. The Christians have become so assured in their assumption that they will be the final victors, they do not take the necessary actions required to ensure that victory, like a pompous wannabe athlete who thinks he is “too good to practice” [3].
+In particular, youth ministry is seen as "a holding tank with pizza," because it is only a matter of time before even the least cynical youths realize that it’s all just a ploy to keep them from getting into mischief.<ref name="Rainer"></ref> The most effective Christian youth groups are those which deliberately focus on providing entertainment and social interaction, but most of their members attend for these reasons alone; they are just another venue.  This "success" is unattainable for most church groups; since only 50% of churches have <75 members, and only the top 10% of churches can afford a full-time youth minister.<ref name="McDowell"></ref>
-.	Overly-focused on winning converts. Young people feel like targets and not people; they are skeptical as to whether Christians genuinely care about them. The continual push to get non-believers to learn about Christ to “become saved” fails because the majority (82%) of American non-Christians (ages 16-29) were previously church-going Christians. Evangelism fails to impress people who’ve seen the movie before. Most non-believers quit the church because they learned, contemplated, and understood the church’s teachings, and consciously rejected them [27].
+One reason why people leave their churches is because it is far easier to leave a church than to join one. Joining often requires classes, initiations, and having to build networks from scratch. Leaving just requires not showing up, which is even easier when no one notices that you are gone. Most church dropouts felt disconnected with their fellow parishioners, and felt more connected with people outside of the church.<ref name="Rainer"></ref>
-Christians persist in their elaborate and costly mass evangelism efforts, despite the fact they are ineffective and counterproductive. Television, radio, and tracts have been shown to account for < 0.5% of converts; efforts which generate 3-10 times as much negative response as positive. Moreover, such mass evangelism efforts mostly reach marginally churched adults; they mass evangelists only “save” the low-hanging fruit of people who were “saved” once upon a time [27].
+===Anti-science===
+A 2011 Barna Group survey of revealed that 25% of American Christians, ages 18-29, believe that their [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=929ceD32uVo church is an anti-science organization]; and 18% believe their church is an [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_of_the_Library_of_Alexandria anti-intellectual organization]. These are difficult labels for Christians to denounce, since Paul explicitly conducted book burnings (ACT 19:19).<ref name="Onfrey"> M. Onfrey, ''In Defense of Atheism:  The Case Against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam'' (Penguin Canada, 2008).</ref> In particular, 23% of young Christians have been turned off by the [[Creationism_is_False|Creationists]]. Only 1% of youth pastors ever address scientific issues, despite 52% of young Christians wanting to pursue science-related careers.<ref name="YouLostMe"></ref>
-.	Anti-homosexual. 38% of young people view Christianity as an anti-LBGT organization [22] that is fixated on “curing” homosexuals and on leveraging political solutions against them [27].
+Churches maintain an anti-science air out of necessity; science has granted us a better quality-of-life than anything the Bible, and its outdated work ethic could ever provide. The Bible assumes that all work is toil and labor, and makes no provisions for enjoyable or spiritually rewarding jobs. The Bible never considers the idea of efficiency, of doing more with less, or building labor-saving machines.<ref name="Blaker"></ref>  Additionally, science trivializes the Bible’s most fantastic claims -- when Jesus healed a leper, it was miraculous; when the pharmaceutical industry [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leprosy#Treatment cured ''every'' leper], it was business.
-.	Overly political. Christians are perceived as promoting and representing an agenda of politically conservative interests and issues [27]. Despite Christ’s liberal and groovy teachings, Christians tend to be conservative, because Authoritarian personalities are attracted to the hierarchy and dogma which the church provides [3].
+===Repressive===
+Religious rules stifle young people, and are seen as “tyrannical,”<ref name="YouLostMe"></ref>
+and hypocritical when they were violated in Christianity’s historical crimes.<ref name="Dyck"></ref> The Baby Boomer's fringe views now define the Millennials and Generation Z.<ref name="unChristian"></ref> 21% of young people seek more freedom in life, which they cannot find in the walls of their church. 12% of young people cannot rectify the church’s desires with the world around them, forcing them to “live a double life.” 29% of young people feel forced to choose between their faith and their friends.<ref name="YouLostMe"></ref> Feeling concern for marginalized people is a frequent root cause of deconversions.<ref name="Dyck"></ref>
-Additionally, churches serve as fertile ground for extremist positions, since churches exist to create groups of people who are conditioned to accept dogmatism [29]. This is why most dangerous features of Communism were reminiscent of the medieval church (e.g., the fanatical acceptance of doctrines embodied in a sacred book; an unwillingness critically examine those doctrines critically; and the savage persecution of those who reject the doctrines [17].)
+The church treats sex as though it were a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1woiiOxpJ4M street drug] which first appeared in 1991, so people can never feel completely open or at ease when dealing with the clergy. This is especially true for Catholics (ages 18-29), 40% of whom<ref name="YouLostMe"></ref> feel that the Catholic Church’s chastity-over-prudence teachings are outdated.<ref name="Carlin"></ref> According to studies by Yale and Columbia, 89% of the teens who enter chastity pledges will break them before marriage.<ref name="Roose"></ref>
-.	Judgmental. Christians seen as being quick to judge others, and are not honest about their attitudes and perspectives about other people. As such, their claim to “love thy neighbor” is doubted. This, when combined with the other listed items, cause young people to see Christians as hypocritical, and their morally-superior attitudes are met with skepticism. (e.g., “Born-again” Christians adamantly believe homosexuality is a sin, but 61% of “born-again” Christians believe divorce is not sinful, despite Jesus Christ explicitly forbidding non-adultery divorces [MAT 5:32] [27].) This is reinforced by the Christian tendency to reserve judgement against their own moral transgressions, writing off their own wrongdoings with a variety of stock platitudes like   “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven [28].”
+Few, if any people leave the Catholic Church because they reject the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception; it is usually due to personal reasons.<ref name="YouLostMe"></ref>  Catholics are forced to leave if they disagree with the Church, as they have no other means of recourse — the Church is the last absolute monarchy.<ref name="Carlin"></ref>
-In the United States, 11% of Christians -- 1 in 9 -- will eventually de-convert [22]. Among those who leave:
+As a result, Christians are known for what they ''oppose'', rather than what they are ''for'',<ref name="unChristian"></ref> and Christian priest have become the new Pharisees by placing their emphasis on upholding religious law and tradition above all else.
-•	31% consider both the Bible and the church to be irrelevant, and they will never return [14].
+<ref name="Becker">H. Becker and H. E. Barnes, ''Social Thought from Lore to Science, vol. 1.'' (Dover Publications, 1961).</ref> This further compromises Christian credibility, since the average American church only has varying degrees of influence over 85-100 people,<ref name="Monday"></ref> and thus [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MolWhOGhRc lacks the power] to persecute anyone for any perceived infractions.<ref name="Carlin"></ref> The harshest punishment which churches can deal are empty threats, which can be easily shrugged aside. This is demonstrated by how the overwhelming majority of deconverts and dechurched people do not have a victim mentality; they take full responsibility for choosing to leave.<ref name="Rainer"></ref>
-o	61% of these de-converts regularly attended Sunday school. This is interesting, because a lack of faith is not a result of a lack of religious education; Sunday school simply has no impact on what young people believe. If anything, Sunday school causes de-conversions, since it only teaches on an inspirational or moral level, neither of which is relevant or useful within the secular world which exists outside the church’s doors [14].
-•	69% consider the church to be irrelevant, but believe that the Bible is not. These people tend to return to church, but join a different sect, after having children [14, 22]. Among those who return:
-o	24% of those who return still do not believe, and only return to set an example for their children [14].
-o	7% of those who return still do not believe, and only return because they like the music [14].
-o	0% of those who return do so because the miss going to Sunday school [14].
-•	56% said that their science classes led them to doubt the Bible. [14]
-This ecclesiastical decline is an international phenomenon.  Only 6.3% of the UK population is regular churchgoers, with only 2.5% of the population participating in Bible-based worship. The average British congregation consists of 84 people, with a despite a parishioner-to-church ratio of 1340:1 [14].
+===Exclusive===
-________________________________________
+The Millennials and Generation Z were raised in a culture that embraced open-mindedness, tolerance, and acceptance.<ref name="YouLostMe"></ref> This led to an awareness of how every religion has made the same unverifiable claim:  “Our god(s) will protect and heal you if you pray to them and help support their priests.” '''Faith cannot validate religious claims, because faith is non-exclusive. Faith can equally validate any other religion.''' Likewise, [[Argument_from_Miracles|miracles cannot be cited as evidence]], since most religions feature miracle-performing gods to allow unexplained phenomena to validate their worldview. Claiming to practice the one, true faith is a hard sell -- even if a pastor were to successfully disprove all of the world’s other religions, they must still contend with the 41,000 different Christian denominations.<ref name="Harrison"> G. P. Harrison, ''50 Simple Questions for Every Christian'' (Prometheus Books, 2013).</ref>
-Hostile Parishioners
-Frustrated parishioners are a perpetual source of conflict. 40% of pastors experience a serious conflict with parishioners at least once a month [1]. Churches are magnets for weirdos and troublemakers, since unlike other professionals (e.g., doctors, lawyers, psychotherapists), priests cannot dismiss problematic people without being seen as cruel. Priests must stroke these parishioner’s egos, lest they become resentful and problematic from a lack of attention. This constant, fruitless work bleeds priests of their energy and willpower, which they must supply, even when there is no one there for them [6].
+Young people view Christians as being obsessed with conveying an unreal, polished image; and that churches are cliques reserved for the most virtuous and morally-pure people.<ref name="unChristian"></ref> 22% of young people claim that church is “like a country club, only for insiders” which “ignores the problems of the real world.”
-There are as many reasons for parishioner hostility as there are hostile parishioners. It should be noted that their behavior is usually not troublesome unless they are ignored or put down. They only cause problems for clergy when their needs go unattended [4]. Some of the more common hostile parishioners include:
+This view is exemplified by the Christian obsession to label things as being specifically Christian. This leads to specialized Christian [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsNhNdnwgZg music], fiction, [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZeJGbdODtqxp2N2cXJaQnQ television], magazines, artwork, schools, recreational sports leagues, cruises, investment portfolios, and [https://www.godtube.com/ GodTube], the Christian YouTube alternative. By creating these enclaves, Christians are essentially building walls to keep the outside world out so they can focus on their own community, like in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LGu1sOvxYs M. Night Shyamalan’s] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouHdqK5VzLY The Village].<ref name="Stevens"></ref>
-•	These are the members who are bored, floundering, underused, or unrecognized [4].
-•	Older people who are unable to influence the congregation’s agenda as much as they want to [4].
-•	Older people who seek a traditional church experience, because those are one of the few things from their youth that still remain. This includes regularly visiting his parishioners [2].
-•	Younger people choose churches by the services they provide, and view pastors not as holy men, but as community center managers [2].
-•	New members who are eager to make their mark [4].
-•	Deeply dedicated and energetic members who have not found adequate outlets for service.
-•	Straight-up troublemakers who enjoy drama [4].
-•	Rugged individualists who make poor “team-players [4].”
-•	Hyper-devout members who are “more Catholic then the pope,” and see heresy where none exists [3].
-•	Troubled people assume they can go to any ministering person, at any time, and expect to be helped with their troubles -- even if they are not a member of that congregation [30]. While these people expect psychologists to charge for their services, they also expect priests to perform similar services for free [6].
-o	This sets up an unequal one-way relationship that makes the client feel guilty, which impedes their healing [6].
-o	Likewise, since the client doesn’t pay, they will not take their counseling seriously [6].
-o	Some people (e.g., paranoid delusionals, psychopaths, sociopaths) simply cannot be saved, since they lack the requisite sense of moral values and desire to change [6].
-o	Some people are “clinging vines” who demand to be propped up by other people or institutions, using the strength of others exclusively, rather than cultivate any of their own. This is usually achieved via the use guilt to manipulate others into helping them [6].
-Each hostile parishioner drains a portion the priest’s time, forcing the pastor to work a little harder and little longer -- and burnout a little quicker. While the actions of individual hostile parishioners are trivial, their cumulative effect is profound.  63% of ex-pastors said that the resistance to their leadership is what drove them to quit; it is the leading cause of clergy attrition [1]. Likewise, 43% of people who leave their church do so because of issues with their pastor [5]. Stone’s meta-analysis of Lifeway and Barna Group data reveals that while parishioners and pastors agree on church commitment and Christian walk issues, parishioners are frequently unaware of leadership, directional, and relational issues [5]. Many hostile parishioners cause trouble inadvertently; 40% of parishioners have no clue what frustrates their pastors -- and 12% of parishioners thinking that nothing does [5]. Even if the pastor does everything right, there is literally a thankless job -- only 4% of congregants will affirm their clergyman in anyway -- and 46% of those who do merely call or write to say “thank you” [5].
-Much of these struggles are based around the harsh fact that priests have no authority beyond their ability to persuade people [2]. Priests are leaders, but not bosses. In the typical parish, the ministers aren’t the permanent fixture; the congregation is. Priestly promotions and demotions are typically not determined by the higher church echelons, but by the organization-minded laymen who have been entrusted with some degree of leadership because of their community status or business know-how. Priests are forced to outsource the business aspects of their parish’s operations to the congregation, since priests receive little to no business training in seminary. As a result, congregations can’t be pushed in ways that they don’t want to go -- they’ll only rebel, and replace the plucky minister another, and another, until they find one that agrees with them.  Economic and political pressure trumps ecclesial pressure [10]. Even Catholics, who do not select their own priests, can still mount rebellions against them. When priests do not respond to parishioner’s actions, they can appeal by petitioning their bishop - and if if the bishop does not respond, the parishioner can petition the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and/or the pope directly, to address the bishop’s heresy [3].
+===Doubtless===
+A generation of young Christians can find no [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAdRCUsqg-U sanctuary] in the church they were raised in, for these are unsafe and inhospitable places to express doubts. Many youths feel that they were offered half-baked answers to their thorny, honest questions, because they reject the “talking points” which satisfy older generations.<ref name="YouLostMe"></ref> Frequently, the church responds as though people could be talked out of doubting. This is not so; 36% of people ages 18-29 don’t feel that they can even ask their most pressing life questions in church, and 20% say that faith offers no help with their depression or other emotional problems.<ref name="YouLostMe"></ref>
-The parish’s prime motivation is to ensure its own survival, and then to ensure its security. The pastors success and career survival are measured by the degree of their performance on those two metrics. As such, churches and their pastors are under constant pressure to increase their membership; growth signifies success. Additionally, churches and pastors must periodically expand or renovate their buildings, to signify progress. These acts require funding, and an enormous consumption of the minister’s time, energy, and supervision at the expense of other goals [10]. This is complicated by the fact that churches grow rapidly, but slowly erode over time; parishioners are unable to see the need to change, even if it is in their best interest [18].
+The church's failure to address doubt is the leading cause of deconversion. Those who abandon Christianity altogether typically do so because their pastors were unable to provide answers to the “big questions,” such as:<ref name="YouLostMe"></ref>
+*[[The Problem of Evil]]
+*The fact that they were only Christian by default, as a result of geography and culture (had they been born in India, they would’ve been Hindu).
+*[[Points_of_Contention|What to believe in the Bible]], [[The_Bible_is_not_Credible|and why]].
+*The relevance of Christianity [[Religious_Pluralism|when all religions converge on the same basic messages]].
-Hostile parishioners are allowed to prosper because of: [4]
+Christian doubtlessness borders on hubris, which will eventually be their undoing. The Christians are so convinced of Christ’s return and triumph that they have lulled themselves into a sense of complacency. '''The Christians have become so assured they will be the final victors, that they forego the actions necessary to ensure their victory''', just like a pompous wannabe athlete who thinks he is “too good to practice.”<ref name="Carlin"></ref>
-•	Volunteer or paid leaders undergo little or no pre-hire screening.
-•	Secondary channels are used to work outside of accepted procedures. This grants special privileges to individuals, robbing the existing political structure of its power.
-•	Attempts to quell a parishioner’s anger without finding out why they were angry to begin with.
-•	Underuse of existing pastoral support systems.
-•	Support systems failing to address issues or defend the pastor.
-•	The denomination and/or bishop failing to intervene, because their power and situational involvement is typically limited. However, even if they can’t directly intervene, they should still be able to assert authority and/or mandate compliance.
-•	A failure to understand how unresolved past issues continue to influence the present.
-•	A failure to quell gossip.
-•	Seminaries fail to teach their students how to deal with hostility.
-•	Pastors failing to explore other options and opportunities.
-•	Allowing the “collateral damage” of drama/conflict to compromise a support system.
-•	Pastors often have no pastors to turn too or collaborate with.
-o	Note that this does not apply to Catholic priests, who are procedurally required to have their own designated confessor.
-•	Pastors who fail to assert their authority.
-o	Pastors are unusually prone to guilt, which makes them more vulnerable to manipulation from con artists or others who wish to use leverage to extort money or services from the pastor.
-•	Pastors who fail to employ a “good-vs.-evil” mentality. Clergy often delude themselves into thinking that Christian love can conquer all; and will deny, pamper, or excuse the actions of subversives as a result. Likewise, this mentality renders pastors completely unable to deal with the mentally ill, or with the truly evil.
-o	Rational arguments, love, and negotiations are ineffective against the truly evil.
-o	The mentally ill become completely predictable once they’ve been diagnosed.
-•	An uninformed and theologically-illiterate laity is vulnerable to the threats, flattery, cajolery, misrepresentation, etc. of those who are trying to undermine their pastors.
-•	Harmful or toxic pastors undermine themselves. This typically occurs with misfit pastors, whose personality, style, and conviction does not match those of their congregation.
-•	Well-adjusted and successful Christians at the top of their fields eventually quit attending church services because they lose interest or consider it to be a waste of time [5].
-•	Meetings to alter the church structure just let the parishioners blow off some steam before returning to their business. Such meetings accomplish less than nothing to alter the structure of a system, because they give the deceptive appearance that something is really happening [12].
-•	Devoted Christians have a reluctance to stop their own persecution. Christ taught that their allegiance will result in persecution [MAT 5:10-11, 22; 13:13, LUK 6:22; 21:17, 1COR 1:18]. This negative treatment is accepted as proof of being on the right path [27].
-________________________________________
-Spiritual Dilution
-To be frank, the world has changed and the churches have not, despite the fact that the foundations of American society have undergone drastic changes which were as profound as the Exodus was to the Jews -- and this has happened twice.  In 1900, 33% Americans worked in agriculture, as of 1998, only 3% were.  (This is why Sunday mass is at 11 AM; because it’s between milking times.) In 1956, most Americans were worked in manufacturing; as of 1998, only 13% were, while 60-70% of people worked in information-related jobs [2].
+===Overly-focused on Winning Converts===
+Young people are skeptical as to whether Christians genuinely care about them. The continual push to get non-believers to accept Christ and  “become saved” continually fails because ''the majority (82%) of non-Christian Americans (ages 16-29) were once church-going Christians.'' Evangelism can't impress those who’ve seen it already. Most non-believers quit the church because they accepted, contemplated, and understood their church’s teachings -- and then consciously rejected them.<ref name="unChristian"></ref>
-Our culture is not merely different; it is discontinuously different.  The modern culture is far different than the culture the Millennials were raised in -- which in turn was far different than the culture the Baby Boomers were raised in -- which in turn was far different than the culture the WWII Generation was raised in. No group has lived through such a rapidly-changing world. While Christians face far less persecution, the cultural changes are greater and more daunting: [22]
+Christians persist in their elaborate and costly mass evangelism efforts, despite the fact these are ineffective and counterproductive. Television, radio, and tracts combined are only responsible for 0.5% of converts, while generating a negative response which is 3-10 ties greater. Moreover, mass evangelism efforts mostly reach marginally-churched adults, and “save” those who were “saved” once upon a time.<ref name="unChristian"></ref> All research indicates that televangelists are each vying for the same ~5 million people, who are mostly widows over age 49.<ref name="Leedom"></ref>
-•	Teachers and pastors can all be fact-checked in real-time.
-•	Young people expect to participate as well as consume.
-•	The phenomena of “learning piracy,” where the Church is not seen as the sole arbiter of spiritual content.
-•	An expectation of flattened hierarchies.
-•	Globally connection to, and awareness of, others.
-•	A desire to stay connected at all times
-The Christians are applying a static theology to an age of accelerating change -- and since the phrase “rapid social change” is merely as a euphemism for “revolution,” they are trying to live in revolutionary times without a theology of revolution. This is especially problematic, as Christian ideology makes no provisions for revolutions, or counter-revolutions. While the action of God sometimes occurs through what theologians call “historical events,” this is just a euphemism for “social change.” The doctrines of the church are infected with the ideology of preservation and permanence. Almost entirely past-oriented, they derive their authority from various classical periods; from an alleged resemblance to an earlier form of church life; or from a theory of historical continuity -- but a church whose life is defined and shaped by what God is now doing in the world cannot be imprisoned in antiquated specifications [12].
-While the American conservatives have become preoccupied with threat of secular humanists encroaching on their hegemony, they ignore their own secularization -- science, technology, politics, and wealth have become the tools they means used to justify their ends [15]. This is because “secular” really means “non-religious,” not “anti-religious.” Everything that is not a church or church-related -- e.g., restaurants, public libraries, roads, parks, shopping plazas, parking garages, etc. -- are, by definition,  secular institutions [3]. In reality, the forces of secularization have no serious interest in persecuting any religion; secularization simply bypasses and undercuts religion, and goes on to do other things. Secularization merely relativized religious worldviews, rendering them innocuous. Religion has been privatized; it has been accepted as the particular prerogative and point of view. Secularization has merely convinced people that they could be wrong, and that there are more important things than dying for one’s faith. The traditional gods aren’t needed to play a role in the public life of the secular metropolis [12].
+However, Christians have no alternative, because “greying” church populations now poses an existential threat. 19% of Evangelicals are elderly (i.e., > age 65), and they provide 46% of their donations. Actuarial charts indicate that 68% of these Evangelical donors will die before 2040 CE, and 50% of these donors will die before 2030 CE. The number of donors to churches and religious causes will soon permanently decrease. Surveys indicate that 69-80% of Christians now become “disengaged” or “dechurched” between ages 18-29. (While the magnitude of this trend is debated, its existence is agreed upon.) LifeWay's polling data indicated that only 35% of young church-leavers will eventually return like prodigal sons -- the other 65% never return. Even if the number of donors were to magically increase, it is unlikely they could sustain their churches. The amount donated at a given age has decreased with each subsequent generation (i.e., 30-year old Millennials donate less than the GenXer’s did at age 30, who in turn donated less than the Baby Boomers did at age 30, etc.).  This is [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exponential_decay an accelerating trend]; the amount donated has dropped 20-30% each year since the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Recession Great Recession of 2007-2010].<ref name=" Dickerson "></ref>
-Because of this, religious orders are gradually being replaced by organizations, which are: [12]
+In 2010, Pat Robertson’s Regent University required a $95 million “booster shot” from CBN to remain operating; such collapses will soon become commonplace in the early 2040’s due to the looming 70% across-the-board drop in donations following the Baby Boomer die-off. While church leaders are right to worry about this, there is nothing that they can do, as this national trend is outside their locus of control.<ref name=" Dickerson "></ref>
-•	Flexible:  These groups must make no claim to ultimate origin, and must change to meet their needs -- reorganizing, merging, and disbanding on a whim. While traditions can form, they are of a secondary importance.
-•	Future-oriented:  Religious orders views the present in terms of the past; whereas organizations establishes and works towards goals.
-•	Secularized: Tradition, ceremony, and taboo are replaced with technical procedures, which are criticized and refined. Traditions can exist, but these are frills that do not define the group. Organizations are non-exclusive; members can join many other organizations, and are free to come and go as they please.
-•	Limited claim on members: Organizations only influence on a small portion of the member’s life, since the organization’s authority is relative and not absolute. Organizations are like labor unions, whereas religious orders are like trade guilds.
-The only way the clergy can ever compete is to change the way that the world perceives them, and refuse to play the role of antiquarian and medicine man -- but this is difficult, because that is their job. The only hope of achieving this is to address the three key problems facing modern city life, which neither the Christians, nor anyone else, have a standardized solution for: [12]
+===Anti-LGBT===
-.	The Decentralization of Authority. There is a lack of political structures to address each and every issue, causing some problems to go ignored or improperly treated.
+'''38% of young people view Christianity as an anti-LBGT organization'''<ref name="YouLostMe"></ref> which is fixated on “[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vrycMmkeXs curing]” homosexuals and leveraging politics against them.<ref name="unChristian"></ref>
-.	Problems must be dealt with on a society-wide basis. The city’s problems are actually the problems of the entire society; cities just make those problems seem more prevalent because of their larger population.
-.	The powerlessness of oppressed peoples. The poor and/or minorities are voiceless, since they lack the readiness, capacity, or channels needed to voice their legitimate needs.
-The Christians are unlikely to address these issues though, since these issues operate on the motifs of pragmatism and worldliness, which have historically been the Christian’s worst events. Even the much-touted weekend service projects just make these problems worse, as they establish a sense of co-dependency, and a dichotomy of those who do, and those who have things done for them [12].
-The only way that Christianity can compete with cultural change is to be assimilated by it; and while it will to some degree dissolve itself in the process, the part that remains may have some hope of influencing culture once again. While this is unpalatable to most Christians, it is also unstoppable. Even conservatism falters in the face of cultural change -- while conservatism is defined to be the resistance to cultural changes -- the turbulent currents of change can push conservatism into any direction, and force it to take on any role [15]. Even the Catholic Church, which stood stalwart through centuries of falling empires and countless wars, faltered before the “perfect storm” of social upheavals brought on by the Baby Boomer generation: [3].
+Modern youths ignore the clergy's frequent claim that homosexuality is “unnatural”, since it is now common knowledge that  birds and primates engage in homosexual play, and that homosexuality exists in all human societies.  Furthermore, '''young people fail to see how the clergy is qualified to declare what is and is not natural.'''<ref name="Hitchens">C. Hitchens, ''God is Not Great:  How Religion Poisons Everything'' (Twelve, 2009).</ref> Clothing is unnatural, and it must be further supplemented by other [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAjDKdYcqnU unnatural practices (i.e., washing)] to prevent disease. Yet, those two unnatural synergistic practices make people healthier than those who go without.<ref name="Russell-Believe"> B. Russell, ''What I Believe'' (Routledge, 2004).</ref>
-.	Vatican II, which was a groundbreaking upheaval not because of the changes it made -- but because it allowed for changes at all
-.	The end of the “Catholic ghetto.” American Catholics, like many other faiths, were once relegated to cloistered enclaves of ethnic neighborhoods, which reinforced their own cultural norms. American culture is more homogenized and pluralistic [21].
-.	The American countercultural revolution of the 1960-70’s. The Civil Rights movement was really an anti-authority movement -- it challenged the state’s authority to enact Jim Crow laws, and was a rebellion against the political, social, business, and education leadership for failing to stand up against Jim Crow.
-This is why Pope Pius X tried and failed to stop the modernization of the church with his 1907 encyclical letter, Pascendi Dominici Gregis [3]. However, this failed to save the church from the social upheavals of the Baby Boomer Generation, much as it falters before the cultural changes of the present, let alone those which will be induced by climate change and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The only alternative to assimilation -- the eventual victory of traditionalists in the American church landscape -- can only be a pyrrhic victory. The churches will become pessimistic and carry a memory of failure, realizing that they will play an important role in what will, by that point, be America’s thoroughly-secularized dominant culture. This saving remnant will have little or no influence on the larger American society, and be no different that the Amish or the Hasidic Jews [3]. “In the age of video games, Middle-town-wherever will always be closer to Mars than Jerusalem [15].”
-Christians have lost their sense of certainty in the face of modernization, leading to a melting down of faith. Secularization makes Christian faith seem less real, privatization turns it into a private preference, and cultural pluralization makes the Christian religion into one among many. Religion has been so deeply relegated to the private sphere it’s disappearance from the public sphere goes unnoticed. To combat this this, Christians attempt to re-enter the public sphere by uncritically reduplicating the stances and styles of the public sphere itself (e.g., Christian rock, Christian superheroes, etc.). However, using the secular world’s tools on the secular world’s terms just compromises the Christians, and holds them captive again [15].
+The Millennials and Generation Z came of age when “religion” was personified by the Religious Right, when its leaders placed repressing homosexuality and gay marriage at the top of their agenda, and at the core of their communal identity. Among the Millennials who have abandoned their religion, 31% say that their church’s negative treatment of gays and lesbians was an important causal factor in their decision — roughly twice the rate of seniors who felt the same way (15%). Moreover, 72% of Millennials agree that religious groups estrange young people by being too judgmental about gay and lesbian issues. Seniors are the only group where a minority (44%) agrees with this sentiment. Churches now face a dilemma since they are anchored to older Americans, both financially and in terms of lay support, and these benefactors are less likely to perceive a problem that concerns the overwhelming majority of younger Americans.<ref name="Jones"> R. P. Jones, ''The End of White Christian America'' (Simon & Schuster, 2016).</ref>
-The American church-state separation broke up the monopoly held by the state churches. Since they were no longer monopolies, they have to compete on the free market for parishioners, and they became to act more like marketing agencies [15]. This is a unique situation; the various national Churches of Europe always viewed themselves as being a part of one, larger collective church, and that their version was just the only valid one within the confines of their borders [3]. In the US, all 41,000 denominations of Christianity [28] are at odds with each other, and with every other faith, for members. The struggle is compounded by the fact the average American church has 85-100 parishioners [2], limiting resources to a degree that they struggle to maintain their overhead, let alone their hegemony. As troublesome as it is for Christians, even the American right-wing Conservative Christian establishment is forced to acknowledge the importance of the church-state boundary -- not out of respect for the law -- but since pure Christianity elicits universalistic feelings that can subvert their dogma of nationalism [12].
+Note that the Bible never states nor implies that the “sin of Sodom” was homosexuality. If anything, it is implied to be inhospitality and failing to aid the poor (EZE 16:48-49).  1COR 6:9 and 1TIM 1:10 appear to admonish homosexuality, but only because scholars have trouble translating the word ''arsenokoitai''; these passages are likely just condemn those who [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKqevFXyGd8 hire gay prostitutes], and not homosexuality itself.  While LEV 18:22 and 20:13 explicitly condemns homosexuality, the majority of mainstream Christians freely ignore Leviticus’ numerous admonishments against haircuts, tattoos, working on the Sabbath, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqoiuvoj_Qk wearing garments made from mixed fabrics], or touching pigs.<ref name="D. Kimball">D. Kimball, ''They Like Jesus but Not the Church:  Insights from Emerging Generations'' (Zondervan, 2007).</ref>
-Churches in the US are forming their own organizations, in a response to the threat that flexible, future-oriented, secularized, membership-limited organizations pose. To get along with one another, these church groups must ignore the theological differences (especially the subtle differences) between one another, and only focus on what unites them -- what they have in common -- instead of what divides them, or what is distinctive to each. However, this is flatly incompatible with the notion of dogmatism. The end result, a generic Christian faith, is a diluted form of Protestantism, which makes pithy attacks at Catholics, and no makes claims of Christ’s divinity to please Unitarians and Jews.  It merely consists of the notion of God’s providence, the afterlife, the Ten Commandments, and the ambiguously-interpreted Bible. This denominational consensus erodes loyalty, since no one church -- and not one religion -- has any real advantage over another. These “Cafeteria Christians” then freely pick and choose which dogma to follow, like picking items off of an à la carte line. This is generally accepted to be a recipe for recipe for disintegration via a gradual ecclesial suicide. Denominational consensus is the first step on the slippery slope to skepticism.  By conceding their religion’s claim on a monopoly on the truth, these churches grow increasingly tolerant until they are incapable of opposing unorthodox beliefs, even inside their own church walls. In the end, they are not even able to outright oppose outright agnosticism and atheism, or to oppose Christianity’s historically condemned practices (e.g., abortion, homosexuality, and suicide). They will be left with no means for combatting secularism, since non-denominationalists have no dogmas aside from anti-dogmatism, since they tolerate all religious as being equal, except for those which do not support that view [3].
+===Overly-political===
+Christians are perceived as the promoters of politically conservative agendas.<ref name="unChristian"></ref> Despite Christ’s liberal and groovy teachings, Christians tend to be conservative, because authoritarian personalities are attracted to the hierarchy and dogma which the church provides.<ref name="Carlin"></ref>
-The younger a person is, the less they understand the Christian faith. People mostly parrot what their parents taught them, but the mass-media has assumed much of this role [28], pitching a bland form of non-denominational Christianity like it were toothpaste, laundry detergent or any other consumer product [15]. As a result, a significant Americans are only tenuously Christian in any sense that that they are a historical Christian tradition. Christianity has succeeded in resisting secularization, but only degenerating into a weaker version of itself, until it is colonized and displaced by Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is an “alternative faith that co-opts if not devours” established religious traditions, as it “generally does not and cannot stand on its own.”
+Additionally, churches serve as fertile ground for extremism, since their reason-for-being is to condition people to accept dogmatism.<ref name="Russell-Not"></ref> This is why most dangerous features of Communism were reminiscent of the medieval church (e.g., the fanatical acceptance of doctrines embodied in a sacred book; an unwillingness to examine those doctrines critically; and the savage persecution of those who rejected the doctrines).<ref name="Oswald"></ref>
-Moralistic Therapeutic Deism has little to do with God or a sense of divine mission in the world. It offers comfort, bolsters self-esteem, helps solve problems, and lubricates interpersonal relationships by encouraging people to sticking to a mutually-bland common ground. Moralistic Thereputic Deism makes no pretense at changing lives; churches are seen only as useful communities to help people feel good about themselves via communicating a sanitized, culturally-cooperative but wildly truncated version of Christianity. Moralistic Therapeutic Deism disrupts the faith of young people. Even if teenagers participate fully in youth ministry programs and churches, while avoid distractions, trauma, and counter-influences, they are unlikely to take hold of a “god” who is too limp to take hold of them. Apart from “being nice,” teenagers do not think that religion influences their decisions, choice of friends, or behaviors. It does not help them obey God, work towards a common good, compose an identity, or belonging to a distinctive community. Teenagers do not see religion as being personally useful, as it just supports the decisions that they were going to make anyway [21].
+===Judgmental===
+'''Among those who have quit attending their church, there is a common theme of “we did not leave the church, but rather, ''the church left us''.”'''<ref name="YouLostMe"></ref> Fundamentalists love the Bible more than they love Christ,<ref name="Emergent">K. Deyoung and T. Kluck, ''Why We're Not Emergent'' (Moody Publishers, 2008).</ref> which leads Christians to be seen as quick to judge others, and as being dishonest about their attitudes and perspectives when dealing with others. As such, their claim to “love thy neighbor” is doubted. This, when combined with the other listed items, cause young people to view Christians as hypocrites whose moral superiority it to be viewed with skepticism. While theological ignorance is on the rise, it still remains intuitive that making statements about what God thinks, or what God would or would not do, creates a graven image of a God which suits those individual tastes.<ref name="Kennedy">D. J. Kennedy, ''Evangelism Explosion, 4th ed.'' (Tyndale House Publishing, 2002).</ref> This is insidious and ironic. This is insidious because 2/3 of outsiders think that Christians do not act authentically towards them. This is ironic, because 2/3 of Christians are convinced that outsiders think that they are authentic.<ref name="Stark"></ref>
-Young people practice Moralistic Therapeutic Deism not because they have misunderstood what they were taught at church, but because it was what they were taught at church. Preaching and evangelism are ineffective against Moralistic Therapeutic Deism because the call to worship also generalized and non-specific. Besides, events being preached about (e.g., Christ’s death and resurrection) happened so long ago that they no offer anything new to get people excited about [12]. As a result, young people lack an articulate faith because the faith they are shown is too spineless to merit much in the way of conversation. They don’t see faith as being too deep for words, but as to vapid to require its own jargon [21]. Even the Parochial schools and religiously-affiliated colleges cannot stop Moralistic Therapeutic Deism from spreading, because maintaining orthodoxy assumes orthodox doctrine will be taught, and that their students will never discover or experiment with it on their own. Religiously-affiliated schools and colleges have become more secularized to compete and survive in the academic free market -- their Boards of Trustees have been laicized; the schools became co-ed; and teaching roles were replaced with lay teachers or Ph.D. faculty -- many of whom are non-Christian.  Clergy are mostly relegated to administrative and counseling roles. Even theology has been secularized into “religious studies [3],” which teaches about Christianity via its documents, doctrines, history, and moral codes [31].  The individual churches do no better at teaching, since Christian education has been reduced to preparations to rituals (e.g., pre-baptism counseling, first communion classes, confirmation classes, pre-marriage classes). This develops cliques instead of communities -- cliques which disband and disappear after the ritual [31].
+Case and point, “born-again” Christians believe homosexuality is sinful, yet 61% of “born-again” Christians believe divorce is ''not sinful'', despite how Jesus Christ explicitly forbade divorces for reasons other than adultery (MAT 5:32).<ref name="unChristian"></ref> This is reinforced by the Christian tendency to reserve judgement against their own moral transgressions, and writing off their own wrongdoings with a variety of stock platitudes (e.g., “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven”).<ref name="Harrison"></ref> Only 53% of young churchgoing adults have beliefs which align with their church. In particular, among “born-again” Christians ages 23-41:<ref name="Rainer"></ref>
+*60% believe that cohabitation is morally acceptable.
+*40% believe that pre-marital sex is acceptable.
+*30% believe that pornography is acceptable.
-Even if there were a sudden revival of traditional religious education, it would prove ineffective.  The word “catechism” is derived from “catechize,” meaning “to echo back” -- it’s rote learning, and that’s problematic since the modern youth identifies as members of the Creative Class, and that intuitional framework of the church chases them away. Theirs is a participatory culture, which seeks: [21]
+== Hostile Parishioners ==
-•	Low barriers to artistic and civic engagement.
+Frustrated parishioners are a perpetual source of stress; 40% of pastors experience serious conflicts with parishioners on a monthly basis.<ref name=”Lane"></ref> Churches are magnets for weirdos and troublemakers, since unlike other professionals (e.g., doctors, lawyers, psychotherapists), priests cannot dismiss problematic people without being seen as cruel. Priests must stroke these parishioner’s egos, lest they become resentful and problematic from a lack of attention. This constant, fruitless work bleeds priests of their energy and willpower, which they are required to supply, even when there is no one to supply them.<ref name="Ministry Burnout"></ref>
-•	Strong support for creative collaborations.
-•	Informal mentorships that pass on experience to newcomers.
-•	Confidence that their contributions will matter.
-•	Social connection between group members, if only through appreciating their contributions.
-Additionally, if positions of influence and importance in the church are held only by men, or from those of the upper socioeconomic classes, or if particular races are either implicitly or explicitly excluded from membership, a different lesson is learned [31].
-Thanks to the overwhelming challenge of modernity and the chronically divided Christian response, a credible, united Christianity is no longer possible [15]. Christianity can survive as a personal religion based on individuals reading the Bible -- but this too is problematic, since: [28]
+There are as many reasons for parishioner hostility as there are hostile parishioners. These people are usually not troublesome unless they are ignored or put down; they only cause problems when their needs go unattended.<ref name="ClergyKillers"></ref> Some of the more common hostile parishioners include:
-•	93% of Americans own a Bible
+*Bored, floundering, underused, or unrecognized church members.<ref name="ClergyKillers"></ref>
-o	41% of these are the KJV.
+*Older people who are unable to strongly influence the congregation’s agenda.<ref name="ClergyKillers"></ref>
-o	61% of Americans think the Bible should be easier to read.
+*Older people who seek a traditional church experience, because those are one of the few things which remain from their youth. This includes requests for pastors to regularly visit parishioner's homes.<ref name="Monday"></ref>
-o	 29% believe that the Bible must be difficult to read since it “must convey the loftiness of God’s word.”
+*Younger people seeking services (e.g., day care, youth groups, etc.). Since younger people choose churches based on the services they provide, they view pastors not as community center managers instead of holy men.<ref name="Monday"></ref>
-•	14% of Americans are enrolled in a Bible study class.
+*New members who are eager to make their mark.<ref name="ClergyKillers"></ref>
-o	41% of Americans rarely or never read the Bible.
+*Deeply dedicated and energetic members who have not found adequate outlets for their need to serve.
-•	49% of Americans believe the Bible is the “actual word of God.”
+*Straight-up troublemakers who enjoy drama.<ref name="ClergyKillers"></ref>
-o	13% of Americans know that the KJV was paraphrased from earlier English translations.
+*Rugged individualists who make poor “team players.”<ref name="ClergyKillers"></ref>
-•	30% of Americans believe that the Bible is “inspired by the word of God, but not everything is to be taken literally.”
+*Hyper-devout members who see heresies where none exist.<ref name="Carlin"></ref>
-•	17% of Americans believe that the Bible is an “ancient book of fables, legends, history, and moral precepts recorded by man.”
+*Troubled people who assume that they can go to any minister, at any time, and expect to be helped with their troubles -- even if they are not a member of that congregation.<ref name="Barker"> D. Barker, ''Losing Faith in Faith:  From Preacher to Atheist'' (Freedom from Religion Foundation, 1992).</ref> While people expect psychologists to charge for their services, they also expect priests to perform similar services for free.<ref name="Ministry Burnout"></ref>
-This has always been a large problem -- the Christian faith requires belief in the Bible, and that is a stumbling block for many [32]. Christianity, in nearly all of its varied forms, depends upon the authority of a divinely-inspired Bible; if people don’t buy into this, the Christians suddenly have nothing to control others with [33]. This is made worse since by holding Christians to their own declarations one biblical authority, one can forced to take on absurd and indefensible positions [34]. For example:
+**This sets up unequal, one-way relationships which makes the client feel guilty, and this impedes their healing.<ref name="Ministry Burnout"></ref>
-•	The writers of the New Testament had the opportunity to fix the errors in the Old Testament and in earlier gospels by drawing bullseye’s around the arrows they shot -- but still didn’t.
+**Since the client doesn’t pay, they won't take their counseling seriously.<ref name="Ministry Burnout"></ref>
-•	Christians cannot write off, ignore, or rationalize their way out of any of the Old Testament laws, or the horrors which they have spawned, since Christ explicitly mentions on several occasions that every character of the old law is true and correct, and must be obeyed [MAT 5:17-19; JOH 7:19; LUK 16:17]. Any attempt to dance around this problem defies Christ’s direct teachings [28].
+**Some people (e.g., paranoid delusionals, psychopaths, sociopaths) simply cannot be saved, since they lack the requisite sense of moral values and/or the desire to change.<ref name="Ministry Burnout"></ref>
-•	Many of God’s laws are presented without any justification or explanation. The Bible tells us, via a revelation, that it’s against God’s law to boil a baby goat in its mother’s milk -- but the Bible never explains why that’s a problem, or why it would offend God [29].
+**Some people are “clinging vines” who demand to be propped up by other people or institutions, and use the strength of others exclusively, rather than cultivate any of their own. This is usually achieved via using guilt to manipulate others into helping them.<ref name="Ministry Burnout"></ref>
-•	There is a large burden of proof on the resurrection. This is crucial, because if the resurrection is not true, then the entire Christian religion is invalid [1COR 15:17] [28].
+Each hostile parishioner drains a portion the priest’s time, forcing the pastor to [[The_Church%27s_Weaknesses#Overwork|work a little harder and little longer]] -- and [[The_Church%27s_Weaknesses#Burnout|burnout]] a little quicker. While the actions of individual hostile parishioners are trivial, their cumulative effect is profound. '''63% of ex-pastors said that the resistance to their leadership is what drove them to quit; it is the leading cause of clergy attrition.'''<ref name=”Lane"></ref> Likewise, '''43% of the people who leave their church do so because of issues with their pastor.'''<ref name="5Killers"></ref> Stone’s meta-analysis of Lifeway and Barna Group data reveals that parishioners are frequently unaware of leadership, directional, and relational issues.<ref name="5Killers"></ref> Many hostile parishioners cause trouble inadvertently; 40% of parishioners have no clue what frustrates their pastors -- and 12% of parishioners think that nothing does.<ref name="5Killers"></ref> Even if the pastor does everything right, it is literally a thankless job -- only 4% of congregants will affirm their clergyman in anyway -- and 46% of those who do affirm them merely call or write to say “thank you.”<ref name="5Killers"></ref>
-•	Christians must entirely abandon the entire concept of jurisprudence in order to comply with Christ’s maxim of “judge not lest ye be judged [29].”
-•	Catholic canon law appears to have recognized and enforced serfdom [35], which it rationalized as being a result of sin, which was further justified on economic grounds [36].
-•	The Gospel of Luke claims to be an eyewitness account (LUK 1:1-4), in contrast with basically the entire corpus of study done on Biblical history [32].
-•	God became Jesus to experience despair, rejection, loneliness, poverty, bereavement, imprisonment, torture and death to feel our pain and suffer with us. However, feeling pain does nothing to alleviate it [32].
-•	While ancient slavery was more like indentured servitude, and did not involve the ownership of people in the “chattel” slavery of the American South,  the Bible was still used to endorse and rationalize that unforgivable practice, despite its clear prohibitions on kidnapping [1TIM 1:9-11] and slave trafficking [DEU 24:7] [32].
-•	Many, many, many more examples can be found elsewhere on this website.
-Bibliography
-[1] 	B. Lane, Why Pastors Quit.
+Much of these struggles are based around the harsh fact that '''priests have no authority beyond their ability to persuade people.'''<ref name="Monday"></ref> Priests are leaders, but not bosses. In the typical parish, the ministers aren’t the permanent fixture; the congregation is. Priestly promotions and demotions are not typically determined by the church's higher echelons, but by organization-minded laymen who have been entrusted with some degree of leadership because of their community status or business know-how. Priests are forced to outsource the business aspects of their parish’s operations to the congregation, since [[The_Church%27s_Weaknesses#Inadequate_Training|priests receive little to no business training in seminary]]. As a result, congregations can’t be led in directions that they don’t want to go -- they’ll only rebel, and replace the minister with another, and another, until they find one who agrees with them. '''Economic and political pressure supersedes ecclesiastic pressure.'''<ref name="White"></ref> Even Catholics, who do not select their own priests, can still rebel against them. When priests do not respond to a parishioner’s actions, the parishioner can appeal by petitioning their bishop -- and if the bishop does not respond, the parishioner can petition the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and/or the pope directly, to address the bishop’s heresy.<ref name="Carlin"></ref>
-[2] 	M. a. Edmondson, It Only Hurts on Monday.
-[3] 	D. Carlin, The Decline and Fall of the Catholic Church in America.
+A church’s prime motivation is to ensure its own survival, and then to ensure its own security; these are the metrics which determine a pastor's success and career survival. As such, churches and their pastors are under constant pressure to increase their membership; growth signifies success. Additionally, churches and pastors must periodically expand or renovate their buildings, to signify progress. These acts require funding, and an enormous consumption of the minister’s time, energy, and supervision -- all at the expense of other goals.<ref name="White"></ref> This is complicated by the fact that churches grow rapidly, but erode slowly; parishioners are often unaware of their need to change, even when it's in their best interest.<ref name="Autopsy"></ref>
-[4] 	G. L. Rediger, Clergy Killers.
-[5] 	C. Stone, 5 Ministry Killers and How to Defeat Them.
+Hostile parishioners are allowed to prosper because of:<ref name="ClergyKillers"></ref>
-[6] 	J. A. Sanford, Minsitry Burnout.
+*Volunteer and paid leaders undergoing little or no pre-hire screening.
-[7] 	M. C. Disease, Jackson, Anne.
+*Using secondary channels to work outside of established procedures. This confers special privileges to individuals, robbing the existing political structure of its power.
-[8] 	J. D. White, Burnout Busters: Stress Management for Minsitry.
+*Failed attempts to quell a parishioner’s anger which did not address the root cause.
-[9] 	R. M. Oswald, Clergy Self-Care.
+*Support systems failing to address issues and/or to defend the pastor.
-[10] 	A. Balk, The Religion Business.
+**Allowing the “collateral damage” of drama/conflict to compromise a support system.
-[11] 	F. Lehr, Clergy Burnout.
+*The denomination and/or bishop failing to intervene, because of their limited power and/or situational involvement. However, even if these authorities can’t directly intervene, they should still be able to assert their authority and/or mandate compliance.
-[12] 	H. Cox, The Secular City.
+*A failure to understand how unresolved past issues continue to influence the present.
-[13] 	K. Blaker, Fundamental of Extremism.
+*A failure to quell gossip.
-[14] 	K. A. B. B. Ham, Already Gone.
+*Seminaries failing to teach their students how to deal with hostility.
-[15] 	O. Guinness, The Gravedigger Files.
+*Pastors failing to explore other options and opportunities.
-[16] 	J. Michaelsen, Like Lambs to the Slaguhter.
+*Pastors lacking colleagues to turn too or collaborate with.
-[17] 	B. Russel, Why I Am Not a Christian.
+**This does not apply to Catholic priests, who are procedurally required to have a designated confessor.
-[18] 	T. S. Rainer, Autopsy of a Deceased Church.
+*Pastors who fail to assert their authority.
-[19] 	Hartford Seminary, Hartford Institute for Religion Research, "Fast Facts about American Religion," [Online]. Available: http://hirr.hartsem.edu/research/fastfacts/fast_facts.html#numcong. [Accessed 14 11 2016].
+**Pastors are unusually prone to guilt, which makes them more vulnerable to manipulation from con artists or others who wish to extort money and/or services.
-[20] 	The Tipping Point.
+*Pastors who fail to employ a “good-vs.-evil” mentality. Pastors often delude themselves into thinking that Christian love can overcome all; this leads them to deny, pamper, or excuse subversive actions. Likewise, this mentality renders pastors completely unable to deal with the mentally ill, or with the truly evil.
-[21] 	K. C. Dean, Almost Christian.
+**Rational arguments, love, and negotiations are ineffective against the truly evil.
-[22] 	You Lost Me.
+**The mentally ill become completely predictable once they’ve been diagnosed.
-[23] 	G. &. O. S. Graffin, Anarchy Evolution.
+*An uninformed and theologically-illiterate laity is vulnerable to the flattery, cajolery, misrepresentation, etc. of those who are [[Our_Strategy|trying to undermine their pastors]].
-[24] 	R. L. Moore, Selling God.
+*Harmful or toxic pastors undermining themselves. This typically occurs with misfit pastors, whose personality, style, and conviction does not match that of their congregation.
-[25] 	D. Ryder, Breaking the Circle of Satanic Ritual Abuse.
+*A tendency for well-adjusted and successful Christians at the top of their fields to eventually quit attending church services because they gradually lose interest, or begin to see mass as a waste of time.<ref name="5Killers"></ref>
-[26] 	J. S. Victor, Satanic Panic.
+*Meetings to alter the church's political structure degrading into venting sessions before quickly returning to the ''status quo''. Such meetings accomplish less than nothing to alter the structure of a system; they only give the deceptive appearance that change is really happening.<ref name="Blaker"></ref>
-[27] 	D. a. L. G. Kinnaman, unChristian: What a New Genreation Things About Christianity.
+*Devoted Christians who are reluctant to stop their own persecution. Christ taught that allegiance to him results in persecution (MAT 5:10-11, 22; 13:13, LUK 6:22; 21:17, 1COR 1:18); thus, negative treatment is considered confirmation of correct living.<ref name="unChristian"></ref>
-[28] 	G. P. Harrison, 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian.
-[29] 	B. Russell, Why I am Not A Christian.
+== Spiritual Dilution ==
-[30] 	D. Barker, Losing Faith in Faith.
+The world has changed and the churches have not, despite how foundation of American society underwent changes as drastic as the Exodus was to the Jews -- and this has happened ''twice''.  In 1900, 33% Americans worked in agriculture, as of 1998, only 3% were. (Sunday mass is held in the late morning because it’s between milking times.) In 1956, most Americans were worked in manufacturing; as of 1998, only 13% were, while 60-70% of people worked in information-related jobs.<ref name="Monday"></ref>
-[31] 	???, Will Our Children Have Faith?.
-[32] 	T. Keller, Reason for God.
+Our culture is not merely different; it is ''discontinuously different''. Modern culture is far different than the culture the Millennials were raised in -- which in turn was far different than the culture the Baby Boomers were raised in -- which in turn was far different than the culture the WWII Generation was raised in. No group has lived through such a rapidly-changing world. While Christians face far less persecution, the cultural changes are far greater and more daunting:<ref name="YouLostMe"></ref>
-[33] 	R. Brown, Prepare for War.
+*Teachers and pastors can be fact-checked in real-time.
-[34] 	E. D. Cohen, Mind of the Bible-Believer.
+*Young people expect to participate as well as consume.
-[35] 	R. H. Tawney, Religions and the Rise of Capitalism.
+*The phenomena of “learning piracy,” where the church is not seen as the sole arbiter of spiritual content.
-[36] 	T. Aquinas, Summa Theologica, 1a 2ae, Q.xciv, Art 5, sec 3.
+*A new expectation of flattened hierarchies.
-[37] 	???, Atheist Universe.
+*A global connection to, and awareness of, others.
-[38] 	C. Hedges, American Fascists.
+*A desire to stay connected at all times.
-[39] 	A. Balk, Religion Business.
+Christians apply a static theology to an age of accelerating change -- and since “rapid social change” is just a euphemism for “revolution” -- they are trying to live in revolutionary times without a theology of revolution. This is especially problematic, as Christian ideology makes no provisions for revolutions, or counter-revolutions. The church's doctrines are infected with the ideology of preservation and permanence. Almost entirely past-oriented, churches derive their authority from various classical periods; from an alleged resemblance to an earlier form of church life; or from a theory of historical continuity.<ref name="Blaker"></ref>
-[40] 	P. Boghossian, A Manual for Creating Atheists.
-[41] 	M. T. Singer, Cults in Our Midst.
+While the American conservatives were preoccupied with threat of secular humanists encroaching on their hegemony, they ignored their own secularization -- science, technology, politics, and wealth have become the means used to justify their ends.<ref name="Lambs"></ref> This is because “secular” really means “non-religious,” instead of “anti-religious.” Everything that is not a church or church-related -- e.g., restaurants, public libraries, roads, parks, shopping plazas, parking garages, etc. -- are, by definition, secular institutions.<ref name="Carlin"></ref> Secularizing forces have no serious interest in persecuting ''any'' religion; secularization simply bypasses and undercuts religions as a means of accomplishing other goals. Secularization merely [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativism relativized] religious worldviews, rendering them innocuous. Religion has been privatized; it now one's particular prerogative and point of view. Secularization has merely convinced people that they ''could'' be wrong, and that there are more important things than dying for one’s faith. The traditional gods aren’t needed to play their role within the public life of the secular metropolis.<ref name="Blaker"></ref>
-[42] 	M. Miller, Coping with Cults.
-[43] 	F. Niettzsche, The Will to Power.
+Because of this, religious orders are gradually being replaced by organizations, which are:<ref name="Blaker"></ref>
-[44] 	A. S. LaVey, The Satanic Bible.
+*'''Flexible.'''  These groups change to meet their current needs -- reorganizing, merging, and disbanding on a whim. While traditions can form, they are of secondary importance.
-[45] 	M. Shelley, Well-Intentioned Dragons.
+*'''Future-oriented.'''  Religious orders view the present in terms of the past; whereas organizations work towards established goals.
-[46] 	J. Randi, The Faith Healers.
+*'''Secularized.''' Tradition, ceremony, and taboo are replaced with procedures, which are criticized and refined. Traditions can exist, but these are frills which do not define the group.
-[47] 	S. Harris, The End of Faith.
+*'''Making limited membership claims.''' Since the organization’s authority is relative and not absolute, it only influence small portions of the member’s life. Organizations are like labor unions, whereas religious orders are like trade guilds. Organizations have non-exclusive membership; members can join many other organizations, and are free to come and go as they please.
+The only way the clergy can ever compete is to change the way that the world perceives them, and refuse to play the role of antiquarian and spiritual middleman -- but this is difficult, because ''that is their job''. Their only hope is to address the three key problems facing modern city life, which neither the Christians, nor anyone else have a standardized solution for:<ref name="Blaker"></ref>
+#'''The decentralization of authority.''' There is a lack of political structures to address each and every issue, causing some problems to go ignored or improperly treated.
+#'''Dealing with problems on a society-wide basis.''' The city’s problems are actually society's problems; they just seem more prevalent in cities because of their larger population.
+#'''The powerlessness of oppressed peoples.''' The poor and/or minorities are voiceless, since they lack the readiness, capacity, or channels needed to voice their legitimate needs.
+Christians are unlikely to address these issues; they are based on pragmatism and worldliness, which have historically been the church’s worst events. Even the much-touted weekend service projects only aggravates these problems, by establishing a sense of co-dependency, and a dichotomy of "those-who-do" and "those-who-have-things-done-for-them."<ref name="Blaker"></ref>
+Christianity can only compete with cultural change though [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItHcsIHshhs assimilation]; while Christianity will dissolve in the process, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme its surviving fragments might influence culture once again]. While this is unpalatable to most Christians, it is also unstoppable. Even conservatism --  the resistance to cultural changes -- falters in the face of change. Since conservatives act be contrary to change, those who make changes also define and lead the direction which conservatism will follows.<ref name="Lambs"></ref> Even the Catholic Church, which stood stalwart through centuries of falling empires and countless wars, faltered before the “perfect storm” of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomers Baby Boomer] social upheavals:<ref name="Carlin"></ref>
+#[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Vatican_Council '''Vatican II'''] was a groundbreaking upheaval not because of the changes it made -- but ''because it allowed changes,'' and established a precedent for future changes.
+#'''The end of the “Catholic ghetto.”''' Like many other faiths, American Catholics were once relegated to cloistered enclaves of ethnic neighborhoods, which reinforced their own cultural norms. American culture is now more homogenized and [[Religious_Pluralism|pluralistic]].<ref name="Dean"></ref>
+#'''The American counter-cultural revolution of the 1960-70’s.''' The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_rights_movements Civil Rights movement] was really an anti-authoritarian movement -- it challenged the state’s authority to enact [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_laws Jim Crow laws], and was a rebellion against political, social, business, and educational leaders for their failure to stand up against Jim Crow.
+This is why [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pius_X Pope Pius X] tried and failed to stop the modernization of the church with his 1907 encyclical letter, [http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-x/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-x_enc_19070908_pascendi-dominici-gregis.html Pascendi Dominici Gregis].<ref name="Carlin"></ref> However, this failed to prevent Baby Boomer's social upheavals, and it will falter even further before the discontinuous changes induced by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming global warming] and the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Industrial_Revolution Fourth Industrial Revolution]. The only alternative to assimilation -- a traditionalist victory across the entire remaining American church landscape -- would still only be a Pyrrhic victory. This surviving remnant of the church will be pessimistic from their legacy of failure, and the realization that they will never again play an important role in the thoroughly-secularized dominant culture to come; much like the Amish or the Hasidic Jews.<ref name="Carlin"></ref> “In the age of video games, Middle-town-wherever will always be closer to Mars than Jerusalem.”<ref name="Lambs"></ref>
+Secularization made Christianity seem less real, privatization turned it into a personal preference, and cultural [Religious_Pluralism|pluralization] made the Christian religion into one among many. Religion has been so deeply relegated to the private sphere that it’s disappearance from the public sphere now goes largely unnoticed. To combat this this, Christians attempt to re-enter the public sphere by uncritically reduplicating the stances and styles of the public sphere itself (e.g., [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsNhNdnwgZg Christian rock], [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV3thXw-pso Christian superheroes], etc.). However, by using the secular world’s tools on the secular world’s terms only holds the Christians captive to whims of pop-culture.<ref name="Lambs"></ref>
+American church-state separation broke up the state church's monopolies, forcing churches to compete on the free market for parishioners. Churches thus had to market themselves.<ref name="Lambs"></ref> This is a unique situation; even the various national churches of Europe viewed themselves as parts of one, larger collective church; national churches were just the only valid ones within the confines of their political borders.<ref name="Carlin"></ref> In the US, all 41,000 Christian denominations of <ref name="Harrison"></ref> are at odds with each other, and with every other faith. This struggle is compounded by the fact the average American church has 85-100 parishioners,<ref name="Monday"></ref> limiting their resources to a degree that leaves most churches struggling to maintain their overhead, let alone their hegemony.
+American Churches are forming their own organizations in response to the threat posed by flexible, future-oriented, secularized, membership-limited organizations. This cooperation requires churches to ignore the theological differences between one another (especially the subtle differences), and only focus on what unites them -- to focus on what they have in common, instead of what divides or defines them. However, this is flatly incompatible with the notion of dogmatism. The end result is a generic Christian faith; a diluted form of Protestantism, which makes pithy attacks at Catholics, and no makes claims of Christ’s divinity to please Unitarians and Jews. It merely consists of the notion of God’s providence, the afterlife, the Ten Commandments, and an ambiguously-interpreted Bible. This denominational consensus erodes loyalty, since no one church -- and no one religion -- has any real advantage over another. These “Cafeteria Christians” then freely pick and choose which dogmas to follow, like the dishes on an ''à la carte'' line. This is generally accepted to be a recipe for a gradual ecclesial suicide via disintegration. Denominational consensus is the first step on the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slippery_slope slippery slope] to skepticism. By conceding their claim to a monopoly on the truth, these churches grow increasingly tolerant until they are incapable of opposing unorthodox beliefs, even inside their own church walls. In the end, they are not even able to outright oppose outright agnosticism and atheism, or to oppose Christianity’s historically condemned practices (e.g., abortion, homosexuality, and suicide). They will be left with no means for combating secularism, since the only non-denominationalist dogma is anti-dogmatism; they tolerate all religious viewpoints as being equal, except for those which say otherwise.<ref name="Carlin"></ref>
+One example of these organizations would be the seemingly-powerful Southern Baptist Convention, which is actually a loose confederation of independent churches, which send “messengers,” who represent themselves, instead of delegates representing their church.  These messengers tend to be the more conservative members of their congregations, because those are the only ones willing to attend conventions.  The decisions made at Southern Baptist Conventions are non-binding resolutions which state what the majority of attendees believed on that particular day.  This is rarely explained in news stories, because it would show that the power of the convention is overrated.  The lack of representational power is magnified at the National Association of Evangelicals, where there are no delegates, and a board decides all policies.<ref name="Wicker"></ref>
+=== Moralistic Therapeutic Deism ===
+The younger a person is, the less they understand the Christian faith. When it comes to faith, people mostly parrot what their parents taught them. The mass-media has assumed much of this role,<ref name="Harrison"></ref> pitching a bland, non-denominational Christianity as though it were toothpaste, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAjDKdYcqnU laundry detergent], or any other consumer product.<ref name="Lambs"></ref> As a result, a many Americans are only tenuously Christian in any historical, traditional sense. Christianity is successfully resisting secularization, but only by degenerating into progressivly weaker versions of itself, until it is ultimately replaced by by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moralistic_therapeutic_deism Moralistic Therapeutic Deism], a pseudo-philosophy based on the following notions:<ref name="Dyck"></ref>
+#A god exists, who created and ordered the world, and watches over human life on earth.
+#God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible by most world religions.
+#The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
+#God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life, except when God is explicitly needed to resolve a problem.
+#Good people go to heaven when they die.
+Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is an “alternative faith that co-opts if not devours” established religious traditions, as it “generally does not, and can not stand on its own.” Moralistic Therapeutic Deism has little to do with God or a sense of divine mission in the world. It offers comfort, bolsters self-esteem, helps solve problems, and lubricates interpersonal relationships by encouraging a mutually-bland common ground. Moralistic Thereputic Deism makes no pretense at changing lives; churches are seen only as useful communities to help people feel good about themselves via communicating a sanitized, culturally-cooperative, but wildly truncated version of Christianity. Moralistic Therapeutic Deism disrupts the faith of young people. Even if teenagers fully participate in youth ministry programs and churches, while avoiding distractions, trauma, and counter-influences, they are unlikely to grasp a “god” who is too limp to grasp them. As such, apart from “being nice,” teenagers do not think that religion influences their decisions, choice of friends, or behaviors. Religion is thus only used to justify the decisions that they were going to make anyway.<ref name="Dean"></ref>
+Young people practice Moralistic Therapeutic Deism not because they misunderstood what they were taught at church, ''but because it is what they were taught at church.'' Preaching and evangelism are ineffective against Moralistic Therapeutic Deism because calls to worship are also generalized and non-specific. Besides, the events being preached about (e.g., Christ’s death and resurrection) happened so long ago that they can no longer offer anything new or exciting.<ref name="Blaker"></ref> As a result, young people lack an articulate faith, because they see faith as too spineless to merit discussion. They don’t see faith as being too deep for words, but as to vapid to require its own jargon.<ref name="Dean"></ref>
+Even parochial schools and religiously-affiliated colleges cannot stop Moralistic Therapeutic Deism from spreading, because maintaining orthodoxy assumes teaching orthodox doctrines, and also that their students will never discover or experiment with any doctrine on their own.  Religiously-affiliated schools and colleges have become secularized to compete in the academic free market.<ref name="Carlin"></ref> Catholic schools, in particular, have rebranded themselves into affluent college prep academies. In 1970, 2.3% of Catholic school students were non-Catholic; in 2003, it was 13.5%, which was enough of a demographic change to cause schools to shift their mission form religious development to academic development. Currently 95% of US Catholic school teachers are laity — and often non-Catholic, trained in secular universities, and using secular textbooks and other resources.<ref name=" SoulSearching "></ref> Clergy are mostly relegated to administrative and counseling roles at parochial colleges and universities; even theology has been secularized into “religious studies,"<ref name="Carlin"></ref> which teaches about Christianity via its documents, doctrines, history, and moral codes.<ref name="Westerhoff"> J. H. Westerhoff, ''Will Our Children Have Faith?'' (Morehouse Publishing, 2012).</ref> The individual churches are no better at teaching, since Christian education has been reduced to ritual preparations (e.g., pre-baptism counseling, first communion classes, confirmation classes, pre-marriage classes). This develops cliques instead of communities -- cliques which disband and disappear following the ritual.<ref name="Westerhoff"></ref> As a result, only 9% of Americans holds a Biblical worldview. While "born-again" Christians are only twice as likely to do so, that’s barely 1 in 5. In particular:<ref name="Futurecast"></ref>
+*54% of born-agains do not believe in the existence of an absolute moral truth.
+*60% of born-agains do not believe in the existence of Satan.
+*53% of born-agains do not believe it is impossible to enter heaven via good behavior alone.
+*56% of adults, and 67% of Catholics, deny the existence of the Holy Spirit, and believe it is symbolic.
+Interestingly, standardized tests from the Nehemiah Institute show that only 6% of Christian school students embrace a Biblical worldview, which is only slightly higher that public school attendees.  In particular:<ref name="McDowell"></ref>
+*63% Christian school students do not believe Jesus is the son of the one true God.
+*65% Christian school students do not believe Satan is a real entity.
+*68% Christian school students do not believe that the Holy Spirit is a real entity.
+A sudden revival of traditional religious education would prove ineffective. The word “catechism” is derived from “catechize,” meaning “to echo back” -- it’s rote learning, and that’s problematic since the modern youth was raised in a participatory culture, which seeks:<ref name="Dean"></ref>
+*Low barriers to artistic and civic engagement.
+*Strong support for creative collaborations.
+*Informal mentorships that pass on experience to newcomers.
+*Confidence that their contributions will matter.
+*Social connection between group members, if only through appreciating their contributions.
+Additionally, if important and/or influential church positions are only open to men, or to the upper socioeconomic classes, or if particular races are either implicitly or explicitly excluded from membership, a different lesson is taught.<ref name="Westerhoff"></ref>
+== Reliance on the Bible ==
+The overwhelming challenge of modernity -- and the chronically divided Christian response to it -- has rendered a credible, united Christianity impossible.<ref name="Lambs"></ref> Christianity can survive as a personal religion based on individuals reading the Bible -- but this is a stumbling block for many<ref name="Keller"> T. Keller, ''Reason for God:  Belief in an Age of Skepticism'' (Penguin Books, 2009).</ref> because [[The Bible is not Credible|the Bible is not credible]]. Christianity, in nearly all of its varied forms, depends upon the authority of a divinely-inspired Bible -- and without this the Christians suddenly have no means to control others.<ref name="Brown"> R. Brown, ''Prepare for War'' (Whitaker House, 1992).</ref> This is easily achieved by accepting the Christians' claims of biblical authority, and using it to frame them into adopting absurd and indefensible positions.<ref name="Cohen"> E. D. Cohen, ''Mind of the Bible-Believer'' (Prometheus Books, 1988).</ref> For example:
+*The writers of the New Testament had the opportunity to fix the errors in the Old Testament and in earlier gospels by drawing bullseye’s around the arrows they shot -- but they still didn’t.
+*Christians cannot write off, ignore, or rationalize their way out of any of the Old Testament laws, or the horrors which they have spawned, since Christ explicitly mentioned several times that every character of the old law is true and correct, and must be obeyed (MAT 5:17-19; JOH 7:19; LUK 16:17). Any attempt to dance around this problem defies Christ’s direct teachings.<ref name="Harrison"></ref>
+*Many of God’s laws are presented without ''any'' justification or explanation. The Bible tells us, via a revelation, that it’s against God’s law to boil a baby goat in its mother’s milk -- ''but the Bible never explains why that was ever a problem'', or why it would offend God.<ref name=" Russell-Not "></ref>
+*There is a large burden of proof on the Resurrection. This is crucial, because if the Resurrection is untrue, then the entire Christian religion is invalid (1COR 15:17).<ref name="Harrison"></ref>
+*Christians must abandon the entire concept of jurisprudence in order to comply with Christ’s maxim of “judge not lest ye be judged.”<ref name=" Russell-Not "></ref>
+*The Gospel of Luke claims to be an eyewitness account (LUK 1:1-4), in contrast with basically the entire corpus of Biblical history studies.<ref name="Keller"></ref>
+*While ancient slavery was more like indentured servitude, and did not involve the literal ownership of humans like the “chattel” slavery of the American South, the Bible was still used to endorse and rationalize that unforgivable practice, despite its clear prohibitions on kidnapping (1TIM 1:9-11) and slave trafficking (DEU 24:7).<ref name="Keller"></ref>
+*Many, many, many more examples can be [[Points_of_Contention|found elsewhere on this website.]]
+==The Clergy are "Unmanly"==
+While this article makes many [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UI_JwF3cnA traditional / stereotypical generalizations of gender traits and roles], it not an endorsement of that worldview. However, churches have historically catered to those who ''do'' hold these views on gender traits and roles, and [[The_Church%27s_Weaknesses#The_Indifference_of_Youth|they are now failing miserably at it]].
+{{Quotebox|
+|width=24%
+|align=right
+|quote=Your system is perfectly designed to get you the results you’re getting.
+|source=W. Edwards Deming
+|}}
+'''Churches are like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_shower baby showers]; even if men are invited, they don’t want to be there.''' Church services are primary attended by women, children, and the elderly; churches now cater to those demographics to such a degree that they have become associated with childhood. As a result, '''many men fear going to church -- not because they fear God -- but because they fear it will damage their reputation.''' Churchgoing men are viewed as bland, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspar_Milquetoast milquetoast] pushovers, like [http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/Ned_Flanders Ned Flanders]. Granted there is a “[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CDlBLvc3YE Mafia exception”] to this rule; mobsters attend church services without losing their street cred, but only because they live and act contrary to the Christian lifestyle. It’s the buy-in which makes church attendees unmanly. A random sampling of 100 non-churchgoing men all replied they didn’t attend mass because churches are for “kids, women, and wimps.”<ref name="Murrow"> D. Murrow, ''Why Men Hate Going to Church'' (Thomas Nelson, 2005).</ref>
+While the clergy is a men’s club, every other aspect of the church is run and dominated by women; “churches are women’s clubs with male officers,” and based on the rolls of old New England churches, this has been an ongoing trend since the 1600s. This is because:<ref name="Murrow"></ref>
+*Women tend to produce more [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serotonin serotonin], which calms them and prevents the expression of anger. (This is why women tend to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNiriEzx5ss bottle up their anger until they snap].) Church aggressions must be handled in an overly-polite manner; men can’t ask their priest if he [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAEUeqJRxB8 wants to step outside].
+*Women’s brains tend to have larger language centers; which in turn, allows them to be better at reading, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XUjIXX2j6Y singing], speaking, networking, etc. -- in short, to be better at what churches require.
+There are a number of differences in the male brain which drive their desires, shape their cultures, and are being largely unmet by the modern church:
+*Men tend to have larger [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu7A8LIzL1o amygdala], resulting in stronger [https://youtu.be/oIQZJDqsC_0?t=308 fight-or-flight responses], and a greater tendency for flashbacks. Men have extreme difficulty overcoming ''any'' unpleasant, painful, or humiliating past experiences, because of the influence of this region of the brain, and the fact that it does not reason -- ''it responds''.<ref name="Murrow"></ref>
+*Men tend to have a smaller [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpus_callosum corpus callosum], which allows less traffic between brain hemispheres. As a result, men have greater difficulty with verbal learning methods (e.g., sermons, bible studies, etc.)<ref name="Murrow"></ref>
+**Men need to be able to ask questions and challenge the ''status quo''. '''If their input is not valued, then they are not valued. Men need dialogue, not monologue.''' There needs to be give-and-take, and a chance to argue.
+**Men enjoy learning through personal discovery; they tend to be [https://youtu.be/ypEaGQb6dJk?t=6m10s active, hands-on learners who learn by doing, and through interacting with objects].
+**The average male attention span is 6-8 minutes, but the average sermon is 30 minutes. Lesson plans must focus on a single point or concept, because what is not concise is lost.
+**Men require [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Program_evaluation_and_review_technique visually-explained plans towards a pre-defined goal], so they can measure their progress. Otherwise, they will feel aimless and run aground.<ref name="Murrow"></ref>
+**Christian sermons and monologues never present any novel or useful ideas. Even at their most intense, they are rehashes of [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF4ZTcuhixc clichéd macho posturing] (e.g., the “baptize in fire!” from MAR 9:49-50).<ref name="Brown"></ref>
+***“If we have authority over the devil in Jesus’ name, how many times do we have to bind him before it works? If it does work, why does the devil keep getting free?”<ref name="Paulk"> E. Paulk, ''Satan Unmasked:  Exposing the Work of Satan in the World Today'' (Dimension Publishers, 1984).</ref>
+**Modern preaching is ineffective because it relies on generalized, non-specific terms to discuss events which happened so long ago that they no longer offer a new worldview or anything else to get excited about.<ref name="Cox"></ref>
+***Modern people judge what they encounter through the lenses of pragmatism and profanity -- they are profane in the classical sense of the world (i.e., literally meaning “outside the temple”). For something to be relevant, it must contain a sense of “this-worldness.”<ref name="Cox"></ref>
+**Catholics tend to give low-quality sermons because they are literally filler material. Catholics see the Eucharist as the means to achieve grace, as opposed to Protestantism, where the sermon is the means to achieve grace. Poor sermons signal that a Catholic priest is a disappointment, and that a Protestant priest is a failure.<ref name="Carlin"></ref>
+*Men are made uncomfortable by the modern terminology used in modern worship:
+**“A personal relationship with Christ,” “a passionate relationship with Christ,” and “intimacy with God” all carry unwanted sexual connotations.<ref name="Murrow"></ref>
+**Praying Christians tend to assume Elizabethan speech patterns (“We beseech thee, O Lord…”) and/or mantra-like repetition of God’s name (“Lord, we thank you for this day, O Lord.)” These are both perceived as grandstanding to create an illusion of holiness, and are not considered to be genuine devotion,<ref name="Murrow"></ref> which is why this “god-talk”  has little or no resonance outside of religious communities.<ref name="Eaton"> P. W. Eaton, ''Engaging the Culture, Changing the World'' (IVP Academic , 2011). </ref>
+**“Being saved” makes men feel like damsels-in-distress.<ref name="Murrow"></ref>
+**“Sharing how you feel” makes men feel like they’re in kindergarten.<ref name="Murrow"></ref>
+**“The Lord” is meaningless and unrelatable outside of a monarchy; if anything men are now conditioned to rebel against anyone demanding to be called “Lord.”<ref name="Murrow"></ref>
+*Men’s ministries fail because they’re essentially women’s ministries for men, where they sit around read, weep, hold hands, sing, hug, listen, and share.
+**The masculine spirit is regarded as unholy because it is [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5ZkKBaa1Co frequently uncouth].<ref name="Murrow"></ref>
+**Guilt, duty, and obligation tend to be poor motivators for men.<ref name="Murrow"></ref>
+**Men have difficulty with gathering, praying, and the laying-of-hands because they associate personal space with safety, whereas women tend to associate closeness with safety.<ref name ="Murrow"></ref>
+**Men fear psychic regression (i.e., returning to a second infancy to evade reality), because the men who regress (e.g., those who run back to their mommies) are perceived as failures. Men ''must'' move out, and they ''can’t'' return home.<ref name="Murrow"></ref>
+**Christianity repels men because it’s based on risk-avoidance; it’s all about “don’t do this” and “play it safe.” Men ''must'' play for keeps; without a ''real'' threat from a ''real'' enemy, they cannot fight, and lose interest.<ref name="Murrow"></ref>
+***Christianity only caught on because it was originally seen as subversive, thrilling, dangerous, and exciting; the risk of being fed to lions was its selling point. Why would anyone get excited about going to a sanctuary?<ref name="Murrow"></ref>
+**Men fear Heaven, because it sounds so boring. There are no challenges, no uncertainties, and no fun activities other than singing for billions of years.<ref name="Murrow"></ref>
+*Men have an urge to constantly prove themselves in their own way, according to their own skill. “Real manhood differs from simple anatomical maleness, that it is not a natural condition that comes about spontaneously through biological maturation but rather is a precarious or artificial state that boys must win against power odds.” '''Manhood is something you ''earn'''''.<ref name="Murrow"></ref>
+**Men don’t just want to be great; they want to be recognized as being great. Therefore, they won’t do anything unless it offers them a shot at greatness. Their [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO23WBji_Z0 constant posturing and one-upmanship] benefits society through its by-products:  bravery, heroism, generosity, self-sacrifice, and innovation.<ref name="Murrow"></ref>
+**The modern church has no need for the traditionally masculine skills and traits, especially since they would disrupt the church’s predominately “soft skill”-based tasks (e.g., child care, teaching children, preparing soup, etc.). Men have a need to be needed, but aside from ushers, all of the traditionally “male” jobs are reserved for the clergy.<ref name="Murrow"></ref>
+**Male volunteers are prone to [[The_Church%27s_Weaknesses#Burnout|burnout]] from [[The_Church%27s_Weaknesses#Lack_of_Closure|failing to see the fruits of their labors]]. This is commonly due churches with too many ministry programs, many of which have little effect. Since churches attract [[The_Church%27s_Weaknesses#Hostile_Parishioners |passivity activists who expend most of their energy on fighting change]], most churches are unwilling to cull their unproductive programs and their divert resources towards the better programs.<ref name="Murrow"></ref>
+***Men’s greatest desire is reproduction, but churches are [[The_Church%27s_Weaknesses#Churches_Create_a_Alienating_Environment|failing to grow]]. Even the fastest growing churches only show a 1.17% increase.<ref name="Murrow"></ref>
+*Clergy tend to exhibit more “feminine” personality traits than men of other professions, and on average produce less testosterone.<ref name="Murrow"></ref>
+**Homosexuals are disproportionately attracted to religious vocations, because the church is one of the society's few institutions where men are not expected to conform to traditional male roles; it is the only place where men are praised for displaying feminine traits.<ref name="Murrow"></ref> Priests are expected to be a sort of asexual, sinless “third gender,” which is shielded from the world and its myriad of corrupting influences.<ref name="Monday"></ref>
+**'''Priests wield no power or authority beyond their persuasive abilities.'''<ref name="Monday"></ref> While clergy serve in the holy office of ministry, it is the ''office'' that is holy, not the person.<ref name="Lehr"></ref>
+**Priests must be perfect pacifists and avoid conflict, lest they be hypocrites. While some Christians argue that “turning the other cheek” is a figure of speech, the context of MAT 5:40-42 reveals that Jesus literally advocated inviting mistreatment.<ref name="Barker2"> D. Barker, ''Godless:  How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists'' (Ulysses Press, 2008).</ref>
+***The Cubans could have staged a counter-revolution at any time, but their Christian ideology prevented them from doing so, as it does not allow for either revolutions or counter-revolutions.<ref name="Cox"></ref>
+As a result, some (mostly fundamentalist) Christians overcompensate by fostering a culture of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxic_masculinity toxic masculinity]. The emasculation which results from submission to the church authority is offset by the further surrender of their [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhduvvA_Xpo conscience, accountability, and empathy]. The domination which men are encouraged to practice over women and children is a reflection of the domination they are taught to endure outside of the home.<ref name="Hedges">C. Hedges, ''American Fascists:  The Christian Right and the War on America'' (Free Press, 2008).</ref>
+Control and force is used to raise [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zfqw8nhUwA obedient, unquestioning, and fearful] children who will not be tempted to challenge powerful male figures as adults. These children are conditioned to rely on external authority for moral choice. They obey out of fear, since the refusal to submit to authority is [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEGo41443iI heresy]. The child learns to distrust outsiders, until their benign and trivial differences are exaggerated to Satanic proportions.<ref name="Hedges"></ref>  This process perpetuates childhood, allowing adult to bask in the protection of an all-powerful father, masking themselves from their shortcomings, weaknesses, and frailties. This also makes mature, loving relationships impossible to build, since everything revolves around the believer's needs, desires, protection, and advancement. Relationships -- even within families -- splinter and fracture in the face of what the church and its leaders dictate within their binary world of right and wrong. People are judged not by their intrinsic qualities, actions, self-sacrifice, or compassion, but by the rigidity of their obedience. This obedience is vital, because in many ways, these toxic leaders fear love the most, for it is love that unleashes passions and breaks bonds that can defy the carefully constructed hierarchies which keep followers trapped and enclosed.<ref name="Hedges"></ref>
+*Fundamentalism correlates with right-wing authoritarian personalities, which in turn correlates with racism, homophobia, ethnocentrism, and punitiveness. The aggression, prejudice, and schadenfreude-coupled vindictiveness directed against out-groups ''is what defines'' the in-group.<ref name="Blaker"></ref>
+*Fundamentalists target women, homosexuals, Jews, atheists, blacks, and a host of other groups when confronted with our culture's imperfections because scapegoats act as a safety valve against the pressure of disappointment. This is why religious leaders point blame at outsiders as a means to prevent malcontent among their own members.<ref name="Blaker"></ref>
+*Rigid sex role socialization is one of the propagators of rape. Women are taught not to show interest, while men are taught to take a leading role, which establishes a rape culture.<ref name="Blaker"></ref>
+**Misogyny is another cause of rape, as the majority of rapists seek power, not sex. They seek to humiliate, degrade, subordinate, and injure women to boost their own egos. Fundamentalists will even go as far as to tell rape victims that “it is good to suffer,” because their suffering will “earn them God’s special favor.” As a result, nothing is done to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1_Pw563opc&feature=youtu.be&t=37 protect the innocent]. The attack is written off as being God’s will, and the victim is told to forget the incident; to move on; and most importantly -- forgive their unrepentant attacker.<ref name="Blaker"></ref>
+**Among the general population, sex abuse is mostly perpetrated by step-fathers, and not fathers. This is not true for fundamentalist Christians, who have a disproportionate incest rate. Fundamentalism correlates with incest, but this probability decreases with increasing degree of community involvement. Only those who don’t get out often will turn to incest.<ref name="Blaker"></ref>
+**Conservatives have historically deplored welfare initiatives because they give abused women a means to escape, which challenges an absolute patriarchy. Contrary to popular belief, there are no incentives for welfare mothers to have additional children. Additional child benefits mostly come in non-cash forms (e.g., [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supplemental_Nutrition_Assistance_Program SNAP], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WIC WIC], Medicaid, and housing and daycare allowances which are paid directly to the providers).<ref name="Blaker"></ref>
+== Difficult Theological Problems are Piling Up ==
+'''Theological advancements are produced at a glacial pace, if at all.''' Many topics have been debated for centuries without progress. Technological progress moves at a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerating_change much faster rate], and society has had to, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Industrial_Revolution and soon will], [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek5vse2_Aq0 completely reform itself] to cope with its changes. As a result, theological conundrums are being generated faster than they can ever be resolved, which both highlights and hastens Christianity's irrelevance of Christianity.<ref name="Stevens"></ref> Some of these unsolvable questions which no one else is asking include:
+*Would human clones have souls?
+*Would human-animal hybrids (e.g., [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanzee humanzees]) have souls?
+*Would [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU7Ga7qTLDU self-aware androids] have souls?
+**If [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSJhXK5eCZ4 Data] doesn’t have a soul, then no one deserves one.
+*Would intelligent extraterrestrial lifeforms have souls?
+**The Catholic Church has been playing with this idea since c.2005. It is generally accepted in Catholic circles that intelligent extraterrestrial lifeforms have souls, which were also corrupted by Original Sin, and were also redeemed via Jesus’ crucifixion. However, this ''is not'' a Catholic dogma, and the issue has gone virtually unnoticed by other Christian sects.
+*If you were to gradually replace all your organs and body parts with transplanted and/or cloned body parts, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus are you still the same person]?
+*What happens to the souls of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics cryopreserved]? In the unlikely event that these people were to be resurrected with future science, would their souls return to their preserved bodies, like the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_concept_of_the_soul#B.C3.A2_.28personality.29 Ba] of ancient Egypt? If not, were their souls frozen too?
+**Would placing a live person into cryogenic suspension be murder?<ref name="Shermer"> M. Shermer, ''Why People Believe Weird Things'' (W. H. Freeman & Co., 1997).</ref>
+**Would failing to reanimate them be murder?<ref name="Shermer"></ref>
+*If suicide bombers go to heaven for killing the enemy, what happens when the two sides make peace?<ref name="Harris"> S. Harris, ''The End of Faith:  Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason'' (W. W. Norton, 2005).</ref>
+*If “there is nothing is new under the sun,” (ECC 1:7) then how did the entirely-novel Apollo moon landings occur?<ref name="Dyck"></ref>
+==References==
+<references />
+----
+{{Template:Navigation}}