Summary
Churches across the U.S. are grappling with dwindling attendance and financial instability, forcing many to close or sell properties.
The Diocese of Buffalo has shut down 100 parishes since the 2000s and plans to close 70 more. Nationwide, church membership has dropped from 80% in the 1940s to 45% today.
Some churches repurpose their land to survive, like Atlanta’s First United Methodist Church, which is building affordable housing.
Others, like Calcium Church in New York, make cutbacks to stay open. Leaders warn of the long-term risks of declining community and support for churches.
Good riddance.
I pray to God everyday that i can live long enough to witness the day humanity completely abandons religion. Inshallah🙏
Boardroom meme:
Boss: Church attendance is down. What can we do to turn this around?
Person 1: discreetly move pedophile pastors around to hide their proclivities?
Person 2: assure the congregation that we still hate gay people
Person 3: follow the teachings of Christ and show love and charity to our neighbors regardless of who they are
Person 3 is thrown out the stained glass window.
Now the religious companies that remain are all merging together or being bought out by larger religious companies. They change their names to some douchey name that sounds like a shitty christian rock band and franchise. Somehow they’re still allowed to be non-profits despite being so much for-profit.
Good.
Oh no! So, anyway…
No, don’t close your damn doors, open them up to the homeless. Make these useless buildings good for something!
From what it seems to me, the megachurches are doing okay. It’s the more traditional denominations that are suffering. Overall religion might be on a decline, but certain sects are flourishing. One silver lining about some of the megachurches is that they’re led by a strong personality and once they’re gone, the whole organization putters out. They’re more organized around an individual than a theology.
Good.
Good.
Fantastic news, less grifting. Now shutdown mega churches.
Good.
The internet is killing God but giving birth to a new age of conspiracy theorists.
So, not much has changed.
Interesting that they can’t stay afloat financially, because they don’t pay taxes.
Some churches repurpose their land to survive, like Atlanta’s First United Methodist Church, which is building affordable housing.
That’s something more churches should do. They always preach about “helping the poor” but most don’t give a fuck.
And yet, somehow, they still make all the policy in this country.
Great news! Maybe we can finally tax these cults as well.
Taxing them would force more closures. Do it.
Considering scientology has their tendrils in a fair bit of Hollywood, that might actually backfire on government coffers. If they demand their members strike, the film industry is going to be in for pain.
No way would SAG strike over Scientology getting taxed. Scientology are parasites and we’d all be better off without them.
Not SAG, just the cultists. There’s enough of them in prominent roles that it would cause financial damage (including to themselves), delays, and problems.
If it’s not a real strike, then they’re replaceable. A “bye Felicia” sort of situation.
That’s easier said than done when it’s a lead actor refusing to work during filming. They’ll be breaching a contract, sure, but replacing them is going to waste money and time in recasting, rescheduling, refilming, etc.
Would they actually do it, knowing they’re in for a multimillion dollar lawsuit? Probably. The Cult of Scientology practices excommunication, and it’s a strong motivator for indoctrinees.
No, we don’t want to tax them. Remember “no taxation without representation”. Taxing them means allowing their influence in government.
Not to say that they aren’t already influencing our government, but taxing them just opens up the floodgates for it to be done on an official level.
That’s the point. They are influencing the government by picking political sides, which officially disqualifies them from tax exempt status but that’s something that’s never been enforced.
Does it? What makes them different from explicitly political nonprofits? Or do those not get tax-exempt status?
No representation without taxation
We tax businesses. We shouldn’t be allowing businesses or churches to influence government. I believe “no taxation without representation” is meant only to be applied to people.
