This is a "tsunami" in the same way that the eradication of polio was.

I wish there were something like community centers to replace the void they'll leave behind. As a kid we had rec centers with game rooms and courts and stuff. I remember getting a computer lab and thinking it was the coolest thing.

Obviously not the exact same anymore but something similar. I do believe people are becoming lonelier and isolated because of the pandemic and the rise of social media.

Good, the majority of churches have changed from social gatherings to political rallies, especially in smaller communities. Rural America is going to die out with the baby boomers and they have no one to blame but themselves for constantly electing these old assholes.

Good

They didn't follow their own texts (apparently this Jesús guy is too liberal). Were too selfish and cowardice to call out their own for literal monstrous acts. Judged and played god for political gains. Protected the powerful at the expense of the weak. All while crying victimhood and intentionally trying to bring about armageddon.

Action meet consequence. No one wants to be in a canabalistic death cult except fascists and they aren't going to give you money. They are going to rob you.

I would say "good", but I'm sure this will somehow not affect megachurches

Finally, some good news in the US.

In Amsterdam, there's a very nice old church that has been converted to a leather club.

Near my house in England, there's a big church hall that was sold off by the church and is now still a community center, but with a couple professional offices in part of the building. The building now seems far less derelict (the church hadn't been giving it the level of maintenance it needed) and it's being used much more as a result.

Reading between the lines in the article, it's the more agreeable ones that are closing. Methodists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, to some extent Catholics. The ones that are thriving are your batshit insane Baptist, Evangelical, Pentecostal types. So don't get too excited from the headline, the worst of Christianity will always survive.

To quote Frank Zappa: "Tax the churches. Tax the businesses owned by the churches."

And then, for the ones that do actual charity work, have them run the charity separately from the church, under the same rules as secular charities, with regards to taxes and reporting.

I keep thinking about all that property and buildings already there and people being hungry for third spaces and how I could start some kind of movement that was like open source for software but something for third spaces and done as non-profit.

Something that could host things like makerspaces, quilting groups, book exchanges, swap meets, reading clubs, game day/nights, still rent out for meetups and even weddings/wakes, things like that.

Seems to me that people are dying for third spaces that don't involve having to cough up money just to be somewhere that is not home, school, or work.

And many people don't want to be involved in a church per se.

Thoughts and.. nevermind

Maybe don’t let a crazy regime appropriate your religion for their use to dominate the world?

Less churches = less pastors (especially youth pastors) = less children being raped. At least i hope that's how the math works out.

Younger folk see the grift.

uplifting news!

Finally some good news

I want to buy up a megachurch and turn it into a to something that serves everything the Victorian bullshitters despised.

Over here, an abortion clinic. And here we have the needle exchange. On the east end there’s a gay bar and sex dungeon in the basement. (We didn’t really have to make a lot of changes to the basement.) second floor is a children’s library (it was important we placed that one as far away from the basement as possible since….well, trauma from the previous tenants). Psychotherapy is offered on the weekends. In the annex we have a furry menagerie and then the grey room.

In the field out back we have a solar array and charging stations in the parking lot. We also added a bus stop here so those without cars can still come in for low-income food assistance on sundays.

What’s the grey room? Oh it the most sinister room of all. All the complaints we receive from Christians are fed into a paper shredder. Their phone calls also just go to a speakerphone in that room. Nobody mans the grey room. It’s where Christians BS gets ignored entirely.

Churches should pay taxes like the rest of us.

Hope my state legalizes weed cafes so we can get a 3rd place worth going to.

Would be a lot nicer than a church.

Some churches teach positive things and perform useful services for the community. Most don’t, and many are actively harmful. Really they’re all harmful as they teach people to believe in absurd things with no evidence and that the harder you believe in their inane supernatural views, the better of a person you are. Also, to blindly trust authority, the pastor. If we could get rid of the churches that teach people about “demons” and indoctrinate them into conservative politics, that would be great.

Hell yeah

My wife's is one that is. They've got no new blood coming in and a pastor that was intentionally sabotaging them, driving their most dedicated and supportive members out. No attempts at community outreach or retention. Also our state conference literally cares about money more than the god they supposedly serve.

They just got told that they can either sell the church and parsonage, keep some of the money from its sale to bring to the church they'll merge with, or the conference will shut them down, sieze the property, sell it, and force them to merge with the other church anyway, but without the money.

It's no wonder people have been bailing for decades. Totally sounds like something worth being a part of and associated with, right?

I drive by three empty old churches every day and about ten fully functioning ones complete with a huge tax funded metal sided auditorium/gym. They don't pay taxes but they sure do spend them.

Scamming too much out of communities on the weekdays to keep bringing in that sweet weekend scam money too.

is this still true of the mega churches?

Repurpose them as community centers