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What is most responsible for Christianity's failure in the West?

See above.

  • The conspiratorial view

    Votes: 2 7.7%
  • The progressive view

    Votes: 15 57.7%
  • The perspectivist view

    Votes: 8 30.8%
  • The economic view

    Votes: 1 3.8%

  • Total voters
    26

Einzige

Elitist as Hell.
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Where by "failure" I mean its gradual displacement from the center of the moral and intellectual life of they civilization.

To define these options bit:

Poll option one is the conservative answer. It holds that Christian belief would be as predominant today in the West as it was in 1913 if it were not for the conscious, deliberate machinations of a small group of secularizing elites promoting atheism and amorality.

My thoughts: This is the least tenable of the four options I've provided, in part because 'the elite' in the West has never been anti-Christian. To be sure, they are opposed to fundamentalism, but only because it is at odds with liberal-capitalist notions of 'progress'. The invocation of the defense of Occidental Christianity during the Cold War is proof-positive that Western elites want generally to employ Christianity to their own ends.

Poll option two is the liberal answer, the "secularization thesis". According to this theory, Christianity is doomed to deplacement, as are all religions eventually, by the gradual and wholly unconscious forces of mental and mechanical progress.

My thoughts: This is almost as problematic a solution to the question posed as the first answer. It assumes a great deal of the structure of Christian ideology - progress towards a "new Heaven and a new Earth", an eventual end to history, and so on - while draining it of its metaphysical content.

Option three is what I call the Nietzscheite option: Christianity has failed because it is inherently flawed. It can exist only among theoppressed, and as soon as a people become strong enough to shirk ofc a collective sense of inferiority it will abolish the correspondent notimon of individual existential guilt that informs Christianity.

My opinion: This is the view I hold closest to. Christianity, in a very real sense, requires weakness to thrive (it is little wonder that Christianity is ascendant today only in the impoverished Third World nations of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the American South). A strong people wants a religion of strength and severity.

Option four: The Marxist solution. Christianity belongs at the historical latest to the age of feudalism; the rising capitalists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries sought initially to do away with it altogether, as a reminder of the hated age of the nobility, and retain it only as a matter of practicalg politica expedience.

My opinion: This is superficially similar to the liberal answer, relying on notions of deterministic 'progress', but avoids some of its problems by acknowledging the fact of necessity and human action in historical processes, rather than ascribing all history to forces largely independent of men.
 
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Religion is a form of oppression. People in power want to keep people below them stupid and religion is the easiest way to do that. Religion is also a tool to incite violence. Bad people become hero's because they are doing god's work.
 
Religion is a form of oppression. People in power want to keep people below them stupid and religion is the easiest way to do that. Religion is also a tool to incite violence. Bad people become hero's because they are doing god's work.


But, you see, that isn't true of Christianity. It professes to speak for the weak and the wounded - it is the spiritual equivalent of socialism. Thus my contempt for it.
 
Where by "failure" I mean its gradual displacement from the center of the moral and intellectual life of they civilization.

To define these options bit:

Poll option one is the conservative answer. It holds that Christian belief would be as predominant today in the West as it was in 1913 if it were not for the conscious, deliberate machinations of a small group of secularizing elites promoting atheism and amorality.

My thoughts: This is the least tenable of the four options I've provided, in part because 'the elite' in the West has never been anti-Christian. To be sure, they are opposed to fundamentalism, but only because it is at odds with liberal-capitalist notions of 'progress'. The invocation of the defense of Occidental Christianity during the Cold War is proof-positive that Western elites want generally to employ Christianity to their own ends.

Poll option two is the liberal answer, the "secularization thesis". According to this theory, Christianity is doomed to deplacement, as are all religions eventually, by the gradual and wholly unconscious forces of mental and mechanical progress.

My thoughts: This is almost as problematic a solution to the question posed as the first answer. It assumes a great deal of the structure of Christian ideology - progress towards a "new Heaven and a new Earth", an eventual end to history, and so on - while draining it of its metaphysical content.

Option three is what I call the Nietzscheite option: Christianity has failed because it is inherently flawed. It can exist only among theoppressed, and as soon as a people become strong enough to shirk ofc a collective sense of inferiority it will abolish the correspondent notimon of individual existential guilt that informs Christianity.

My opinion: This is the view I hold closest to. Christianity, in a very real sense, requires weakness to thrive (it is little wonder that Christianity is ascendant today only in the impoverished Third World nations of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the American South). A strong people wants a religion of strength and severity.

Option four: The Marxist solution. Christianity belongs at the historical latest to the age of feudalism; the rising capitalists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries sought initially to do away with it altogether, as a reminder of the hated age of the nobility, and retain it only as a matter of practicalg politica expedience.

My opinion: This is superficially similar to the liberal answer, relying on notions of deterministic 'progress', but avoids some of its problems by acknowledging the fact of necessity and human action in historical processes, rather than ascribing all history to forces largely independent of men.

Moral failures of Christian leaders and Christians in general mainly, followed by substituting authentic Biblical faith with "religion", meaning church culture, customs and non-Biblical rules.
 
But, you see, that isn't true of Christianity. It professes to speak for the weak and the wounded - it is the spiritual equivalent of socialism. Thus my contempt for it.

It is especially true for Christianity. It has been used as an excuse for oppression of blacks, gays, jews, muslims, native americans. It was a justification for slavery, holocaust, crusades, inquisition, racism, manifest destiny, class warfare, pedophilia, and countless other atrocities.
 
Moral failures of Christian leaders and Christians in general mainly, followed by substituting authentic Biblical faith with "religion", meaning church culture, customs and non-Biblical rules.

This reads like a variation on the third view: that Christian morality is harmful/deleterious.
 
Also, I apologize for spelling and grammatical errors. I'm posting from a phone.
 
The option I would choose is not there. I think that the lessening impact of the church in the West is caused by two factors:

1) Alternatives to social/information gathering. 100 years ago and earlier, the church was the social and informational hub of many towns and locales. With the advent and common usage and access of communication technology and transportation technology. the church is no longer the center of either socializing or gathering information, either locally or beyond.

2) Media presentation of religious extremists. From "televangelists" to news stories of the behavior or religious extremists, the media saturation of the religious who are outside of the mainstream has impacted the overall perception of many in the West. Most folks are NOT extremists, including people who are religious, but when extremism is packaged with the religious name, it is easy to make too close of an association of the two.

I don't see Christianity as "failing" in the West, but I do see it's influence as falling.
 
That is essentially what is meant with option two: that the sociological effects of technology render Christianity obsolescent. Combine that with a belief in progressive moral advancements and you have the liberal view of the matter.
 
In my opinion the failure lies in the conflict between the ideal and the reality of Christianity.

The ideal states one must love, tolerate, forgive, be kind, be generous, do not judge, and set a good example.

The reality which is demonstrated by many Christians is hatred, intolerance, vengeance, cruelty, greed, judgement, and pride.

When people observe that Christians seem unable to exemplify the Christian virtues, but instead act like a pack of Pharisees (i.e. self-righteous, hypocritcal, and sanctimonious), the ideology fails.

This has been especially true during the current information age, where poor examples are shown on a daily basis for all to see. Failing to see any exemplars of true Christianity, rational people tend to reject it as a fraud.

However, I could not pick a poll option because I am uncertain that any shown reflect this to my satisfaction.
 
The option I would choose is not there. I think that the lessening impact of the church in the West is caused by two factors:

1) Alternatives to social/information gathering. 100 years ago and earlier, the church was the social and informational hub of many towns and locales. With the advent and common usage and access of communication technology and transportation technology. the church is no longer the center of either socializing or gathering information, either locally or beyond.

2) Media presentation of religious extremists. From "televangelists" to news stories of the behavior or religious extremists, the media saturation of the religious who are outside of the mainstream has impacted the overall perception of many in the West. Most folks are NOT extremists, including people who are religious, but when extremism is packaged with the religious name, it is easy to make too close of an association of the two.

I don't see Christianity as "failing" in the West, but I do see it's influence as falling.



I would add,

The rise of the modern social welfare state as a cause. With the church not being the primary source of social assistance, people do not have to become part of the church in order to ensure they may receive help if and when they may require it. Another associated aspect is, a person would not be praying to god for a miracle to heal someone in their family from a medical condition they can not afford to get treatment for, or to ensure they don't lose their jobs, or shelter or for food
 
In your opinion (option 3), Christianity needs weakness to thrive, but I would say it needs humility instead. Our problem as a nation is that we've grown arrogant with our instant gratification and the moral relativism we've embraced.



Where by "failure" I mean its gradual displacement from the center of the moral and intellectual life of they civilization.

To define these options bit:

Poll option one is the conservative answer. It holds that Christian belief would be as predominant today in the West as it was in 1913 if it were not for the conscious, deliberate machinations of a small group of secularizing elites promoting atheism and amorality.

My thoughts: This is the least tenable of the four options I've provided, in part because 'the elite' in the West has never been anti-Christian. To be sure, they are opposed to fundamentalism, but only because it is at odds with liberal-capitalist notions of 'progress'. The invocation of the defense of Occidental Christianity during the Cold War is proof-positive that Western elites want generally to employ Christianity to their own ends.

Poll option two is the liberal answer, the "secularization thesis". According to this theory, Christianity is doomed to deplacement, as are all religions eventually, by the gradual and wholly unconscious forces of mental and mechanical progress.

My thoughts: This is almost as problematic a solution to the question posed as the first answer. It assumes a great deal of the structure of Christian ideology - progress towards a "new Heaven and a new Earth", an eventual end to history, and so on - while draining it of its metaphysical content.

Option three is what I call the Nietzscheite option: Christianity has failed because it is inherently flawed. It can exist only among theoppressed, and as soon as a people become strong enough to shirk ofc a collective sense of inferiority it will abolish the correspondent notimon of individual existential guilt that informs Christianity.

My opinion: This is the view I hold closest to. Christianity, in a very real sense, requires weakness to thrive (it is little wonder that Christianity is ascendant today only in the impoverished Third World nations of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the American South). A strong people wants a religion of strength and severity.

Option four: The Marxist solution. Christianity belongs at the historical latest to the age of feudalism; the rising capitalists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries sought initially to do away with it altogether, as a reminder of the hated age of the nobility, and retain it only as a matter of practicalg politica expedience.

My opinion: This is superficially similar to the liberal answer, relying on notions of deterministic 'progress', but avoids some of its problems by acknowledging the fact of necessity and human action in historical processes, rather than ascribing all history to forces largely independent of men.
 
I would add,

The rise of the modern social welfare state as a cause. With the church not being the primary source of social assistance, people do not have to become part of the church in order to ensure they may receive help if and when they may require it. Another associated aspect is, a person would not be praying to god for a miracle to heal someone in their family from a medical condition they can not afford to get treatment for, or to ensure they don't lose their jobs, or shelter or for food

Good addition.
 
I think the poll begs the question.
 
I think the poll begs the question.

I thought it was an object of faith among Western Christians that the religion is on the wane? The conservatives over at The Blaze seem to feel such is true:

Poll: 77% see declining religious influence in America | TheBlaze.com

I think there's opportunity in its decline to return to genuinely traditional values, to scrape the crust of twenty centuries off of Western civilization and restore the vital, life-affirming values of the heritage of our pagan European ancestors.
 
I've never heard that waning of belief is an "object of faith" to western Christians. It certainly has never given me more than a minute's pause.
 
In my opinion the failure lies in the conflict between the ideal and the reality of Christianity.

The ideal states one must love, tolerate, forgive, be kind, be generous, do not judge, and set a good example.

The reality which is demonstrated by many Christians is hatred, intolerance, vengeance, cruelty, greed, judgement, and pride.

When people observe that Christians seem unable to exemplify the Christian virtues, but instead act like a pack of Pharisees (i.e. self-righteous, hypocritcal, and sanctimonious), the ideology fails.

This has been especially true during the current information age, where poor examples are shown on a daily basis for all to see. Failing to see any exemplars of true Christianity, rational people tend to reject it as a fraud.

However, I could not pick a poll option because I am uncertain that any shown reflect this to my satisfaction.

That reality is also demonstrated by many non-Christians--atheist or otherwise. Those are part of the human condition with or without the King James Bible.
 
Where by "failure" I mean its gradual displacement from the center of the moral and intellectual life of they civilization.

To define these options bit:

Poll option one is the conservative answer. It holds that Christian belief would be as predominant today in the West as it was in 1913 if it were not for the conscious, deliberate machinations of a small group of secularizing elites promoting atheism and amorality.

My thoughts: This is the least tenable of the four options I've provided, in part because 'the elite' in the West has never been anti-Christian. To be sure, they are opposed to fundamentalism, but only because it is at odds with liberal-capitalist notions of 'progress'. The invocation of the defense of Occidental Christianity during the Cold War is proof-positive that Western elites want generally to employ Christianity to their own ends.

Poll option two is the liberal answer, the "secularization thesis". According to this theory, Christianity is doomed to deplacement, as are all religions eventually, by the gradual and wholly unconscious forces of mental and mechanical progress.

My thoughts: This is almost as problematic a solution to the question posed as the first answer. It assumes a great deal of the structure of Christian ideology - progress towards a "new Heaven and a new Earth", an eventual end to history, and so on - while draining it of its metaphysical content.

Option three is what I call the Nietzscheite option: Christianity has failed because it is inherently flawed. It can exist only among theoppressed, and as soon as a people become strong enough to shirk ofc a collective sense of inferiority it will abolish the correspondent notimon of individual existential guilt that informs Christianity.

My opinion: This is the view I hold closest to. Christianity, in a very real sense, requires weakness to thrive (it is little wonder that Christianity is ascendant today only in the impoverished Third World nations of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the American South). A strong people wants a religion of strength and severity.

Option four: The Marxist solution. Christianity belongs at the historical latest to the age of feudalism; the rising capitalists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries sought initially to do away with it altogether, as a reminder of the hated age of the nobility, and retain it only as a matter of practicalg politica expedience.

My opinion: This is superficially similar to the liberal answer, relying on notions of deterministic 'progress', but avoids some of its problems by acknowledging the fact of necessity and human action in historical processes, rather than ascribing all history to forces largely independent of men.

I think a mix of options two and three. The more we learn about the world, and the universe, the more things we find in the bible that aren't true. For some people I think that shakes their faith. And the idea of heaven is also becoming less of an attractive reward for being a good christian over time. The better one's life on earth is, the less attractive heaven seems by comparison. And the quality of life for most people in the US gets continually higher. The more heavenly our life on earth is, the less reward we have for being a good christian.

I think there's a bit of a third issue involved too. While churches do change their views on things over time, it happens quite a bit more slowly than popular opinion. And I think to some people that can make the church seem backwards and less attractive.
 
I would add,

The rise of the modern social welfare state as a cause. With the church not being the primary source of social assistance, people do not have to become part of the church in order to ensure they may receive help if and when they may require it. Another associated aspect is, a person would not be praying to god for a miracle to heal someone in their family from a medical condition they can not afford to get treatment for, or to ensure they don't lose their jobs, or shelter or for food

I would argue the complete opposite.

Post 1970s the west has become MUCH more hedonistic, selfish, egostistical and competative, I think that comes out of neo-liberal capitalism, neo-liberal capitalist celebrates the "self-made-man" myth of the rich, it celebrates hedonism (maximizing personal pleasure), egotism (gotta get mine), competativeness and so on, Christianity at its core, once you get behind the institutionalized church, is an egalitarianism anti-ego faith of self sacrifice and absolute love, that sort of ethic just doesn't give with Capitalism.

I think Ayn rand was right, capitalism is the anthithesis of christianity.

That's one thing.

Another thing is the clear and blatent corruption of the church.

I don't think it's scienice or anything like that, given that scientific revolutions happened way before secularization, secularization essencially came along with the neo-liberal revolution.
 
That reality is also demonstrated by many non-Christians--atheist or otherwise. Those are part of the human condition with or without the King James Bible.

Perhaps, but the issue here is the failure of "Christianity in the West," not what makes individuals effed up. You also ignore the fact that the ideals I listed are both correct and not being followed by most people who claim to be Christian.

Lacking good "real life" examples, people seem to be rejecting the whole concept as unrealistic.
 
cant answer the poll, education was not one of the options
 
What is most responsible for Christianity's failure in the West? Where by "failure" I mean its gradual displacement from the center of the moral and intellectual life of they civilization.

Using your definition of "failure", my answer would be "freedom."
 
Perhaps, but the issue here is the failure of "Christianity in the West," not what makes individuals effed up. You also ignore the fact that the ideals I listed are both correct and not being followed by most people who claim to be Christian.

Lacking good "real life" examples, people seem to be rejecting the whole concept as unrealistic.

No they are true to most people ergo they cannot be attributed to Christianity as being the cause.

Let's see

"hatred, intolerance, vengeance, cruelty, greed, judgement, and pride" describes how atheists attack Christianity; democrats attack republicans; republicans attack democrats; Muslims view America; America views Muslims; the rich view the poor; the poor view the rich. None of that is unique to Christianity.

Now where is your proof that this is unique to Christianity and that "most people who claim to be Christian" are that way and are so because they are Christians?
 
Basically, religions present too limited worldviews. Reality is more complex and more interesting than the views that religions promote. There is a lot more going on than just submitting to a god, and certainly a lot more than just submitting to various priests. The factual assertions of religions are proven false, and the moral assertions are likewise proven false once various stigmatized minorities are rightly seen as just regular people. It's no longer okay to oppress women like religions so often want to do. The population at large realizes that gays are just like everyone else. The world wasn't created in six days. Laying on of hands doesn't cure ****. There is more to life than submission to a caste system.

Human knowledge and understanding has become too advanced for narrow ancient ideas.
 
Religion was doomed as soon as lifespans passed 65 years or so. The promise of an afterlife is so much more attractive when you only live to 35 and all you had was misery.
 
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