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July 27th, 2013
08:33 AM ET
Why millennials are leaving the church
(CNN) - At 32, I barely qualify as a millennial. I wrote my first essay with a pen and paper, but by the time I graduated from college, I owned a cell phone and used Google as a verb. I still remember the home phone numbers of my old high school friends, but don’t ask me to recite my husband’s without checking my contacts first. I own mix tapes that include selections from Nirvana and Pearl Jam, but I’ve never planned a trip without Travelocity. Despite having one foot in Generation X, I tend to identify most strongly with the attitudes and the ethos of the millennial generation, and because of this, I’m often asked to speak to my fellow evangelical leaders about why millennials are leaving the church. Armed with the latest surveys, along with personal testimonies from friends and readers, I explain how young adults perceive evangelical Christianity to be too political, too exclusive, old-fashioned, unconcerned with social justice and hostile to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. I point to research that shows young evangelicals often feel they have to choose between their intellectual integrity and their faith, between science and Christianity, between compassion and holiness. I talk about how the evangelical obsession with sex can make Christian living seem like little more than sticking to a list of rules, and how millennials long for faith communities in which they are safe asking tough questions and wrestling with doubt. Invariably, after I’ve finished my presentation and opened the floor to questions, a pastor raises his hand and says, “So what you’re saying is we need hipper worship bands. …” And I proceed to bang my head against the podium. Time and again, the assumption among Christian leaders, and evangelical leaders in particular, is that the key to drawing twenty-somethings back to church is simply to make a few style updates - edgier music, more casual services, a coffee shop in the fellowship hall, a pastor who wears skinny jeans, an updated Web site that includes online giving. But here’s the thing: Having been advertised to our whole lives, we millennials have highly sensitive BS meters, and we’re not easily impressed with consumerism or performances. In fact, I would argue that church-as-performance is just one more thing driving us away from the church, and evangelicalism in particular. Many of us, myself included, are finding ourselves increasingly drawn to high church traditions - Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, the Episcopal Church, etc. - precisely because the ancient forms of liturgy seem so unpretentious, so unconcerned with being “cool,” and we find that refreshingly authentic. What millennials really want from the church is not a change in style but a change in substance. We want an end to the culture wars. We want a truce between science and faith. We want to be known for what we stand for, not what we are against. We want to ask questions that don’t have predetermined answers. We want churches that emphasize an allegiance to the kingdom of God over an allegiance to a single political party or a single nation. We want our LGBT friends to feel truly welcome in our faith communities. We want to be challenged to live lives of holiness, not only when it comes to sex, but also when it comes to living simply, caring for the poor and oppressed, pursuing reconciliation, engaging in creation care and becoming peacemakers. You can’t hand us a latte and then go about business as usual and expect us to stick around. We’re not leaving the church because we don’t find the cool factor there; we’re leaving the church because we don’t find Jesus there. Like every generation before ours and every generation after, deep down, we long for Jesus. Now these trends are obviously true not only for millennials but also for many folks from other generations. Whenever I write about this topic, I hear from forty-somethings and grandmothers, Generation Xers and retirees, who send me messages in all caps that read “ME TOO!” So I don’t want to portray the divide as wider than it is. But I would encourage church leaders eager to win millennials back to sit down and really talk with them about what they’re looking for and what they would like to contribute to a faith community. Their answers might surprise you. Rachel Held Evans is the author of "Evolving in Monkey Town" and "A Year of Biblical Womanhood." She blogs at rachelheldevans.com. The views expressed in this column belong to Rachel Held Evans. soundoff (9,864 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Opinion by Rachel Held Evans, Special to CNN
Basically, you don't want faith: you want to join the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts....
My invisible pink unicorn wants faith.
But every time she looks for it... she finds nothing.
hmmm...
Very well written! I am 75 years young, and I do quite a bit of mentoring with high school, and college youth. My wife and I have worked with LGBT people for over 20 years, and others have told us that they are thankful that we have made that commitment. We are also thankful that we were able to do this. Thanks for sharing this with us.
The teaching of evangelicals is from a method that chooses a few select passages that agree with their theological grid. These passages are often out of context and certainly don't take all of scripture into consideration. They teach that salvation is by faith but narrow this faith down to forgiveness for sins and the cross. What they don't realize that faith is not only in this one act of Jesus but rather faith in all of how he is and did. Jesus called out the religious leaders of his time and said that they would not enter the kingdom of heaven because they lived in palaces on hills while they devoured the houses of widows (in Luke). He said 'Repent for the forgiveness of sins. True faith is repenting, which means an entire paradigm shift. James says that the kind of faith that ignores the poor is not true faith. That seems to be because faith in Jesus means faith in what he stood for. He is the prophet in Luke that called the religious and political systems into question. I don't know if I have this kind of faith. Once I started to think that this was what Jesus was really about, I wondered if I could do it, as opposed to just believing in blanket forgiveness and focus only on the cross. Yet, I can only hope that part of believing in Jesus means that he understands my weakness. I am convinced, however, that repentance is key and it means going the other way if I really believe. It is following Christ, for all that he is.
In order for God to forgive us, we had to murder him (as Jesus)? That just doesn't make any sense. How about, he appears to everyone, everywhere, and let's them know?
Such a scrumptious word salad.
So full of words, so lacking meaning.
My invisible pink unicorn was in need of a snack, and this fit the bill.
Thankew!
george: repent? from what?
I am 32 as well and grew up a faithful attender and very involved church participant and Christian. I have felt alienated from church since college for a few reasons. First, the breakdown of the smaller churches and movement into mega churches has resulted in turning church into a psudo-community where anonymity is the norm and not the exception. People today are starving for community, to be known by and to know others on a personal level. Mega churches are nothing but a sea of nameless faces, except for the small few who decide to or can spare the time to get involved in the running of the church. The main culprit for this disintegration of real community was the disintegration of the Sunday School format, which church leaders decided was to "uncool" to reach people like me! (Ah, the irony.) Home groups are thought of as creepy! Who wants to show up at a stranger's house, and during the workweek instead of on Sunday morning, the day already set aside for worship. Granted I am in one now, but I still don't like going in the middle of the week. It is simply too large of a time commitment and to weird for a lot of people to get into, ESPECIALLY people with young children who have to find babysitters. For me, as a college student, young single woman, and then young married adult, I found that there were no Sunday gatherings for myself- no fellowship classes that matched my stage in life at most churches I visited. I was left to wander anonymously in churches full of other anonymous worshippers. The only interaction was the shallow "Hi." "Good morning." "Welcome" that lasted for about 60 seconds on Sunday mornings (where I might add that since no one else knew anybody else, never resulted in a building of any social network.) I have some advice for all the pastors and church leaders who I hope are perusing these comments. **Your task is to rebuild community from the conglomeration of newcomers, folks from out of town, transient students and families, and people who are leaving other churches and coming to you. This is no small task and is seemingly impossible without gargantuan efforts to get people together en masse at times that are convenient for them (not in groups of 6 at people's houses). If you can figure out better ways to do that so that your congregation of nameless faces becomes an interwoven community who know each other, then you will attract people in my generation who just want to be a real part of a community of faith.
Do you remember studying paragraphs in school, Lucy?
Athy, quit whining.
how stupid
If you are sincere about learning what the Bible really teaches go to jw.org or just ask the next time they come to your door.Please do not dismiss them but engage them in serious discussion and free of charge they will come to you as long as you want. It will not cost you anything but a little time and may just be worth your very life. In just a few weeks I have learned more than I did in 30+ years going from church to church.
james, stop astroturfing, and stop being a shill for the door-to-door salesmen of your god fraud. You suck bigtime.
"we’re leaving the church because we don’t find Jesus there."
How about they're leaving the church because they don't find REASON and INTELLECT there.
So – do you find "reason and intellect" in the synagogues? The mosques? Is there ANY form of religion that you would find "reasonable" and "intellectual" or are you an atheist who would never find those things in ANY religion?
I'll pick a choice you don't list: religion is obviously complete nonsense, so I don't belief in it.
I'll pick a choice you don't list: religion is obviously complete nonsense, so I don't believe in it.
@bannister
You said, "So – do you find "reason and intellect" in the synagogues? The mosques? Is there ANY form of religion that you would find "reasonable" and "intellectual" or are you an atheist who would never find those things in ANY religion?"
Religion, any religion, requires that you check reason at the door. Because if you don't, you'll soon wonder why there is no rational basis for religion.
Even Luther recognized that reason was the enemy of faith. It is why religion loses so much of its influence among the more intelligent and higher educated.
well for me I have a real hard time believing the earth is flat and that blue stuff in the sky is also water. How about updating your bible and remove the BS, figure out where "god" was wrong, suck it up and rewrite it, put a little reality into it and it might become more believable and less like a harry potter novel.
Jason; so sorry you were so misled but the Bible refers to the earth as a circle (Isa.40:22) some 700 years before Jesus ever came here and many other descriptions of what goes on here are so accurate as to make one wonder how man would know and if you are sincerely interested in finding what the bible really teaches (and having those misconceptions corrected) just ask and I will be glad to help or go to jw.org for all the free help you will ever need. peace, j
Actually, james, it's worse. The bible contradicts itself on the shape of the earth. And on numerous other fronts. A little googling will reveal that for you, but there again, ya gotta ask why god needs an old book to get his message out.
Pancakes and pizzas are round and flat, duh! A circle is not a sphere, a circle is two dimensional and a sphere is three. Your absurd bible also refers to the four corners of the earth. Where are they? What about the pillars that the "lord" set the earth upon, where are they? I already know the answer: words are meant literally when they concur with reality but they are figurative when they don't.
Revelation 7:1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
1 Samuel 2:8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he hath set the world upon them.
KC; again if you want answers to all those and more Bible questions please check out the jw.org site. Find the truth that leads to eternal life, Freely.
Jason, you've got it backwards.Nowhere in my Bible does it say the earth is flat. "In the begining God made the heavens and the earth" doesnot require that the earth be flat, or that the blue stuff as you call it is water. However if you'google' the water cycle is a circle.
"Creatio ex nihilo,' which is embraced wholeheartedly, if somewhat brainlessly, by most evangelicals, has no scriptural basis. Please see for a fair discussion on this one: http://thomasjayoord.com/index.php/blog/archives/understandable_but_not_convincing_reasons_to_affirm_creatio_ex_nihilo/#.UfWLc42siSo
For a different take on science and Bible, check out http://www.reasons.org.
Let's not forget that you have a 24/7 news channel–Fox–that promotes anti-science, Christian fundamentalism in such a ham-handedly moronic way that real people can only be embarrassed by it.
Let me add "Me too", closest I've come is the Unitarians.
"Like every generation before ours and every generation after, deep down, we long for Jesus."
This line is the most troublesome for me. Its presumptuous, vacuous, and contemptuous in one succinct sentence.
Not to mention, abjectly wrong.
I can only presume that you either a) have never been a Christian, therefore you are speaking as my husband years ago when he said "I've never had chinese food, I just know I don't like it." or b) you've been terribly hurt by a sinful Christian in the church, and are blaming Jesus for that person's sin. Either way, I invite you to read a Bible (or re-acquaint yourself with yours), perhaps speak to another Christian who comes across to you as more authentic, and most of all, speak to God, ask Him to answer your questions and be open to what you can learn. Your cynicism and hurt speak loudly through what you have written here, and I invite you to lay it aside, and be open to the idea that the truth is neither as rosy as some paint it, nor as dark as you have come to view it.
Kendra, in my case, all of your presumptions would be wrong. And all of your solutions have been tried. No dice. I have to presume that you have never actually read the Bible from an open-minded critical (no, they are not contradictory), viewpoint. It's hard to believe that anyone who has read it that way can actually be a Christian.
Kendra, You seem to hold the same ignorant presumptions as the author. Let me rephrase the author's statement using your own example:
"Like every generation before ours and every generation after, deep down, we long for Chinese food."
This statement is incorrect whether or not I've tried Chinese food, nor does it logically follow I hate Chinese food if I disagree with the statement. It's just an unsubstantiated, biased, assertion. You are projecting your limited view of the world onto me, just like the author. That's the issue.
I think a more appropriate statement is that religious people want more Jesus, less GOD. We are looking for peace and love not guilt and punishment.
Yeah, unfortunately that is not what Christianity offers, with its threats of torture if you don't worship its vengeant evil sky fairy.
Since young adults perceive evangelical Christianity to be..."unconcerned with social justice", it's a shame that more evangelical churches don't know about the Just Faith program, which provides "opportunities for individuals to study and be formed by the justice tradition articulated by the Scriptures, the Church's historical witness, theological inquiry and Church social teaching"
(from jusfaith.org/programs). It's a very enriching program!
And the great thing is that with our religious freedom, they don't have to wait to find the right church to take on social justice issues.
I appreciate Evans's point that churches need to stop trying to be cool, and just worry about being faithful to Jesus. She's right about that.
However, her analysis of why millenials are leaving church is quite simply wrong. The fact is there are already plenty of churches in America, arguably the majority of them in this country, that emphasize social justice, acceptance of LGBT, and 'letting science to its thing'–I'm talking about the mainline liberal churches. And yet despite these emphases, the statistics show that mainline churches are losing the youth even faster than evangelical churches. The issues she names may resonate with many, but my question is–would you really go back to church if churches did this more? I'm skeptical.
I also object to the notion that millennials have a better sensitivity to BS–this is a generation that learns its social policies from celebrities, and has made the likes of Lady Gaga very wealthy. How good of a BS meter can they really have?
You need to look at the various surveys as to why people are leaving churches. Rachel is spot on.
Hi Ruby,
What surveys? Please provide links. I'm genuinely curious to know of surveys saying that young people are leaving liberal denominations because they aren't interested in social justice, the findings of modern science, and creating a welcoming environment for LGBT people. That's like what these denominations are famous for pursuing.
You obviously have the internet, use it. Not everything is a devious plan to destroy your world.
Hi Dan,
Thanks for saying nothing.
More to the point, Dan. Ruby made an assertion that I'm not particularly convinced is true. So, I'm asking for her to provide evidence that her claim is true. That's basic practice in rational dialogue.
But in all my conversations with people on any topic–politics, society, religion, sports–prior to you, Dan, I have never ever been asked to go and find the evidence that supports someone else's assertions. That's a new one.
And no, I don't believe my world was being destroyed by Ruby or Ms. Evans. I was just having a rational, adult conversation. Maybe someday you will be able to have one too!
I like Lady Gaga's music, and I'm in my 50s. I also like Beethoven, the Rolling Stones, Al Stewart, that guy that sings "Thrift Shop", and many, many others. There's been pop music in every generation; some of it survives, some of it doesn't.
How about Richard Strauss?
Hi Sokesky,
I didn't say nobody liked the Lady Gaga's music. I made a different claims about it...
Reaganism is completely celebrity based.
Yeah, I guess so.
Yup, conservatives learned their social policies from a celebrity.
I'm not following your point, Lenny. I never said millennials are the only generation to learn politics from celebrities. I agree that many have done it in conservative circles. Sure. It was as foolish of prior generations to do it as it is for millennials to do it now. I agree with you. So, what?
Has there ever been a generation that hasn't wanted the Church to change to accommodate its own vision of what a church should be? The churches that thrive are always the ones who present the gospel most clearly - Jesus died for our sins and rose again for us to have new life with him. Church is not about us, what we want, or what feels good to us. It's about what God wants, as He has made clear in His word. The problem with articles like this - and with similar articles that have been written for generations - is that they put the focus on something other than the One who deserves it.
I know this much, Jesus was no Republican!
We cannot prove there is no god, but if there is one or many, he, she, or they are not worthy of being worshipped. I refuse to believe in a Holy god that can sit back and allow children to get kidnapped, molested, or murdered. I refuse to believe in a Holy god that allows innocent children to suffer ANY kind of way. Maybe evil is the work of the devil, but if god is so great and powerful, why can't he stop all the madness? Christians say God will condemn these evil doers to hell – they will suffer consequences. But the victims of terminal illnesses, poverty, and heinous crimes are forced to suffer the consequences as well – while the great and powerful Oz, i mean, God, sits back and watches. This is why I do not need church
Relax Mel,
If I had all the answers I'd be a God right. Suffice to say you have to understand how this God operates, and it's not in the affairs of mankind. Mankind created that notion. Now if you'll excuse me my smart phone is ringing.
If you really want to know the reason that these things occur then the bible does explain why. All of the evil that you see
around you exists for a simple reason. It is called Sin. The theology of scripture states that Sin entered through an act of disobedience by one man, that would be Adam. If you don't believe that's fine as not many do, but if you are looking for justice on this side then you will always be sorely disappointed.
Prayer changes things . ,
When you don't pray for him not to.
The only thing it changes is the level of a persons delusion. Oh let's not forget that it lines the pockets of ministers pretty well these days.
The Bible says God KILLS children and other living things.
Old Testament. He was angry. Wala, now Jesus give one hope. However don't ever think all is forgiven. Nor think the son is weak, he prove he wasn't in the temple.
@bannister
You said, "So – do you find "reason and intellect" in the synagogues? The mosques? Is there ANY form of religion that you would find "reasonable" and "intellectual" or are you an atheist who would never find those things in ANY religion?"
Religion, any religion, requires that you check reason at the door. Because if you don't, you'll soon wonder why there is no rational basis for religion.
Even Luther recognized that reason was the enemy of faith. It is why religion loses so much of its influence among the more intelligent and higher educated.
Crap. Wrong spot.
Reason is conjuncture, a God works on faith. Religion was created to keep the peasant's inline. Science only explains what an 'intelligent design' cannot.
We grow up hearing about a God, however his/her/it may be called Harry, or even third rock from the sun.
Linca; One of the men that has taught me the Bible was an Oxford graduate and presently a professor at a major university and is not even charging for his lessons. Go to jw.org to learn what the bible really teaches or just ask the next time one comes to your door and Oh did I say Free of charge?
james, stop astroturfing, and stop being a shill for the door-to-door salesmen of your god fraud. You suck bigtime.
@james
You said, "One of the men that has taught me the Bible was an Oxford graduate and presently a professor at a major university and is not even charging for his lessons."
Correlation doesn't mean that everyone that has more than a couple of marbles bouncing around upstairs will shed the delusion, just more. Indoctrination is a very powerful tool to keep the sheeple in line.
You said, "Go to jw.org to learn what the bible really teaches or just ask the next time one comes to your door and Oh did I say Free of charge?"
How about you actually read the bible and find out for yourself what bullshit it is. You might learn a thing or two about that monster you call your god.
Linca; it is amazing how well you answer yourself but I am really sorry i wasted your time. I thought you were looking for the kind of response i gave and so many of the people that I have been studying with are very intelligent and humble about it but again with you there is no serious response. I believe you are a step above the other responder on this post but I will not bother you again except to encourage you to consider what I already shared.
@james
You said, "it is amazing how well you answer yourself but I am really sorry i wasted your time."
Don't worry about it.
You said, "I thought you were looking for the kind of response i gave and so many of the people that I have been studying with are very intelligent and humble about it but again with you there is no serious response."
I was expecting the kind of response you gave, I was hoping for one that would reflect a little better understanding of reality. Alas, it wasn't to be.
You said, "I believe you are a step above the other responder on this post but I will not bother you again except to encourage you to consider what I already shared."
I realize that there are millions of educated and intelligent believers, but that doesn't mean that religion is an intelligent position to hold. Years of indoctrination can lead even the smartest people to abandon reason, and cling to the superstitions of their upbringing.
That doesn't negate the fact that, among the best and brightest, religion is on a very steep decline. Among the brightest scientists, the percentage of religious is in the single digits. The percentage increases as you add the next tiers of scientists, but even then it is a far cry from the general population.
Being religious and intelligent, requires a suspension of disbelief and an acceptance of some of the biggest bullshit stories ever told. The cognitive dissonance must be mind boggling.
Linca; I was wrong, you are on a par with robert. and now I am also.
Rachel, thanks for the article. I find it interesting that everyone wants to argue why the position is wrong, rather than read it for what it is – a clear position on how you feel. I worry about this generation, their lack of commitment, and their lack of applying the faith they learned when younger to their adult lives. I appreciate your position...perhaps rather than responding with "more hip" music is to actually challenge this generation theologically?
The foul stench of Christianity has finally reached a generation that may have learned that morality isn't something you get from religion.
You're right. It's something you get from God.
Um..yea....right....
Which God? There have been so many.
Morals do not come from God. This has been proven. Grow up.
Ruby, I'm sorry to say you are very misinformed.
Perhaps they are tired of dealing with the same people who are reporting quite reasonable posts as abuse.
Prayer changes things . .
It's not healthy for other living things when humans treat them equal to us, instead of believing the magical sky fairy who tells us we are better than all of them?
Another example of God killing children:
(Deut. 3:3-6) “So the Lord our God also gave into our hands Og king of Bashan and all his army. We struck them down, leaving no survivors. At that time we took all his cities. There was not one of the sixty cities that we did not take from them—the whole region of Argob, Og’s kingdom in Bashan. We completely destroyed them, as we had done with Sihon king of Heshbon, destroying every city—men, women and children.”
Interesting you mentioned this. If you do an in-depth study, Og was a nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and human women. He was a giant that was about 15-20 feet tall. Archeological evidence supports this. That's why God commanded a lot of certain areas to be wiped out, not because he was evil but because certain areas were genetically infiltrated with fallen angels (when cast out of 3rd heaven to earth for their repellion. read the book of enoch.) or areas promoted and actively worshipped the nephilim.
Jesus is in all of us who have accepted Him into our hearts. If someone thinks Jesus "isn't in the church" then they may have veered slightly off course with their judgement, because if you are a believer, then you've brought Him with you to whatever church you've arrived at. Lets not focus on what the church is doing right or wrong, and lets focus on what we are doing right or wrong in our own actions. Church should be for the purpose of rejoicing and giving thanks and praise to The Lord of all creation, and to know and love the people in our church family, not to love the music or the pastors. If we can accomplish that then we can fill our churches with the Holy Spirit and with the love and grace of Christ because WE are the church as defined by Jesus. Not the buildings that we go to church in. The churches who may get it "wrong" are not ones to leave. They are ones we should be aggressively pursuing with Christ in our hearts, so that the love and grace of Jesus being real and here on earth right now, cannot be ignored by the people who may be on the fence with who Jesus is and IF he is, and especially not by the unbelievers who happen to walk through the doors.
How nice and neat, so much for all things by, through and for....
Watch "The God who Wasn't There". Jesus wasn't real, and the Jesus depicted in the Bible is a misogynist and an advocate for murder. Deny your family as enimies before him; if you deny him, you should be killed, or so Jesus says.
The bible was written beautifully and poetically. To interpret such things so literally is to completely misinterpret it. Jesus was very much real, whether or not you believe in who Him being the Son of God. There is more historical evidence to prove Jesus walked the earth than there is to prove the existence of Napolean. And even non-religious scholars agree that his teachings are more morally sound than any other religious figure. He is not a misogynist, and is an advocate for the death only of one's self to the lies of this world, so that they may be reborn into the one true life any of us can hope for, enveloped in love and grace. I am so sorry that you have been told/taught such awful things about Jesus, but whether or not you believe He is fully man and also fully God, there is more than enough proof historically and in present scripture to show that labeling Him as a mysogonist and an advocate for murder is a drastically false account of who He is and what He stood for.
Graham, actually, there is barely any evidence of Jesus at all. We have a very few second and third hand reports, almost all of which are in the Bible. On the other hand, we have millions of accounts of Napoleon, including contemporary portraits. And, well, we know where he is actually buried.
People from all generations have left their respective churches.
Yes, but it is the phenomenal rate increase that is worrying the religious types.