Bitcoin In Space
Bitcoin and space. When both are decentralized, they are natural allies.

This is going to be something of a controversial topic which is why I put it in Politics. But one thing that Christians don't want to look square in the eye is that 3700 churches are closing their doors every year purely because Christianity seems incapable of staying relevant in the 21st century. This article attempts to explore why, and some commenters are going batshit insane over the fact that the author acknowledges that homosexuals exist. But if you read the article carefully, you'd see that they're missing the point she's trying to make: that churches have an engagement problem. The Church isn't reaching homosexuals because it's already conveyed the message that homosexuals aren't welcome, the Church isn't reaching drug addicts and rape victims and homeless people because it believes that their issues are somehow their fault, that sort of thing. And I know that there are people who wouldn't cry if Christianity were to completely disappear. But what if the Church did a better job of helping "sinners" and others who need help while setting no conditions for that help? Would this give the Church an edge in stopping its slide into irrelevancy?

I get that. My personal opinion is that if churches can't stay open, then the buildings should at least be auctioned off and the money given to a good cause. And of course there's a big debate over whether churches should be taxed. On the one hand, the Church should fill its preferred role of providing unconditional help, and I think unbelievers would be more receptive to its message if they think Church representatives actually care about them and not just their souls. On the other, if the Church can't or won't do that, then it just becomes a social club that exists purely on freewill donations and should be shut down if it can't stay solvent. (Read the article; I think they make a great point about how a megachurch with a coffee shop and a skate park is unlikely to impress Christ.) The most important thing to remember is that Christianity is actually a minority when considering the entire world population. If Christianity is incapable of having a net positive impact on the world, then maybe it deserves to disappear.

I guess it just stings because I grew up in the church. And even then, I didn't see a lot of young people at my church. (It was a small church, but still...) Yeah, shucks about the skate park, that's money that could have been used to help drug addicts break their drug habit. That sort of thing is why people hate megachurches and evangelists who live in expensive mansions.