As the article demonstrates, the only thing that can be done at a church that cannot be done anywhere else is the "forgiving" thing. I've never understood that. What are people doing that needs to be forgiven and why aren't they simply making amends to the person or people they've harmed? Otherwise, isn't the "forgiveness" just a way to absolve themselves of the responsibility for the harm they've done?

The author conflates religion with organisations based on religion. That is a failure of cognition.

People may not be attending church, but they may subscribe to social media, blogs or podcasts that attract their potentially gullible minds, ripe for the plucking, and for immersing into something new and different, maybe good uplifting inspirational or maybe something dark and dangerous. It could go either way.

Feels like we need some sort of institution other than the school system to help with social cohesion. Somethings is really wrong in our society. Maybe there needs to be a flurry of well designed atheistic/scientific/humanist religions. I don't think we should give up just because we haven't seen any good religions yet.

Pure bullshit. Society in general will be much better off without religion.

One thing religion provides, is a sense of belonging and community. Outside of religion I can't think of any other system that teaches its members to think in terms of "what is best for the community", even if religion is often wrong about what is best.

Humans evolved as "herd animals" in the sense that our ancestors gathered in groups for reasons of safety. The urge to belong to a community is a hard wired instinct for many people, and belonging to a religion fulfills their need to belong and it provdes them with a sense of comfort and safety, even if it is (mostly) illusory.

Unfortunately, I can't think of any other societal institution that fulfills the instinctual need to belong in the same way religion does. Which is a shame because religion really isn't a good thing. It just fulfills an animal instinctual need.

Dadly, until there is some other way of fulfilling a person's need to belong, religion will always be there to fill the gap.

Celebrate? Who is throwing the party?

I'm happy religion is on the decline in the US. Religion and religious leaders are bad for humanity.

I think it is good. I know quite a few people who don't go to church, but still believe in God, and they are really good people. They don't need a church to have faith.

It all depends on the content and character of each church or the denomination it may be a part of. Some serve some social good and some don't.

The Drift Hunters Game gives you an easy-to-use and efficient management and Drift Hunters allows you to focus on the most important things.

As a woman, I celebrate any decline in the poison that is religion.

I would say yes but there is always something there waiting in the wings. In America right now it is the fascist Religious Nationalism that is raised its ugly head. Similar things in Brazil and other countries.

Billions of people depend on some sky daddy/ies to regulate their lives. Xian hindi muslim they aren't ready to live without that constraint.
Hundreds of generations of natural selection, thats what so much of humanity is hardwired for. The bulk of humanity still isn't ready to not have a shepherd.
To have that all change in 6 or 7 generations is too much change. It will happen eventually if this planet of war hungry monsters can survive that long.

I say yes!!