Is Church Attendance Correlated With 3rd World Status?
Thoughts from a UFC fighter on the state of the US
Sun 18 Feb 2024
The other day I saw a video of a UFC fighter, Renato Moicano, going off on a post-fight interview after his victory in the octagon. What he had to say sent me down a rabbit hole, pulling on a thread I found interesting and think you will too.
Summary of this blog:
Church attendance in the US has seen a decline over the years, with only 30% of adults attending religious services from 2020 onwards, down from 34% in the previous four years. Millennials, unmarried individuals, and men are among the groups attending the least.
UFC fighter Renato Moicano recently shared his thoughts on church attendance, emphasizing the importance of knowing right from wrong. While church can provide a sense of belonging and teach about love and morality, it's run by humans and we all have flaws.
It's crucial we spend time contemplating life's deeper questions, such as what happens after death.
I'll share a few quotes from his rant:
“There is right and there is wrong”.
“I love this country…I want people to go to church, otherwise this great country of the world will become a 3rd world country. Something is wrong in America.”
Let’s first consider where he’s coming from. He’s Brazilian. And he mentions he’s in the process of becoming an American…”in 3 years”.
What’s going on in Brazil, politically speaking? A mess.
So that’s the UFC Fighter, Moicano’s, frame of reference. Important context.
For some reason he felt the need to talk about going to church. I find that interesting. So let’s pull on that thread. Follow me down a rabbit hole. 🐇🎱
Let’s look at Church attendance in the USA:
In the four-year time period of 2016 through 2019, an average of 34% of U.S. adults said they had attended church, synagogue, mosque or temple in the past seven days.
From 2020 to the present, the average has been 30%. (source)
Let’s look at who’s going to church and who’s not.
1. Millennials as a generation group attend church the least.
2. A greater % of married persons attend than not married.
3. Fewer men attend church than women.
In 1992 , just about 50 years ago, 92% of Americans said they were Christian, according to a Pew Research article.
As of 2020, that number dropped to 64%. See it here.
Why are these trends happening? I have many theories and ideas. But that’s outside the scope of this issue.
Back to our friend, Moicano.
I do think we could make a case for a correlating a knowing of right and wrong with going to church. Let me take a swing at it. 🎾
Church CAN provide a sense of belonging.
Church CAN show us about love (God's love for us and how we should love others).
And it CAN teach right and wrong.
Guys, I wish it was that simple.
BTW...
John 13:34 - Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.
Jesus said that. 👆
I think that was the intended design. But humans, with sin nature, have a tendency to get in the way and mess things up.
Church can fall short of the standard and design. Because it’s run by humans.
We’re all flawed.
Let's land the plane...here's my soap box which isn't necessarily related to going to church, but related to my faith.
At 43 years old, statistically my life is half over.
"Old age" and death are no longer these things WAY out in the future.
Contemplating the question “what happens to me when I die?” was something I started getting serious about as I've made the turn from the front 9 to the back 9 (sorry, golf lingo) of my life.
There’s got to be more to life, than living for myself right? There’s got to be a higher power, right?
I’ve talked with a lot of guys starting this brand in 2019. Most guys fall into two camps on this topic:
1. Used to go to church when living with parents. But after moving out, haven’t really thought much about it. That was 15-20 years ago, time moves fast.
2. Had a bad experience with church or are turned off by the behavior of Christians (see below quote).
"The best argument for Christianity is Christians: their joy, their certainty, their completeness. But the strongest argument against Christianity is also Christians--when they are somber and joyless, when they are self-righteous and smug..."
I’ve been to more funerals than weddings lately. I just want you to contemplate life's most important questions. Work towards knowing what happens to you after this life is over. This isn’t a topic to figure out later.
The point of this email is not to stand up on a pedestal, look down and waggle my finger at you and tell you what to do (go to church).
For the guys who haven't put much thought into this topic or maybe have had a bad experience with church or Christians in general...
I just want you to know... You are loved. You're ALL loved. No matter what you've done or what's been done to you.