Photo by Harry Smith: https://www.pexels.com/…/photo-of-old-church-building…/
You can ignore and dismiss us all you want, but we are going to continue to evolve and not stay stuck in stagnant religion. We are pursuing mystery and nuance, and a deeper understanding.
The word “none” is a little condescending, but gas lighting is common in the desert, especially by those groups that are declining.
Recent statistics, even before COVID, showed that the “nones” which represents those that don’t claim any specific church had surpassed both Catholics and evangelicals in numbers. As other dominations continue to decline, the dones and nones continue to rise.
As you may be able to see from my tone, I’m happy about that. My wife and I wrote a book, called Out into the Desert, that will be released in August. It analyzes the reasons why I think organized religion is on its way out and that it is possible to thrive out in the desert away from organized religion.
Mystics, prophets and true seekers have always been drawn this way. 2000 years have passed since Jesus walked the earth, and we are no closer to solving world problems using religions methods than we were back then.
It really does no good to return to an earlier version of the same broken system. We must move on, we must progress, we must evolve!
So don’t even attempt to steal my joy about this issue. I am perfectly happy that organized religion is on the decline, and will soon find that it’s destiny is doomed in the 21st century.
I’m not trying to destroy the church, I just want it to admit it’s not effective for this century and that it needs to retire, to stop operating, to stop injuring people, and to stop wasting your money!
Organized religion can’t solve your problems. It never did, it never can, and it’s time to stop doubling down on broken promises and toxic practices and beliefs.
A word to the more progressive or woke churches. It’s honorable and great that you opened up to more people and opened your consciousness somewhat. But we need to move on to something that is much higher than what can be accomplished inside an organization. We need to evolve, not just adapt. It doesn’t matter that you are open to change, what needs to happen cannot happen inside the organization called Religion.
Pack your satchel, it’s time to go! I know it’s scary, but there’s lots of us out here, probably millions of us out here. We can do it together!
Karl Forehand is a former pastor, podcaster, and award-winning author. His books include Apparent Faith: What Fatherhood Taught Me About the Father’s Heart and The Tea Shop. He is the creator of The Desert Sanctuary podcast. He is married to his wife Laura of 32 years and has one dog named Winston. His three children are grown and are beginning to multiply!
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