More Catholics Ponder Leaving Their Church



After all the recent Catholic clergy sex scandals, Gallop did a poll of 500 randomly selected Catholics. It showed a 15% increase in the number who now contemplate leaving their church. This does not mean they will and other polls may show something different. What we know is there remains a decline in the number of Christians.

We all know the is something called peer pressure. We know it influences us in many ways. In all the studies about religious beliefs and church membership I've not seen one that considers how much peer pressure has changed our interest in religion.

My suspicion is that larger and larger churches have reduced peer pressure to believe in Christianity and to attend church. Both the Protestant and Catholic branches have had to consolidate into larger churches abandoning smaller ones.

The smaller churches were and remain in both rural areas and in urban neighborhoods. When one sees the same people in church he/she waves at when a car goes by, sees in the neighbor school and runs into at the nearby store, she knows if she is not in church others will wonder why. There is peer pressure to stay in the game.

When people drive to large churches out of their local area surely some peer pressure is lost. It is painless to drop out. 

So, while there is an increase in Catholics doubting their future in the church so it is in other parts of Christianity as well. Scandals, size and the computer surely all play a role across the board.

https://www.christianpost.com/news/more-catholics-question-leaving-faith-after-sex-abuse-scandal-study.html

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