Leave the Church? Why Not?
Leave the Church? Why Not?
If evolution is true, we should all leave the church.
If evolution is true as the explanation for the creation of human beings, then it should be no surprise that young people are leaving the church in alarming numbers.
In a 2016 Pew Research Center survey entitled "Why America's 'Nones' Left Religion Behind," we find that a major reason is the church's lack of teaching scientific reasons to believe that the "nones" were created by a creator for a purpose.
"Nones" are those who, when asked about their religion reply "none." And their reasons for answering so are not surprising. But what is surprising is that many of the current "nones" were raised in a particular "religion."
The article accompanying the survey results starts out (underlining added):
Perhaps the most striking trend in American religion in recent years has been the growing percentage of adults who do not identify with a religious group. And the vast majority of these religious “nones” (78%) say they were raised as a member of a particular religion before shedding their religious identity in adulthood.
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/08/24/why-americas-nones-left-religion-behind/
And this trend is continuing. A recent Yahoo article on a similar 2021 survey states:
According to a survey released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center, this group — commonly known as the “nones” — now constitutes 29% of American adults. That’s up from 23% in 2016 and 19% in 2011.
https://news.yahoo.com/whats-religion-us-common-reply-152400087.html
What are we to make of this? Does it matter?
If evolution is true, it does not matter. If evolution is true, we should all be "nones."
But what if evolution is not true?
Consider the following graphic provided by the Pew survey showing the reasons why many nones left the religion of their childhood. Note the very first reason, and both highlighted reasons.
Is this sad? Is this a failure of the church?
No, and no, if evolution is true.
But what if evolution is not true? Then this is not merely sad; it is religious malpractice. Where was the church in letting all these future nones know that science actually supports biblical creation and provides reasons to reject evolution? Where was the church is letting these future nones know with certainty that they are created in God's image for a purpose?
Where?
That's right.
We need a creation reformation now. It can be done. One part of the answer is to prevent those from learning about evolution from learning about it first in college. It is possible to show that evolution is incapable of creating human beings. And it is easy to show how the material evidence in nature leads to a reasonable belief in the biblical account of creation.
Will the church rise to this occasion? If so, it can lead to a new reformation. If not, the numbers of nones will continue to rise, as it should.
Think about it.