Pandemic, Boomers and Christianity

[Joshpantera]

Christians, it has occur'd to me that if things don't turn around it's possible that a lot of Boomer's and previous generations will die from coronavirus. How many is anyone's guess at this point. But take a look at the links below of statistics concerning the boomer and earlier generations and theism, and christianity in particular:

 

https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/generational-cohort/baby-boomer/

 

https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/generational-cohort/

 

It's possible that something like a global pandemic could make a near clean sweep of christianity in the US and abroad by taking out the remaining generations that still favor christianity. But you probably not only know that, but expect it. Don't you? In terms of christianity being wiped down to a small minority as the end draws near. For you folks this looks like prophecy being fulfilled.

 

But that's been the case for every plague or pandemic so far. It's always biblical, it's always the end drawing near. Except it never is, regardless of what people think or how they try and interpret it. 

 

It could spell the 'end times' of a dominant or majority christianity in the US and elsewhere, I'll hand you that. By happenstance, of course. But at the same time it may not even go that far. We could get this thing stopped sooner than expected and reverse the trends. I just find it interesting how christians try to rush to impose fixed interpretations on happenstance events. Always failing, but always trying again and again as the opportunity arises. And blind to every previous failure as they do it over and over again. 

 

Opinions? 

[webmdave]

I lean toward knowledge as the most likely  effective cure for religious belief.

 

Covid-19 equals Boomer Remover? Worst case senarios project US deaths to as many as 200,000 to 2.2 million people. Since the US population is over 327 million with Boomers numbering roughly 72 million, and since Covid-19 indiscriminately kills all ages (though more from the old and sick sector), I don't see much change in the mix of US society once this pandemic passes. 

 

However, this is just my opinion and it is open to changing with the aquistion of more data. 

[LogicalFallacy]

Agreed with Dave. The kill rate is far to low to have any impact other than making said boomer cohort more fervent and possibly more preaching the end times stuff.

 

Also it seems in bad times people turn more religious, not less, so it's likely to have an enhancement effect for religion, rather than a "clean sweep"

[TheRedneckProfessor]

It might have an impact along the lines of, "I prayed for grandpa; but he died anyway.  Fuck faith."  But as an agent of mass Boomercide?  Nah.

[midniterider]

Boomer Remover and Boomercide. This thread is worth it just for the terminology.

[Edgarcito]

Well, Mom watches Fox News a good bit.  Mom believes Fox News is gospel.    The Bible does say keep your eyes open.  If there is the Bible God, it might be prudent to keep your eyes open as directed. 

[TheRedneckProfessor]

Yes.  Keep your eyes open.  Just keep your hands away from them.

[LogicalFallacy]

Especially while walking. Walking down the street with eyes closed is a bad idea.

[midniterider]

2 minutes ago, LogicalFallacy said:

Especially while walking. Walking down the street with eyes closed is a bad idea.

 

I'd rather use the sidewalk. /s

[TheRedneckProfessor]

10 minutes ago, LogicalFallacy said:

Especially while walking. Walking down the street with eyes closed is a bad idea.

Y'all walk on the wrong side of the street over there, don't you?

[LogicalFallacy]

2 hours ago, TheRedneckProfessor said:

Y'all walk on the wrong side of the street over there, don't you?

Actually we can walk on either side, and won't get arrested for Jay walking. (I understand in America Jay walking is a crime or something like that?

 

We drive on the left like all smart nations and we measure in metric not imperial.

[TheRedneckProfessor]

22 minutes ago, LogicalFallacy said:

Actually we can walk on either side, and won't get arrested for Jay walking. (I understand in America Jay walking is a crime or something like that?

 

We drive on the left like all smart nations and we measure in metric not imperial.

If it's so great there, what are you doing here? 

[Joshpantera]

9 hours ago, Edgarcito said:

Well, Mom watches Fox News a good bit.  Mom believes Fox News is gospel.    The Bible does say keep your eyes open.  If there is the Bible God, it might be prudent to keep your eyes open as directed. 

 

This is just a hypothetical. 

 

What's your take here, End? Does it look like revelation being fulfilled in your opinion? 

[Joshpantera]

16 hours ago, webmdave said:

I lean toward knowledge as the most likely  effective cure for religious belief.

 

Covid-19 equals Boomer Remover? Worst case senarios project US deaths to as many as 200,000 to 2.2 million people. Since the US population is over 327 million with Boomers numbering roughly 72 million, and since Covid-19 indiscriminately kills all ages (though more from the old and sick sector), I don't see much change in the mix of US society once this pandemic passes. 

 

However, this is just my opinion and it is open to changing with the aquistion of more data. 

 

Agreed on knowledge as the most likely effective cure. The rest is just a hypothetical about possible curve balls like this running wild. Things could change very fast. Much faster than anything expected given an odd set of circumstances. I guess that possibility just became more real and up front in my mind recently due to this pandemic. 

 

16 hours ago, LogicalFallacy said:

Agreed with Dave. The kill rate is far to low to have any impact other than making said boomer cohort more fervent and possibly more preaching the end times stuff.

 

Also it seems in bad times people turn more religious, not less, so it's likely to have an enhancement effect for religion, rather than a "clean sweep"

 

They arrested a mega church preacher the other day in the Tampa area. He was telling people things like no one who attends services will get the virus. The Sheriff came down hard on it. I'd say that the religious people do seem more religious right now due to the pandemic. But of course these churches are mostly made up of older folks who are inclined to grasp towards religion during hard times. With a con man at the helm trying to exploit the situation for monetary gain. 

 

 

[older]

1 hour ago, Joshpantera said:

With a con man at the helm trying to exploit the situation for monetary gain. 

  

This sentence makes me wonder how many "Christians" will "forget" to donate. Perhaps those pastors who won't stop the services are worried about cash flow.

[◊ DestinyTurtle ◊]

23 hours ago, Joshpantera said:

I just find it interesting how christians try to rush to impose fixed interpretations on happenstance events. Always failing, but always trying again and again as the opportunity arises. And blind to every previous failure as they do it over and over again. 

I think in a crisis many people, as a coping mechanism, cling to false explanations and narratives just for the false gratification of feeling like you "know" something and therefore have some kind of a "handle" on the situation. It's really tempting for many people to even believe in a cruel god and a horrifying apocalypse if it helps them feel like they "know" what's going on. I think it's a petty and desperate place to derive a sense of security from, honestly.

 

People really have a hard time just coping with the fact that we don't know what's going to happen. Honestly? Given recent events it makes sense it's a struggle.

[Joshpantera]

1 hour ago, older said:

  

This sentence makes me wonder how many "Christians" will "forget" to donate. Perhaps those pastors who won't stop the services are worried about cash flow.

 

This is a mega church situation, and it looks like the pastor is cash motivated. The Sheriff had two religious leaders back his move on arresting the con man. They quoted verses and spoke of why they oppose "testing" jesus at a time like this, basically. 

 

35 minutes ago, DestinyTurtle said:

I think in a crisis many people, as a coping mechanism, cling to false explanations and narratives just for the false gratification of feeling like you "know" something and therefore have some kind of a "handle" on the situation. It's really tempting for many people to even believe in a cruel god and a horrifying apocalypse if it helps them feel like they "know" what's going on. I think it's a petty and desperate place to derive a sense of security from, honestly.

 

You hit the nail on the head. That's what it was like being raised in an end times denomination like SDAism. I have memories of being 3 or 4 years old looking up at posters with depictions of the various beasts of revelation. Everyone convinced that going into the 80's the end was right in front of us. Any time the pope spoke, or we had a new president someone had some crack pot theory that it had something to do with the 2nd coming. 

 

But you're right. They were leaning on a sense of security from thinking that they "know" what's going on. Very keen insight. 

 

And then as children, we found security in thinking that the elders knew what was going on. We depended on them having it correct. But that's where they lost me, when I began to identify just how incorrect they all were about so many different things. My parents along with everyone else. That was the big change. I could see how petty and desperate it was. 

 

Endgarcito, sorry. 

 

Don't let me spoil any beliefs you may have about revelation being true. Proceed if you will. 

[alreadyGone]

In early March as the pandemic was just becoming known, I spoke for a few minutes with a woman about the situation.

 

Her response, offered immediately with not a moment for thought was "well, it's in the Bible!".  As if that's all we needed to know about a deadly epidemic that was even then killing people all over the globe.

[Joshpantera]

I keep seeing various youtube shmucks putting out videos about how this is all in revelation and these are the end times. Yeah, I'm sure John the Revelator was looking through a mystical fog, or crystal ball at BLM protesters in the streets wearing corona masks and drafting out line after line of Revelation.

 

The idiocy of some of these christians is mind boggling at times. Now that I'm so far removed from it in my own mind. But not physically removed from it. I have to hear this sort of shit all the time from christians around me. They won't believe that it isn't the end coming to fruition. Until time rolls on and nothing happens, again. No lesson will be learned. And they will keep looking forward trying to pin the tail on the end of time just around the next corner again, and again, and again.......

 

And it will always be revelation fulfilled, even though every previous time the same claim was made, it wasn't revelation after all......