Are most church goers devout?

I wonder what percentage of church goers genuinely believe all the stuff their chosen religion espouses?

For example, there's an evangelical Chinese christian church near me: I wonder how many attend due to personal beliefs vs. how many attend mainly for the social benefits of mixing / connecting?

I bet at least half the church goers have some degree of ambivalence as to the doctrine / dogma, and attend mainly for social reasons.

I can say from growing up Catholic that most people believed most teachings. Now, they did not believe things like the story of creation word for work like the haters insist they do. They get that the first books of the Bible are allegorical stories. They understand the importance of the lesson.

I worked with a guy who was active in his church, his wife worked for the church but I forget exactly how or where. If you called up central casting and told them to send over a black Southern Baptist looking guy this guy would be who they would send. We had to share office space and he was talking with someone on the phone so I got one side of the conversation but we talked about it later. He was telling the guy that you do not have to take everything from every part of the hymn or service. You had to take the part that had meaning to you. He said how some people like the hymns and the refrains reminded them of their relationship with God. Others listened to the sermon and took that lesson. Others like the prayers that had a refrain to them.

It is not important that every last person believe every last thing. It is about enough people taking enough from the Mass/Service to keep their lives on a good path.

Heck, I had an atheist college professor who went to church every week. An atheist church.

Quote: AZDuffman

Heck, I had an atheist college professor who went to church every week. An atheist church.

Episcopalian?

Quote: missedhervee

I wonder what percentage of church goers genuinely believe all the stuff their chosen religion espouses?
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Believe it? Many of them don't even know 20% of what their church is about. I'm an atheist and I know more about Christianity than most of the Christians I know except for my wife, her father was a Baptist minister. Lots of people just know the basics. For instance, the majority of Christians I talked to in the last 30 years have no idea how many people killed Romans killed on the cross. Many of them think it was just Jesus and the two thieves because they never talk about it in church. The minister or priest never goes on and on about the 100,000+ people that died of crucifixion. It takes away from the death of Jesus because it shows it for what it was, just another run-of-the-mill everyday punishment. The Romans crucified people everywhere, on trees, on tall fence posts, even on slanted roofs of barns. And they did not nail everybody because nails were expensive, they were reused over and over. They often tied people to the limbs of a tree and left them there to die of exposure. And you better not cut them down because you will go up next.

Quote: AZDuffman

It is not important that every last person believe every last thing. It is about enough people taking enough from the Mass/Service to keep their lives on a good path.
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Churches have always performed a public service. They keep people out of trouble and they provide some kind of moral balance in their lives and a social outlet. I have nothing against religion or churches. I just don't need them to keep a moral balance in my life. And I mostly antisocial so I sure don't need them for that. I'd rather have some guy sitting in his church then out robbing the liquor store.

It seems traditional social outlets are a thing of the past; Masonry, Oddfellows, Moose, Elks: dying.

With the advent of computers people can get a social "fix" via social media: who needs churches for social purposes any more?

Maybe this helps explain why Americans are becoming increasingly non-religious, and why many churches are in trouble.

But then there's the Mormons who have thrived by fully integrating their religion with most aspects of their everyday life: I suspect many Mormons question the tenets they're told (hello, golden tablets) but they fear the social and familial consequences of bucking the norm and getting excommunicated, so they tow the line.

Seems to me that casinos are helping to replace churches, at least as for tithing, praying and being around other people.

Quote: missedhervee

Seems to me that casinos are helping to replace churches, at least as for tithing, praying and being around other people.

So, we’ve gone back from simple offerings to human sacrifice, is what you’re saying.

Quote: missedhervee

I suspect many Mormons question the tenets they're told (hello, golden tablets) .

Don't forget the sacred magical underwear they have to wear. Mitt Romney where is his everyday. And they take it very seriously. Catholics have crossing themselves and rosary beads, Mormons have magical underwear. Here's a tidbit. Crossing your fingers for luck was originally making the sign of the cross in the Catholic Church. If you cross your middle finger over your index finger it looks like a cross. If you want to wish yourself good luck and seek the help of Jesus you made the sign of the cross with your fingers and kept it to yourself. I don't know who thought this stuff up but they must have had a lot of time on their hands. We can have no idea how superstitious these people were, it wood boggle our minds. They had no scientific knowledge of anything so everything was blamed on the supernatural. And still is in many instances in the church.

Quote: rxwine

Episcopalian?

Unitarian something or other order. They even used Christian hymns just replaced "God" with "Man" or mankind. Guy was polite when asked about it. He has to expect to get asked why an atheist goes to church weekly.

I have to say I always hated singing at church. We would see some kind of film about Heaven and see the people up there singing and to me that would be Hell. I got thrown out of the school pagent for not singing.

My dad told me about in the day they had a "mill worker mass." While anybody could go it was designed for guys who could go across the street at the lunch break and was made to last less than 30 minutes. No singing or embellishments just in and out as those guys were on long shifts and that is when they could hit Mass. I always wished they had the same when I was going to church as I hated the singing that much.

A lunch mass, eh?

I wonder how many went for the host / wafer?

Hello, free lunch.