Tom Rich explains how pastors are a major engine of Christianity’s decline.
These guys have more money then ever before to preach the gospel. They have more avenues by which to share the gospel then ever before. They have more celebrity status then ever before. They have more congregants then ever before. They take more Holy Land trips then ever before. They cruise more European rivers with members of their congregations then ever before. They stomp and yell and criticize their congregants more than ever before.
Notice this, too:
So like they did with Santa Claus, they begin to question what they were told. This is okay. This is healthy. Whatever religion they were taught should be able to stand up to public scrutiny.
This second point, I think, will ultimately be more damaging to Christianity, and to religion in general, than the hypocrisies and childish theatrics, for there will always be insecure people who need to belong to a club, who will submit to any humiliation in order to belong somewhere.
Whether one approaches the Abrahamic narratives with the perspective of science, or Biblical scholarship, the bottom line is the same: The narratives are untrue. Some people will never understand the science, but everybody can understand that most scholars doubt Moses ever existed, and that there is not a scintilla of evidence to support the Egyptian captivity.
It can’t stand up to educated scrutiny, so it’s over.