Thursday, February 19, 2015

Church Attendance survey

What moves us to go to church?

Results of a recent survey said something about the church-going habits of the American people, ranked by states.

Not necessarily that I believe numbers are simple indicators of individual religious devotion, but it does certainly go to one aspect.

Understanding the why might be as important as the actual number returned in the survey.

Do residents of Utah and the Southeast tend to believe that church attendance is their best use of Sunday?  Does my regular attendance at church make me a better person than I would otherwise tend to be?  Perhaps devotion to Sunday church services indicates people who find something meaningful therein.  If so, why is it not a more uniform metric?

I honestly doubt that it has anything much to do with competing to be the best or most hypocritical piousness.   But it certainly might.
And when thou prayest thou shalt not do as the hypocrites, for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.  (3 Nephi 13:5)

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