IS THE INTERNET REPLACING GOING TO CHURCH?

Although churches aren't empty, the congregations are dwindling and a new Pew Research study says "...the Christian percentage of the population [is] dropping precipitously." It's down to 70.6% from 78.4% in 2007. Millennials, or Generation Y, those with birth years from the 1980s to 2000s, are bailing out of Christianity with some one-third now claiming to be unaffiliated. And here's the kicker, some researchers blame it on the Internet, where the public can now get the facts on their faith and bond with those who think as they do. And in my view, if the person is knowledgeable enough, they can use the Internet to confirm or refute the dogmas of a religious group. My gut tells me the latter has a lot to do with the escape from Protestantism and religion in general. The only time I've been in a church in the last fifty years is for a wedding and when our granddaughter took my wife and me to a special service. Oh yes, a couple of Catholic Christmas Eve midnight masses. I am not proud but either am I apologetic. It's a matter of choice and apparently the current generation has chosen to veer away from all the pomp and circumstance.