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Good.

Taxing them would force more closures. Do it.

I agree wholeheartedly. I don't know what the replacement would be, however. I keep thinking about that when I think about trying to bootstrap something in my community. Something that somehow (?) is supported to keep the heat and the lights on, and everything clean and very safe, the taxes paid, but provides a place to: 1) meet-up for book clubs 2) has a maker/hacker space 3) Has break-outs for hosting meetups along with projectors, etc. 4) provides open source training of various kinds. 5) Throws social functions, with food and modest amounts of alcohol.... 6) A place with trained staff that put on things for kids to do after school lets out or in the summers

Something with wifi, where access to snacks/coffee is also possible, where people can hang out all day and not feel any guilt for buying nothing or only one coffee and just being in the presence of others.

In some cases, I see libraries trying to serve some of these functions. In some cases, I have seen some "community centers" or the building owned by Elks/Masons also trying for a subset of this... if there is some nonprofit or b corp out there making something like this happen at scale, I'd love to hear it. I've been part of meetups that struggle to find/keep spaces they can use, often they have to rely on someone being employed at some company or another.

But yes, I'm no champion of churches. I also don't want every single public space to essentially dwindle to nothing. Malls are not that - and they are mostly dwindling, too. Starbucks is not that. If the only remaining public space is only trails and maybe the post office (if Musk et al don't kill that too) and the DMV, what a sad state of affairs...

So you're saying we should have more boardgaming conventions?

I'm all in on that proposal.

That "community" is a judgmental indoctrinating shithole that destroys people.

Good riddance.

We'll replace it with more commercial real estate squatting.

See you in the Library.

Unfortunately the internet is now the new 3rd space.

Religion advocated for bad policies in government which dug their own grave.

I don't feel bad they're closing down.

I think the risk more is the bad theology and idol worship that American Christianity is becoming. It’s sorta like how almost all mega churches are “non denominational.” There’s not a commitment to an actual ideology or set of religious beliefs, it’s become a strange cult fixated on Trump. It’s more dangerous in some ways because it’s less predictable. Being a “Christian” has nothing to do with believing that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, it’s more a conservative White identity status.

Membership is not the same as attendance, and it's WAY less than the number of people giving financially.

I was a preacher at a 1200-member church that had weekly attendance around 150-200.

And based on the demographics of the area, we received less than 1% of the annual income for those who did attend regularly.

The thing about churches is that they don't require payment of any kind, and kind people will dedicate time and effort in a very loving way that is inefficient, when what we really need is cash.

My go-to example is the quilting ladies who spend 40 hours each on handmade quilts using expensive materials to give to the poor. It's extremely kind and their work is exquisite, but with the money spent making those quilts for 20 people, we could buy blankets, a couple weeks of food, and new clothing for 50 full families.

The thing about giving money, though, is that it feels impersonal to the person giving the gift. This is also why the poor should be taken care of through taxation. Taking care of people's basic needs shouldn't need to feel intimate and spiritual - it should be routine and boring.