Re:American megachurches are thriving by poaching flocks
by asdff on Sunday August 27, 2023 @06:40PM
(#37287329)
You hear about how concert goers feel this. Burning man attendees treat it like a religious experience, and it really is by all means the same sort of religious event as a saturnalia festival centuries ago must have been like. I think there is also a huge high on the part of the person marshaling all of these people. I watched a documentary on Woodstock 99 and they interviewed Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit about his set. He talked about how powerful it felt to have almost half a million people all moving in unison to him, entirely under his spell. It seemed like he got chills just thinking of that moment again years later.
1. They were very oriented to young adults (say, <40 years old): modern music, chic building/space design, coffee-shop feel (especially because people would regularly come in with their lattes), and the amazing perk that they had numerous rooms for kids of different ages. Kids were treated very well and had so much fun in the bouncy houses or whatever, and parents could really focus on whatever the message was that day.
2. Critical mass. Being around more people really gives a feeling of belonging, and I think it's pretty well-established that the big crowds, swelling music, etc., really does elicit an emotional response that some people interpret as the holy spirit while others simply think of it as a warm, wonderful feeling you get going to church. That feeling is definitely self-reinforcing for attendance.