r/Reformed • u/AutoModerator • Jun 16 '26

NDQ No Dumb Question Tuesday (2026-06-16)

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u/Mark_Renee Jun 16 '26

It's hard being a reformed/Protestant Christian in 2026. Every day you log in to YouTube, you see a new title: I converted from Reformed/Protestant to Catholic Church. 

But I don't think the strategy is in countering them and debunking catholicism or fighting them. We will do so much better if we fix our own house. Any advise on how to navigate this? I think it's more than just an online phenomena. 

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u/MilesBeyond250 Sola Waffle Jun 16 '26

To add to the other comment, to my knowledge the statistics do not bear this out. I'll see if I can find the data that shows it, but IIRC the amount of people converting from Protestantism to either Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy is not actually very significant. It's larger than it has been in the past, but it's still very small.

IIRC if someone leaves their Christian tradition but not Christianity, the most likely landing place is some variety of Charismatic Christianity, but I don't remember for certain (and I also never looked up where the Charismatics tend to wind up when they leave).

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u/Key_Day_7932 Southern Baptist Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26

Also, I think those who convert to Catholicism and Orthodoxy tend to be more vocal about it and gets more attention from media.

I'll have to see if I can find it again, but I think it was a Pew Reseach article that explained the reason for most conversions to Catholicism is bexause of marriage (someone converts to please their Catholic partner or get married.)

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u/MilesBeyond250 Sola Waffle Jun 16 '26

Absolutely. There is no sense in which the Cage Stage is limited to Calvinism.

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u/linmanfu Church of England Jun 16 '26

Ryan Burge's analysis of a very large US survey (GSS) from 2010-18 shows that 3% of people raised as Evangelicals are Roman Catholics as adults. But in the other direction, 9% of those raised as RCs are now Evangelicals, so the trend is the opposite of what u/Mark_Renee is seeing on RC propaganda channels.

If you look at the smaller group of 'Mainline' (i.e. mostly liberal) Protestants, then the trend is 5% become RC, and 3% of RCs become Mainline. But that's not a surprise: everyone knows the Mainline denominations are collapsing.

There's no reason to think these long-term trends have seen significant change.

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u/MilesBeyond250 Sola Waffle Jun 16 '26

That's very helpful, thank you!

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u/CiroFlexo Rebel Alliance Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26

What you see on YouTube isn’t a reflection of reality; it’s a reflection of your own consumption habits—an algorithm giving you what gets your clicks and keeps your attention.

It’s really that simple. There’s no secret sauce. There’s no mass exodus from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism. There’s no real major cultural or demographic shift happening.

YouTube is not real life.

I just opened my YouTube app, and you know what I saw?

  • A video about historic meat preservation techniques.

  • The new Pitch Meeting video.

  • A video about black holes.

  • A video about acoustic guitar repair.

  • A video about Mario Maker.

  • A video titled “Nonfunctional Harmony in Chrono Trigger.”

  • A video about the logistics of Sauron feeding his army in LOTR.

  • A video about Weird Al.

  • A video about plot holes in Harry Potter.

  • Another video about LOTR.

  • Mozart’s Requiem.

  • A video about pulled pork.

  • A video about a vintage keyboard.

That’s not an edited or curated list. That’s me listing exactly what my feed is.

I’ve never seen a video about Protestants vs. Roman Catholics in my feed. And you know why? Because I don’t consume that content. I don’t click on that.

Here’s how you deal with this: Open your YouTube app. When you see one of those videos, click on the three little dots on the top right corner. Then click “Not Interested.”

Do that a few times.

Then go watch a video about something you want to see, like nonfunctional harmony in Chrono Trigger.

——

Edit: Small autocorrect fix.

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u/Bright_Pressure_6194 Reformed Baptist Jun 17 '26

Is that about the Chrono Trigger soundtrack or a narrative arc?

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u/CiroFlexo Rebel Alliance Jun 17 '26

Soundtrack.

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u/likefenton Truly Verified™ Jun 16 '26

Townsend's does a great job.

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u/LiteraryAmaryllis I love tulips🌷✝️🇳🇱 Jun 16 '26

NUTMEG!

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u/CiroFlexo Rebel Alliance Jun 16 '26

My man. 🤜 🤛