I take it that you haven't been involved in too many religious gatherings and will excuse your ignorance.
Not a large amount, but enough to know what goes on and that different communities do it very differently. From a bunch of old people coming out of the woodwork just to do something with the priest reading from the bible or just talking about world events, to hardcore indoctrination of children into not just the faith but something more of a cult where they wish to rule over your every action. Personally I've been to gatherings of Protestants, Catholics, and Jehovah's Witnesses.
One of my old friends' girlfriend was raised in what I guess you could our version of the inbred, super fundamentalist and super heavy on brainwashing, bible belt community.
No internet. No TV or books unless they've been deemed acceptable material to be exposed to. Same with music of course. Your not allowed to befriend someone unless they're either of your commune or might as well be. How you dress and look also heavily controlled and judged. Who you speak to. Phone use. Etc etc.
God damn lunatics. Worst thing is groups like this naturally only still exist here because they've been a part of local government since decades ago and no body fucking votes in local elections ever so they don't get kicked out either. Thankfully it's super hard to keep people so isolated in the 21st century so it can't go on forever and people do break out.
@Ming you are never ever going to ban religious gatherings. Not only would you have to get past the constitution, but you'd also end up with a shitton of riots. You'd need a heavy police force, and you'd likely end up with every religion ever going full terrorist.
That's funny.
1) I don't live in America, there's no constitution here
2) My country is one of if not the most secular and unfaithful nations in the world
The above is a chart of the proportion of atheists and agnostics around the world, from Wikipedia.
3) Many of our Churches are already being either torn down or sold off as private property
4) Most people never even step foot inside a Church outside weddings, baptisms, and confirmation and only because its tradition, there's no religious motivation behind it.
5) This isn't just a trend that's spreading out into continental Europe, but the world. As you can see in the above picture.
Know how I grew up around tons of Muslim families? Well, not a single one of them adhered to daily prayer. No one intends on pilgrimage to Mecca. Several even eat pork, drink and gamble. No one attends any sort of religious gathering regularly. Hell amongst the Buddhists I've known they celebrate Christmas and Easter for the sake of their kids.
Religion is fucking dying m8. All that will remain is the cultural influence. I say give it 2-3 generations and religious people will be a minority in the west across the board.
And I bet a good chunk of those will be terror cells on their last leg. People will think of religious people and picture Mr. Arab with a belt of TNT. If banning religious institutions came up after an event similar to 911 on the grounds of 'protecting the people' it would pass.
Of course, non-institutionalized and personal faiths will live on much longer as they adapt and largely revolve around the individual rather than the masses, and are closer to a way of living and pose no threat to others.