An article entitled “America becoming less Christian, survey finds” appeared on CNN.com’s front page this evening. In summary, more people are stating that they are not currently affiliated with any religion, more people are joining “evangelical” churches (of the mega-variety) and more “traditional” denominations are declining.
Some are blaming the modest decline of mainstream religions as being attributed to these very mega-churches:
The rise in evangelical Christianity is contributing to the rejection of religion altogether by some Americans, said Mark Silk of Trinity College.
“In the 1990s, it really sunk in on the American public generally that there was a long-lasting ‘religious right’ connected to a political party, and that turned a lot of people the other way,” he said of the link between the Republican Party and groups such as the Moral Majority and Focus on the Family.
Here’s a quote I didn’t expect:
In the survey, one in five Americans said they have no religious identity or did not answer the question, and more than one in four said they do not expect to have a religious funeral.
I think the shift towards religious non-affiliation is a positive one. Even if one retains their own set of religious or spiritual beliefs. Of course a lot of people aren’t going to suddenly check the “atheist” box (and they don’t have to: the term “atheist” derived from a pejorative epithet). Some of them are agnostic. Some of them are simply “spiritual”. And some of them are just trying to figure things out. Best wishes to all of them.
The truly ridiculous quote of the piece is attributed to the president of the Family Research council:
Perkins told Lou Dobbs he sees that decline easing, and he thinks soon religion will be an even greater part of people’s lives.
“If this poll is taken next year will the outcome be different?” he asked. “As the economy goes downward, I think people are going to be driven to religion.”
If you’re clinging to a church in a time of crisis, there’s something wrong (aside from the 10% suggested tithe which won’t help your bank account any). Driven? Like Cattle? (Or more like sheep?) Is Perkins suggesting that fear is a motivating force behind church attendance? The old “help-me-God-I’m-desperate-but-don’t-need-you-when-things-are-good” approach isn’t exactly the best method for attracting devout believers. And it’s a pretty sleazy thing to suggest that they’ll come crawling back when times get tough(er).
William Donahue, the president of the Catholic League suggests that the decline in traditional religion (and religion in general) show in this study is based on the strict tenets of such congregations:
“The three most dreaded words are thou shalt not,” he told Lou Dobbs. “Notice they are not atheists — they are saying I don’t want to be told what to do with my life.”
Yes, people don’t want to be told what to do with their life. But more importantly, they don’t want to be told what to do in their minds, in their hearts and in their bedrooms. This, however, has nothing to do with the shift from Catholicism to one of the evangelical denominations. These mega-churches follow the same ten commandments as Catholics. And even if they didn’t, they would still be constrained by the law, which shares a lot in common with the very commandments they are “trying to avoid”.
All in all, I think people are finally starting to realize that they don’t have to follow any predetermined faith-based morality, and can make decisions on how to live a good life on their own.
Hi thanks for a great post. I’ll be back