I've read a couple of articles recently which have detailed the current and future collapse of faith in our Christian Father.
America is Becoming Less Christian and The Coming Evangelical Collapse
I have some thoughts on the ideas discussed in these articles, but no time to share them right now. I'll come back to it, though. Read 'em in the mean time and let me know what you think.
Stay Gold,
MMK
2 comments:
My first thought on this is: I wonder how much of the decline is actual vs. perceptual. I wonder if the number of people rejecting a religious affiliation has actually risen as markedly as they claim... or if perhaps the fact that it's more socially acceptable now to declare no religion has led a lot of people to come out of their religious closets and declare for everyone what they've known themselves for a long time.
The reason I wonder is because I think back to when I was younger in the 90's and would've been counted part of that 86%, though I already knew it was not what I believed in. I went for years being called Lutheran when in my heart I'd already long been questioning and given up that identity -- but hadn't yet found my voice, or my conviction, to publicly declare what I'd been feeling; consequences be damned.
Notice at the end of the CNN article where it lists some facts about some of the sampled religions. In all of them, membership has remained the same or slightly grew - contrary to the overarching "message" of the story that people are turning away.
Lastly, on this point, 54,461 Americans is an AWFULLY small sample group to be making such widespread statistical conclusions from. It's basically the equivalent of going to one small-ish US city (like Ames, IA), polling everyone, and then making widespread assumptions for the ENTIRE nation based on the findings.
My second thought is on the fact mentioned in the CNN article that people are not declaring themselves atheist. A lot of people are reading that article, I'm sure, and coming away with the impression that the church is failing and people are disbelieving in god en-masse -- but they aren't really paying attention. Just because people aren't checking a box and putting themselves in a pre-defined label doesn't mean they don't believe. If anything, I'll optimistically hope that it means they're more open to ideas that can't be meshed with the label "catholic" or "lutheran" or "what-the-fuck-ever", and in the process of questioning their faith and personal beliefs.
I'd liken it to how I view politics. I do not, and never will, declare party affiliation because in my mind the candidate merits the vote, not the D or R next to their name. That doesn't mean I don't believe in the process as a whole. It merely means that I remain open to considerations outside the restraints implied by an affiliation.
But back to the point at hand -- I do not see the decline as a bad thing. If anything I see it as a more honest representation of what people actually think. I HOPE that it also implies that people are more open-minded and questioning "what it all means" to find the right answer that works for them personally, and not feeling as socially pressured to declare an affiliation that would hinder their personal growth.
P.S. The 2nd article came across as more doomsday prophecy than based in actual fact. Because of that I can't personally give it any merit to debate on.
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