Just Be Nice
In a recent article in Newsweek ("The End of Christian America"), John Meacham draws our attention to the decline in religious affiliation in our society. Meacham seems to think that religion is doing just fine and, as he is a religious person himself, he waxes poetic in religion's defense. He tries to calm the fears of the "End of Times" right-wingers who are decrying the death of American Christianity.
I am here, on the other hand, to call to task John Meacham and those of his ilk who continue to parade religion around as some beneficial social service that does more good than bad.
So let's begin!
In one of the early paragraphs of Meacham's piece he cites the survey (American Religious Identification Survey) that reported the decline in respondents claiming to be Christian. Apparently, the number has dropped 10 percent since 1990, from 86% to 76%.
Well, right of the bat, that floored me. While I was elated to see that the amount of people claiming to be agnostic/atheist or who adhered to no religion rose at the same rate, I still found it hard to swallow that 76% of Americans were still living in La-La Land.
Then I read a little further. In a new Newsweek poll, only 48% of respondents claimed that religion "can answer all or most of today's problems".
Now 48% is much lower than 76%. What is the discrepancy here? Are we to believe that 28% of those people who claimed to be Christian don't believe it can solve our problems? Yes. That is EXACTLY what we are to believe. And yes, that is what people really think. There are many, many people out there claiming to be religious that take a whole different track when you tack them down on specifics. Somehow, a general belief in a God that is somewhat reminiscent of a Christian god and a standard set of "Golden Rule" morals qualifies you as a Christian. And yet, most of these people, if asked about specifics of their professed religion, will admit they have disagreements with their religion.
So, in reality, we don't have 76% of our country as church-attending, bible-is-literal, fundamentalists. What we have is a majority of Americans claiming that they believe in God (many won't define him/her/it too narrowly) and perhaps in salvation--meaning anything other than Hell. And they claim loose allegiance with the bible stories they remember from their childhood.
So, then, why is this loose-knit group declining? I don't think that their spiritual beliefs have changed. They didn't have many to begin with. I think they are simply beginning to realize that the churches to which they belong didn't really represent their beliefs--which brings us to the next point of Meacham's article I wanted to discuss.
In the article, Meacham quotes heavily from a certain R. Albert Mohler Jr.—president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (one of the largest on Earth, apparently). Mohler is very worried that the declining stats represent a very possible death of Christianity in our once-fine nation. One of the quotes that Meacham picks out to illustrate this belief is as follows:
"The moral teachings of Christianity have exerted an incalculable influence on Western civilization. As those moral teachings fade into cultural memory, a secularized morality takes their place. Once Christianity is abandoned by a significant portion of the population, the moral landscape necessarily changes. For the better part of the 20th century, the nations of Western Europe led the way in the abandonment of Christian commitments. Christian moral reflexes and moral principles gave way to the loosening grip of a Christian memory. Now even that Christian memory is absent from the lives of millions."
My first gut response upon reading this quote was, "So what?"--CORRECTION! My first gut response was to offer a differing opinion on the "incalculable influence" of Christianity on Western civilization. Personally, I think it is very calculable and not very pleasant. But after reading through the rest of the quote, I was rather unimpressed. Again, so what?
But then I remembered that I am writing this for those of you who may very well be genuinely dismayed (or terrified) about the possible absence of a Christian memory in this country, so I figured I should elaborate a bit.
First off, I must give credit where credit is due. Mr. Mohler is one of the first religious adherents I have heard actually mention a "secularized morality". Most religious folks think morality and religion are inseparable and if you don't have religion you can't have morals. In fact, when I left my church, that was one of the most common questions asked of me by my religious friends, "How will you raise your kids?!?" As if, somehow, taking the illogical dogma out of my life was going to render me emotionless and with no sense of right and wrong and that I would somehow beat, abuse, or otherwise reap ill will upon my children.
So, at least Mohler recognizes that there is such a thing as secular morality. But, he obviously feels it is inferior to the Christian version. What he fails to point out, however, is why he feels this way. Like I said, you get into specifics and religious folk clam up quick.
From a truly moral standpoint, isn't being nice simply for the sake of niceness better than being nice just because you think God is going to rap your knuckles if your not? Just throwing that out there...
Mohler goes on to emphasize his fears by throwing out Europe as an example. We could end up like that Christian-memory-abandoning-Europe!
Ever been to Europe? Life is pretty good there. In fact, the countries where religion holds the least sway are, amazingly enough, the most peaceful and beneficial to their citizenry (think Scandinavia here folks). We could do A LOT worse than ending up like Norway or Sweden.
Oh WAIT! We ARE doing worse.
Mohler continues in his dismal evaluation of our country's religious nature with the dire warning about the fall of the Northeast section of the US. This section supplanted the Northwest (a perennial atheist hotbed) as the area where most people switched from religious to non-religious affiliation. Mohler sees the Northeast as the birthplace of American religion, so this shift of philosophy in this area was extremely uncomfortable for him--so much so he wrote the following:
A remarkable culture-shift has taken place around us. The most basic contours of American culture have been radically altered. The so-called Judeo-Christian consensus of the last millennium has given way to a post-modern, post-Christian, post-Western cultural crisis which threatens the very heart of our culture. Clearly, there is a new narrative, a post-Christian narrative, that is animating large portions of this society."
Yes, Mr. Mohler, there is. That narrative can be summed up in one phrase. Stop. Lying. To. Us..
The American public is wising up to the nuances that make a religion specific. The little snips of dogma that differentiate the Mormons from the Catholics or the Baptists from the Lutherans. And for the most part, the American public is rapidly coming to recognize that those little snippets are fairy tales at best and outright lies at worst.
The fact alone that so many religions have sprung from one religious text has started giving many Americans pause. Who is interpreting this book correctly? What part of this book is literal and what part isn't? Who gets to decide?
Even Meacham and Mohler fall into this trap with the quote they both use from the bible to bolster their belief that Christianity isn't dying (Meacham is quoting Mohler, who is quoting the bible):
"Jesus Christ promised that the very gates of Hell would not prevail against his church."
The actual quote is taken from Matthew 16:18 when Jesus is declaring Peter the rock of his church and he states that the very gates of hell will not prevail against him.
So, was Christ speaking in metaphor again or was he being literal. Did he really turn Peter into a rock? Probably not. So we know at least part of this is metaphor. Are the gates of Hell a metaphor?
Why not add a new twist to the interpretation? Seems to me if you don't believe in the Gates of Hell, you would be pretty sure that they won't prevail against you. As an example, I am fairly confident in my statement that the Gates of Atlantis will not prevail against my Thanksgiving plans.
So, was Christ speaking literally here?
When it comes right down to it, nobody knows. As with most of biblical verse, the individual is left to make up their own mind about its "literal-ness". And what do you know? Most individuals are deciding they don't agree with much of the racism, bigotry, and gender issues that the bible supports.
So they start to pick and choose.
And that, my friends, is how you get 76% of Americans claiming to be Christians while nary a one of them would stone a disobedient child or give up their riches to get into heaven.
As you may have figured out by now, I see the declining numbers in religious adherents as a sign of access to information. People now have more access to immediate information about their own church and Christianity in general.
They see stories about their church and see quotes from their church leaders claiming this and that based on doctrine and dogma... and they find that they disagree with these statements.
For example, Mormons in far-flung corners of the globe may never have known the LDS church was hostile towards homosexuals (whether they be members or no) until the church openly supported legislation in several states that would directly limit the rights of homosexual individuals. The news spun around the globe in seconds. Now there are Mormons who are facing questions about their faith that just scant years ago would never have been brought to their attention.
The same can be said of any religion. Catholics are looking long and hard at the edicts and leadership appointments coming out of Rome. And the Colorado mega-churches are still reeling from the sexual scandals of Ted Haggard.
People are waking up to the realities of religion.
Meacham, however, doesn't share Mohler's fears about Christianity's imminent demise. Meacham claims that religion cannot die as long as there are people on the earth. He claims (with no basis in fact whatsoever) that "faith is an intrinsic human impulse". I think he is misconstruing the idea. "Hope" may be what he meant to say rather than "faith". I think all people do hope for a better life (here at least and perhaps beyond as well). But faith implies belief. I don't think it is inherent that all people believe we will continue to exist after we die. We all WANT to believe that, but very few actually do--hence the universal fear of death (which, ironically, seems to be most exaggerated in the religious community).
So what does all this mean? Why do I care what people believe? Why pick on Meacham?
Because what Meacham (and the other 76% of the country that is like him) says affects the rest of us, and it affects us in ways that are not anything like the rosy, family-oriented, platitudes they use to convince themselves that they are religious.
Instead, it manifests itself as political machinery that crushes the rights of individuals. Flaming zealots with no room in their lives for anything but black-and-white-literal-bible-truth, and who would force all of their society to bend to their will, claim brotherhood with that 76%.
It empowers them. It makes them newsworthy.
A church leader who is a bigot and racist (perhaps unbeknownst to his congregation) calls on them to vote for (or against) a particular piece of legislation, and these folks, these people who have decided to be sheep, will vote that way, without any knowledge of or any regard for the repercussions of those actions.
By claiming belief in a fairy tale, Meacham and those like him give meaning and substance to those who would use those fairy tales to support racism, bigotry and oppression.
In closing, I will let you all in on a little secret...
You don't need God to be nice.
All you have to do is be nice. If you are nice, you've got nothing to worry about from God (whomever or whatever he/she/it may be). You don't need a book, a church or a pastor to understand this. All you have to do is be nice.
The day we can all be nice for no other reason than just being nice is the day when all those religious folks will see what heaven really is. Just be nice.
Read More Here >>>Article
[Send Me a Comment] Share
