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by Matt Sutton
In 1966, Time magazine made waves by proclaiming that “God is Dead.” Now Newsweek is trying to do the same thing. Last week’s cover story is entitled “The Decline and Fall of Christian America,” by editor Jon Meacham. The story is based on the American Religious Identification Survey (which we have blogged about below). “This is not to say that the Christian God is dead,” Meacham writes, “but that he is less of a force in American politics and culture than at any other time in recent memory. To the surprise of liberals who fear the advent of an evangelical theocracy and to the dismay of religious conservatives who long to see their faith more fully expressed in public life, Christians are now making up a declining percentage of the American population.” As much as I appreciate Meacham’s interest in religion and the fact that he sells a helluva lot more books than me, his articles never seem to be as original or as profound as he thinks they are. While numbers of adherents are changing, I am not yet convinced that religious conservatives are losing their ability to mobilize their troops or to raise the money they need to influence the political process—especially since the survey shows that the mainline denominations are faltering, not evangelical churches. In fact, we might read the survey the other way. While Christianity is becoming more polarized itself, conservatives are becoming increasingly dominate.
Nevertheless, Meacham was not the only one burying the idea of Christian America last week. Speaking in Turkey, President Obama said "one of the great strengths of the United States" is that it does not consider itself "a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values."
Hmmm. On the one hand I am glad that Obama is decoupling the nation-state from an explicit religion. After all, how can a nation be “Christian?” I have long wondered what makes any non-human entity Christian. Is there a Christian hamburger? My vote would have to be for In-N-Out burgers (monster style) since they put Bible verses on the bottoms of their Coke cups. What about a Christian football team? We know the Denver Broncos are no longer “Christian” since they made the Antichrist their new coach and then he traded their savior to Chicago. But the more significant point Obama raises is Americans’ common commitment to a particular set of “ideals and a set of values.” What are those values? After two-plus decades of culture wars, and a few years of torturing our prisoners, do we really have a fundamental set of ideals and values? No. The nation is as divided as ever.
God is dead, however, to former Los Angeles Times reporter William Lobdell. The New York Times has a fascinating new review of his book detailing his conversion to Christianity and then his move away from the faith. In the same issue, the Times has also reviewed God is Back, which, of course, challenges the idea of Christian (and religious) decline.
So what have I learned in the last ten days? To dream that someday In-N-Out will make it to eastern Washington and to start shopping for a new football team. Those are my values.
Religious progressives ought to be having a field day. Obama is as close to a fellow traveler as has occupied the White House in decades, and the cultural tide is turning their way. Same sex marriage —check. Environmentalism—check. Moderated policies on abortion and birth control—check. Transparency in government—check. Closing down Guantanamo and ending government-sanctioned torture—check.
But the recent announcement of advisory council members to the White House Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships set off a debate over who the real progressives really are.Over at Religion Dispatches, a rash of recent posts made public the progressives' in-house fight. Mark Silk began the thread by citing differences between the "rabble rousers" and the "DC-based 'Religious Industrial Complex" prompting Frederick Clarkson to chide him for trivializing the "longer-term power struggle between progressives and centrists who want to pull the Democratic Party to the right." That left it to Delwin Brown to explain the historical context of disagreements between "accomodationists" and "purists" and Diana Butler Bass to call for an addenda to Brown's typology. Fact is, events continue whether or not religious progressives have folks lined up to speak truth to power or, better yet, deliver a savvy sound bite. Truth is, a spectrum of strategies can ensure change in both the short and long runs. What's needed now is a compelling narrative to frame what progressives want to happen as well as spokespeople to communicate the vision. The American Values Network is an example of what not to do. Pastor Dan has a thoughtful critique of Burns Strider's new site so I'll just go for the gut. The site looks amateurish and the text is thick with platitudes. Here's a story I'd like to see: why do religious conservatives always "get" the media (that is, master its use as well as attract its attention) while religious progressives seem flummoxed by public communication?Diane Winston
Paul HarveySitting on my shelf, waiting to be read (as soon as the semester is out), is the new book by Jason Bivins, Religion of Fear. Jason is one of the Religion editors for the Religion in the Americas section of COMPASS, Blackwell publishers online journal. Anyway, here's a nice review of his book in CHOICE, just a preview until I can read and prepare a more substantial blog later. Also, here are ten questions for the author, with his answers. Bivins, Jason C. Religion of fear: the politics of horror in conservative Evangelicalism. Oxford, 2008. 317p bibl index afp ISBN 0-19-534081-7, $27.95; ISBN 9780195340815, $27.95. Reviewed in 2009 may CHOICE. Recent political engagements of conservative Christians of an Evangelical bent have led to success in political offices' public policy. Bivins (North Carolina State Univ.) explores factors and forces that lie underneath--and produce and sustain--the religious endeavors in political activities. The focus of his analysis is the creators of Evangelical products: the cartoons of Jack Chick and their militant social criticism of American culture; the denunciations of rap and rock music with their Evangelical demonology; the theatrical Hell Houses that portray the consequences of sin that await sinners; and the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, preoccupied with the rapture. Fear is the theme that Bivins finds in all these instances of the New Christian Right's activities, deriving from the overwhelming sense of being under siege by the forces of secularism and displaying the conviction that American history exhibits a decline from the Christian origins of the founders. Hence the New Christian Right adopts a combative stance that pervades Christian Evangelical thought and behavior. Well-written and clearly argued, Religion of Fear makes a major contribution to the study of religion in American culture. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-level undergraduates and above; general readers. -- L. J. Alderink, emeritus, Concordia College
By Andrea Tabor
Trend trackers sure got a jolt to the system with that ARIS study (the one that found the numbers of "nones" were up while believers are down). Since its release, the secular and religious press have been reeling. It's hard to believe that Newsweek's "Decline and Fall of Christian America" still has the blogosphere abuzz. Why has the idea that New England is turning atheist managed to hold the microsecond-long attention span of the Internet for more than two weeks?
The evidence is fairly persuasive. The number of atheists in America has nearly doubled, and the Northeast has gone into the "none" column. But on the Sunday after Easter, when America's remaining Christians heard the story of doubting Thomas, two men are expressing their own doubts in the nation's ability to go secular.John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, authors of the new book "God Is Back," are standing behind American religion, and insisting that we're just in another period of reinventing our collective spirituality. They rather cheekily point out in their Wall Street Journal column that "a fifth of the 'atheists' in a recent Pew Survey said that they believed in God, a semantic confusion rich in meaning." They also remind us that TIME Magazine made the very same claim on its Easter edition cover: "Is God Dead?"—back in 1966.For Micklethwait and Wooldrige, American religion remains the capitalistic enterprise it has always been, spurred forward by "pastorpreneurs," a term that applies to George Whitefield as well as Rick Warren.It seems that the rest of the press is caught in the crossfire of this debate between Newsweek and the believers. The result is a flurry of confusing and contradictory coverage. According to one article, "religion is growing," then says another, "religion is doomed." One Seattle PI blogger even offered the dizzying headline, "Christian America is shrinking and expanding at the same time." None of this really seems to move the discussion forward. The interesting question to me is: how is religion evolving? In a month of so much forgettable reporting on religion, the story that stood out for me was the AP's Jay Lindsay's profile of a humanist chaplain at Harvard, and the new idea of building a congregation without the notion of God.Very few of the original American branches of Protestantism have persisted unaltered since the 19th century. Some look very different, others have died out completely, and still others have taken root. The role of reporters, bloggers and pundits shouldn't be to proclaim the death of religion, (after all wouldn't that put some of them out of a job?) but rather to spot what new forms American religion takes next.
One of the questions that plagues my study of American religion is why there is such a frequent close correspondence between American Christianity and war making. This question displays my own liberal Protestant belief that violence should always be a last resort, and that churches and religious leaders should not be in the business of cheerleading for war. After studying American religion for two decades, I should know better---liberal, mainline, and conservative Protestants have all done it, and yet, I keep asking why.
On Thursday, March 26, 2009,
the U.N.'s Human Rights Council approved by a bare majority a proposal
by Muslim nations urging passage of laws around the world to protect
religion from criticism. The proposal, put forth by Pakistan, urges
states to provide "protection against acts of hatred, discrimination,
intimidation, and coercion resulting from defamation of religions and
incitement to religious hatred in general. The proposal is non-binding.
The reasoning seems to be that
if religions are not criticized or questioned, that the "religionists"
of that particular religion will have no cause to violently protest.
Blackmail pure and simple.
Now I may not be criticizing
religions per se but I am criticizing how religious adherents of particular
religions seem blind to the greatest moral outrage of the 21st
century: gender inequality.
Adherents of Islam are shutting
girls' schools, cutting girls' genitals, marrying girls off at 13,
keeping women and girls locked up, "honor" maiming and killing them,
and depriving them access to the full panoply of reproductive health
service.
Adherents of Catholicism and
of other branches of Christianity are using psychological blackmail
to discourage a healthy attitude about sexuality, denying access to
choices in reproductive health, urging fertility beyond human capacity,
and painting abortion as the greatest crime (all blame on the woman)
even though abortion throughout human history has been ubiquitous across
all cultures.
Religion can be a positive
force pointing us toward concern for out fellow human beings and respect
for all people and the planet. It can also be a scourge upon the land.
Examples of both types abound.
By Victor Wishna
Some names are tough to grow up with. When yours is a little hard to pronounce and--oh yeah--universally associated with the dry, cracker-like stuff made by the company your great-grandfather founded, "it can be a real problem," says Laura Manischewitz Alpern. "Nine people out of ten can't help but make some kind of matzah joke, and as a kid, you just want to be like everyone else. It took quite a long time to get used to that and to start feeling proud about the ...
Long before Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America, people in Turkey had expressed a sentiment of hope about his presidency. Reporting for the New York Observer in January 2008, Suzy Hansen quoted Omer Taspınar, director of the Turkey program at the Brookings Institution, as saying: "Turks know that Obama represents something quite different -- they've seen 'Roots.' They know the history. So an African-American with an African name and a name like Hussein -- the fact that people are willing to give him a chance, despite that he attended a madrasa, and had a Muslim father, would represent a huge change in the US, compared to the Bush-Clinton dynasties." As Turkey prepares to welcome Obama this week, what can they expect from him? And what can Obama expect in return?
By Rabbi Brant Rosen
Once permission has been given to the destroyer to do harm, it
does not discriminate between the guilty and the innocent. (Mechilta,
Bo)
Today the NY Times reported on an issue that has gripped the Israeli press and public for some time now:
In the two months since Israel ended its military
assault on Gaza...testimony is emerging from within the ranks of
soldiers and officers alleging a permissive attitude toward the killing
of civilians and reckless destruction of property...On ...
Paul HarveyI'm gearing up, with great anticipation, for our next Young Scholars in American Religion meeting, April 2-5. Very regrettably, that meeting happens to coincide with a conference that sounds like too much fun: Catholics in the Movies, to be held at the Cushwa Center, Notre Dame, April 2-4. Here's a description, in case anyone living in/around South Bend doesn't know about it but might want to attend. April 2-4, 2009. Catholics in the Movies. Cusha Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame.Cinema is arguably the most understudied and potentially enlightening lens through which to examine the historical trajectories of Catholics in the United States over the previous century. This conference will explore how American Catholics produced, acted, viewed, boycotted, and were depicted in film. The starting point for the conference is the outstanding volume Catholicim in the Movies (Oxford, 2008), to which the conference speakers contributed essays.Register for the conference at www.nd.edu/~cushwa, or call (574) 631-6691. The program is below -- wish I could be there! Catholics in the MoviesCushwa Center for the Study of American CatholicismUniversity of Notre DameApril 2-4, 2009“At the movies, Catholicism – rather than Protestantism – is the American religion.” Colleen McDannellFocusCinema is arguably the most understudied and potentially enlightening lens through which to examine the historical trajectories of Catholics in the United States over the previous century. This conference will explore how American Catholics produced, acted, viewed, boycotted, and were depicted in film. The starting point for the conference is the outstanding volume Catholics in the Movies (Oxford, 2008), to which the conference speakers contributed essays.Thursday, April 2Film Screening (7:30 p.m.)On the WaterfrontDiscussion to follow with James T. Fisher, Fordham UniversityFriday, April 3Session One (9:00 a.m.)Race and EthnicityModerator: Paula Kane, University of PittsburghThe Celluloid Melting Pot: Catholic Ethnicity on the Silent ScreenJudith Weisenfeld, Princeton UniversityThe Catholic Singer: Ethnic Performance, American Dreams and Going My WayAnthony Burke Smith, University of DaytonStarting All Over Again: Mid-Century Catholics Confront RaceJeffrey Marlett, College of St. RoseSession Two (2:00 p.m.)MasculinityModerator: Colleen McDannell, University of UtahJ. C. Superstar and the Streets of Dock City, 1938Thomas J. Ferraro, Duke UniversityA Couple of Harps: True Confessions and the Brotherhood of Irish American Ethnicity Timothy Meagher, Catholic University of AmericaThe Strong, Vulgar Type: Images of Masculinity in DogmaAmy Frykholm, correspondent for The Christian CenturyFilm Screening (7:30 p.m.)SantitosDiscussion to follow with María Amparo Escandón, novelist and screenwriterSaturday, April 4Session Three (9:00 a.m.)Ritual and DevotionModerator: Jeffrey Marlett, College of St. RoseThe Production Code and the Production of Devotion in Wartime HollywoodPaula Kane, University of PittsburghPassage through the Borderlands: Transformation in the Devotional World of SantitosDarryl Caterine, LeMoyne CollegeThe Devotional Life of St. Mel: The Passion of the ChristColleen McDannell, University of UtahSession Four (2:00 p.m.)Film and American CatholicismModerator: Thomas J. Ferraro, Duke UniversityPlaying Catholics: Who’s Zooming Who?Tracy Fessenden, Arizona State UniversityThe Spiritual Front in Postwar American FilmJames T. Fisher, Fordham UniversityCatholic Crime StoriesCarlo Rotella, Boston CollegeCover image: Courtesy Oxford University Press
The “long march” to Islamabad undertaken by thousands of Pakistani lawyers and activists advocating for the restoration of an independent judiciary represents a resounding call for democracy amidst Pakistan’s political volatility and oppressive rule by President Asif Zardari teetering it towards chaos. Due to corrupt, ineffectual leadership – a role admirably played by Zardari - and a series of military dictatorships – most recently exemplified by General Pervez Musharaff – Pakistan’s Constitution and democratic processes seem as malleable as Play-Doh putty. In 2007, Chief Justice Iftekhar Chaudhry – one of the most respected and popular personalities in Pakistan – challenged Musharraf’s autocratic decision to run for President while remaining Chief of the Army. Musharaff declared Martial Law and unilaterally removed Chaudhry along with 60 other judges.
Today is a great day for science, for the sick and disabled and for enlightened faith. Today President Obama rescinded...
By Peter Manseau
When Pope Benedict XVI visited Auschwitz in 2006, the prayer service he led began with the words “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Words from the Psalms, they no doubt had been uttered within the prison gates before, by Jews praying as Jews in their final days.
But that’s not why they were spoken during the pope’s visit. They were invoked then because Christians remember the same verse as words cried out by Jesus from the Cross.
Who becomes the victim in this kind of remembrance? The pope himself provided a hint: “By destroying Israel,” he said of the Nazis, “they ultimately wanted to tear up the taproot of the Christian faith.”
While different in kind and degree from the recent controversy concerning the Catholic Church's Holocaust-denying bishop, the pope's words at Auschwitz suggest the possibility that religious revisionism presents a bigger problem than what to do with one crackpot cleric. If the first frame of reference for the murder of 6 million Jews is the death of a Christian savior, one can see how the dark spots of history might be forgotten beside the light of faith.
Revealer alum Peter Manseau makes the case in the latest issue of Commonweal. Continue reading...
You’ve probably heard that Islam is a decentralized religion, that there is no recognized clerical hierarchy or no one person with authority to speak on behalf of the 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide. I’ve always viewed this organizational structure with appreciation that as a Muslim, I am personally empowered to understand the dictates of the religion in my own cultural & national context. However, after 9/11, it quickly became evident that this very absence of a religious leader left many non-Muslims shaking their heads over what they perceived to be the overwhelming silence from Muslims in the condemnation of the 9/11 attacks. Irrespective of the many Muslim voices which did speak out – it’s clear that these voices were not heard, especially in America, a land where the media thrives on sound-bites & vivid imagery which do little to explain the complexities of world affairs.
by Andrea Tabor
The results of the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey are out, and it appears Americans aren't just losing faith in the economic system, they're just plain losing faith. The Christian population has declined by 10 percent since 1990, with mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic churches the hardest hit.
Maybe with widespread belt-tightening, people have stopped going to church to avoid their weekly tithes. (A friend of mine once called them "church cover charges.")
But, perhaps more likely, the recession could give religion a jumpstart in 2009. The music industry seems to think so, predicting that Gregorian chants and other religious music will top the charts as times get tough. Meanwhile, new religious books are hitting the shelves, including "Finding Happiness," which James Martin of America magazine says, "shows how monastic practices (and Benedictine spirituality) can help everyone be happier." And, this Sunday, NBC premieres "Kings," the Biblical tale of King David with corporate America for its backdrop.
When we first started sliding into recession, Jonathan Walton opined that this could be boom-time for prosperity preachers, who would repackage their gospel of wealth for the unemployed. It seems that many media outlets have picked up on that trend, and are placing their bets that religion will sell in 2009.It could be a wise business decision. A 2005 study found that the religious suffer less emotional stress due to unemployment. After what happened to me at church Sunday morning, I can see why.I was greeted with a handshake from our Monsignor. Rather than the usual small talk, he asked me that dreaded question: "How's the job search going?" "Oh, you know—it's tough," I replied. (For me and 10 percent of Los Angeles County.)When most people ask me this question, they lament the job market and commiserate with me. They extend their pity. But instead, the Monsignor showered me with encouragement, inspiration and compliments. "You have such wonderful qualifications." "The right company will come along." "The news business will turn around soon." (Don't ask me how he knows.)He ended the conversation telling me that he will pray that I get hired. At this point, the prayers of a Monsignor may be just that extra boost my resume needs.My experience reminded me of an email sent from an evangelical pastor to his congregants in Northwest Arkansas. With the local Wal-Mart considering layoffs, Pastor Mark Lindstrom wrote, "As Wal-Mart makes decisions about the future of the company, many in our church family are experiencing the nervousness and uncertainty that accompanies such a 'restructuring'. If you are worrying about your job, please know you are loved by all of us at the church. I am praying for you today."Another study from Texas State University looked at the major recessions from 1968 to 2004. In each case, the study found, evangelical churches experienced a 50 percent rate of growth. Still, the positive aspects of religion in recession may go untapped this time around. With religion already on the decline, most faiths will be lucky to get back to their 1990 numbers during this downturn. If we've learned anything from the ARIS study, it's that all churches have a long way to recover from their recent declines. Despite past trends of growth, could religion-themed media outlets crash and burn along with the rest of the economy? It's a story worth following for the next few months.
Paul HarveyThe ongoing ARIS (American Religious Identification Survey) project has just released its latest numbers -- a brief summary story and graphics are here. There are some obvious limitations about surveys such as these, but generally they provide some interesting data for discussion. The biggest news on this one: the rise of the "nones," i.e. no religion -- up to 15%, from a starting point of 8% in the original 1990 survey, and now almost equal with Baptists and just a little under Catholics as the top group in the survey -- more on them here. Generally, almost all denominations have lost ground, according to the survey; the relative decline of non-Catholic Christian groups is graphed here, while the growth of respondents answering "no religion" is graphed here. Other researchers are attempting to tabulate the growth of Islam, which they feel is undercounted in these surveys. Overall, the friendly atheists are happy! Perhaps Obama's deliberate inclusion in his addresses of "those with no faith" and like phrases will appear more frequently in political discourse.