The Flight From Organized Religion

With the Republican Party now basically a sectarian party controlled by the far right Christianists, it's hard to escape the constant invectives against gays, immigrants, non-whites, and non-Christians of those who purport to represent the face of Christianity. Yes, there are other who are Christian, but sadly, they seem to hid from view as they quietly do good works and avoid wearing religiosity on their sleeves. The result is that we have vile figures like Pat Robertson, Tony Perkins, Benedict XVI, Maggie Gallagher, Archbishop Dolan of New York, James Dobson who preach an endless message of contempt - if not outright hatred - of others seen increasingly as the face of religion in this country. And the fall out from it all? The fastest growing segment of the religious demographic is those who renounce any affiliation with organized religion. That's not to say these refugees from religion reject the concept of God or spirituality. They simply want nothing to do with the ugliness that is religion in America today. And I find myself feeling the lure of distancing myself from organized Christianity more with each passing day. So much of what is wrong with this country stems from the Christianists and their favored failed political and economic policies. Here are highlights from an op-ed in the New York Times that looks at the phenomenon:

THE holidays are upon us again . . . . the season affords an opportunity to reconnect with our religious heritage. For others, myself included, it’s a time to shake our heads over the sad state of our national conversation about God, and wish there were another way.

The discourse has been co-opted by the True Believers, on one hand, and Angry Atheists on the other. What about the rest of us? The rest of us, it turns out, constitute the nation’s fastest-growing religious demographic. We are the Nones, the roughly 12 percent of people who say they have no religious affiliation at all. The percentage is even higher among young people; at least a quarter are Nones.

Apparently, a growing number of Americans are running from organized religion, but by no means running from God. On average 93 percent of those surveyed say they believe in God or a higher power; this holds true for most Nones — just 7 percent of whom describe themselves as atheists, according to a survey by Trinity College.

Why the rise of the Nones? David Campbell and Robert Putnam, of the University of Notre Dame and the Harvard Kennedy School, respectively, think politics is to blame. Their idea is that we’ve mixed politics and religion so completely that many simply opt out of both; apparently they are reluctant to claim a religious affiliation because they don’t want the political one that comes along with it.

We are more religiously polarized than ever. In my secular, urban and urbane world, God is rarely spoken of, except in mocking, derisive tones. It is acceptable to cite the latest academic study on, say, happiness or, even better, whip out a brain scan, but God? He is for suckers, and Republicans.

All we see is an angry God. He is constantly judging and smiting, and so are his followers. No wonder so many Americans are enamored of the Dalai Lama. He laughs, often and well. Precious few of our religious leaders laugh. They shout.

What is the solution? The answer, I think, lies in the sort of entrepreneurial spirit that has long defined America, including religious America. We need a Steve Jobs of religion. Someone (or ones) who can invent not a new religion but, rather, a new way of being religious.

I imagine a religious space that celebrates doubt, encourages experimentation and allows one to utter the word God without embarrassment. A religious operating system for the Nones among us. And for all of us.

The Christianists, of course, want no doubt - because it threatens their house of cards belief system and their warped psyches that require the denunciation of others for self-satisfaction. The irony is that the would be protectors of Christianity and their boot licking political whores in the GOP (think Rick Perry and Michelle Bachmann) are slowly but surely killing the brand.