One of the focuses of this blog is the hypocrisy of Christian fundamentalists and the over all evil that conservative - can we say unreasoning - religious belief is to not only politics in this country, but the nation as a whole. A review of what religion has brought to mankind - war, hatred, mistreatment and murder of others, in my view, outweighs any positive benefits. Some predict that we may be on the cusp of a time when religion's toxic influence may be close to a long over due decline. Here are highlights from a piece in Salon:
With fire-breathing religion figuring anew in global conflicts, and political discussions at home often dominated by the nuttery of the Christian right, you might get the sense that somebody’s god is ready to mug you around every street corner. But if you’re the type who doesn’t like to hang your hat on organized religion, here’s a bit of good news: In America, your numbers are growing.
There are more religiously unaffiliated people in the U.S. today than ever before. Starting in the 1980s, a variety of polls using different methodologies have come to the same conclusion: people who do not identify with religious labels are on the rise, perhaps even doubling in that time frame.
[A]ccording to the latest research, Americans checking the “none of the above” box will make up an increasingly important force in the country. Other groups, like born-again evangelicals, have grown more percentage-wise, but the nones have them beat in absolute numbers.
The nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute has documented this sea change in its American Values Atlas, which it released last Wednesday. The fascinating study provides demographic, religious and political data based on surveys conducted throughout 2014. According to PRRI director of research Dan Cox, “The U.S. religious landscape is undergoing a dramatic transformation that is fundamentally reshaping American politics and culture.”
Last year, for the very first time, Protestants lost their majority status in the Institute’s annual report, making up only 47 percent of those surveyed. The religiously unaffiliated, who come in at 22 percent, boast numbers on par with major religious groups like American Catholics. All told, the unaffiliated is the second-largest group in the country. It was also the most common group chosen by residents in 13 states, with the largest share (a third or more) in Washington, Oregon and New Hampshire. In Ohio and Virginia, this group was tied for first place.
[W]hat do we know about these people? Nones tend to be more politically liberal — three-quarters favor same-sex marriage and legal abortion. They also have higher levels of education and income than other groups. While about one out of five Americans is unaffiliated, the number is much higher among young people: Pew research shows that a third of Americans under 30 have no religious affiliation.
One thing is certain: voting nones are making their presence felt in politics. They are thought to have helped Obama win a second term.
But the GOP doesn’t seem to show many signs of reducing the outsized influence of white evangelicals, who represent only 18 percent of the population, at least publicly. Just a couple of weeks ago, presidential hopeful Scott Walker could be seen refusing to answer a question about evolution, as if embracing widely accepted science would make him an apostate.
[Republicans ] till have to mask their agenda behind appeals to popular religion so the non-rich will vote against their economic interests in places like Tennessee, which has the highest share of white evangelicals, at 43 percent.
As you might expect, the fact that religion is losing its grip on the daily lives of Americans is freaking a lot of people out. The New York Times’ David Brooks is quite alarmed, admonishing nones that “secularism has to do for nonbelievers what religion does for believers — arouse the higher emotions, exalt the passions in pursuit of moral action.” Of course, secularists only form one portion of the unaffiliated group, but considering that Mr. Brooks likes to wax on about the moral probity of America’s founders — your George Washingtons and so on — he might ask himself which box they might have checked.
1 comment:
Here's what is happening, and I'd consider myself something of an insider here, being that I'm an active member of a Methodist church (or was).
The percentage of evangelicals is growing only because the total pool is getting smaller. Liberals are leaving all denominations, and the people left are only the evangelicals.
I acknowledge that some of the mainstream protestant religions are becoming more progressive, but in some ways it is too little to late (although there could be cycle that helps them...more later). While they are moving in the right direction, they are taking baby steps, and most are not actively and loudly decrying the craziness of the evangelicals...so the evangelical wing becomes the "voice and face of Christianity." Younger people hear this message of hate, but while not shared by some of the denominations, those denominations are not doing much to shout down the krazy kristian kooks. So younger people just leave religion altogether.
We do know, though, as people get older, they tend to get a little more conservative, and often return to the church. I would suggest, my opinion, that is a sliding scale...so today's young people are far more liberal than their parents, so the slide back towards conservatism won't be nearly so far, at least on social issues. In other words, they might get more conservative in their views, but won't really become conservatives...maybe just "less liberal" would be more descriptive.
Given that usual cycle, it's possible some of the more liberal denominations might see numbers slide back up a little some years out, but that's going to have to be a long con for them.
In the meantime, the evangelicals and dominionists are losing, and they know it. So, while they have some political power, they are fighting back with everything they have in an effort to forestall change, and push the clock as far as they can to slow the pace of the change they so fear.
It's kind of a sad thing really. Historically, we know the evangelicals will lose in the end, but as LGBT people think we're gaining ground, I think we're going to be disappointed to learn that we're going to have to fight through a period of backlash. It's not unlike the poll taxes and voter tests. Once whites were forced to let blacks vote, they came up with every scheme imaginable to prevent that (seeing some resurgence of that today too as whites realize they're about to no longer be the majority).
So the marriage battle may be nearing its end, but I fear it is only the beginning of a bigger war. Sure, these license to discriminate bills will be found to be unconstitutional, ultimately. Informed and thoughtful people knew Jim Crow laws were unconstitutional, but that didn't stop their passage, and years of having to fight to get them repealed.
At 55, I won't live to see full equality and peace between the LGBT community and evangelicals, but likely today's under 40 folks will see that time.
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