"A couple came into my office once with a yellow pad of their teenage son's questions. One of them was: 'What is that guy doing hanging up there on the plus sign?' "The falling attendance of America's churches is getting to the point where even Christians are writing about it. According to Drew Dyke in Christianity Today, young people are leaving Christianity in droves. And unlike previous generations, this isn't just a folly-of-youth period in their lives. They're leaving for good.
Some Christian scholars claim the trend isn't worrisome. They point out that young people have always drifted away from church as they leave home, only to return later when they marry and have children. But according to Dyke, these are false reassurances for three reasons:
- Today's young adults are dropping their religion at "five to six times" the historic rate.
- The life-phase argument is no longer relevant. People now marry and have kids in their 30s instead of their 20s. After ten years away from a church they are much less likely to return.
- Past generations lived in an overwhelmingly Judeo-Christian society with strong social pressure to stay "in the fold." Today there is little pressure to attend church, and TV, movies and media portray alternative lifestyles as acceptable. The "cultural gravity" toward religion is gone.
For the memeplex that comprises Christianity, this is a complete calamity, a virtual memetic ice age. The memetic ecosphere for religion is being invaded by science memes, tolerance memes, and think-for-yourself memes, and it's reflected in the attitudes of young people. From Dyke's article:
- "Religion has become more like a fashion statement, not a deep personal commitment for many."
- Among young people, "If religion comes up, everyone at the table will start mocking it. I don't know anyone religious and hardly anyone 'spiritual.' "
- Young Catholics are frequently choosing non-Catholic partners, having civil weddings and skipping baptism for their babies.
- In South Carolina, part of the "Bible belt," the percentage of "Nones" (no religion) has more than tripled since 1990, from 3% to 10%. The share of Protestants is down from 88% in 1990 to 73%.
- Most non-Christians in this country, particularly in the younger generation, are actually dechurched individuals.
Moral Compromise. Young Christians come of age, start to party and have sex, and "Tired of dealing with a guilty conscience and unwilling to abandon their sinful lifestyles, they drop their Christian commitment. ... The Christian life is hard to sustain in the face of so many temptations."
Dyke doesn't consider the alternative explanation: reasonable, modern adults realize that Christian "morals" are a bit silly. The hypocrisies and contradictions in the Bible make your head spin if you actually read it. It's clear why young people don't want any part of outdated Christian sexual morality.
Postmodern Misgivings. Where once Christian philosophy reigned king, young people are now exposed to many philosophical traditions, including Eastern religions, American religion and mysticism, Western traditions – a veritable philosophical smorgasbord.
Harm by Christians. The priest child-abuse scandals are the most glaring case of religion run amok that has cost Christianity dearly. Who wants to belong to a church that shelters pedophiles? Dyke acknowledges this. But Dyke doesn't mention the much broader problem: just about every young adult has personally witnessed the harm that Christian anti-homosexual bigotry causes to their gay and lesbian friends.
Alternatives. It has become much more socially acceptable, even "cool," for young people to adopt alternative religions such as Wicca, Buddhism or Native American rituals and beliefs.
Christianity is still alive and well in America, but the trend is clear: Christianity's future is bleak, with no prospects for improvement. Even the Christians can't ignore it any more.
Here are a few related blogs.
- Is Christianity Dying? (December, 2009)
- Is Christianity Dying? Interesting New Data (February, 2010)
- Mushy Christians – More Evidence Christianity is Dying (April 2010)
- Christianity is Dying – The Story Behind Defection of Anne Rice (August 2010)
- Christianity Dying Faster than Expected? (October, 2010)
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"The Christian life is hard to sustain in the face of so many temptations"
ReplyDeletei find this to be more true because most teenagers only care about themselves and sex. most people who drop church life are people who want to party, and not a lot drop it for philosophical reasons (i personally never let one).
"Christian "morals" are a bit silly"
kind of a blunt and disrespectful thing to say
"documents the horrors of the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, slavery and many other religion-sanctioned atrocities"
you do relies that we condemned those actions, right.
"Religion has become more like a fashion statement, not a deep personal commitment for many"
this is very true, as a college student im surrounded by morally questionable people who call themselves religious.
"Young Catholics are frequently choosing non-Catholic partners"
nothing wrong with this, i dont know why Dyke needed to mention this
"The priest child-abuse scandals are the most glaring case of religion run amok that has cost Christianity dearly"
despite the fact that this is really rare, anyone who stops going to church because of this are just being spiteful.
oh just so you know, im going to start quoting anything you say that is ether wrong, blunt, disrespectful, ignorant, and maybe if i ever agree with you.
The worst thing about christian "morals" is that these are usually to do with apologising for who we are, when in actual fact, anybody who is proclaimed to have "christian" attitudes is usually someone who is merely altruistic, which no religion has a monopoly on.
ReplyDeleteid hate to know where you learned christian morals
ReplyDeleteIsaac -- in one of your comments to this blog (which you must have deleted because I don't see it above), you asked, "did you ever talk to a religious scholar?" Did it ever occur to you that I AM a religious scholar? I've read stacks and stacks of books about religion, especially Catholicism and Christianity in general. Most Christians know very little about their own religion, beliefs and Bible except the highly filtered stuff they're taught in church.
ReplyDelete"Most Christians know very little about their own religion, beliefs and Bible except the highly filtered stuff they're taught in church."
ReplyDeletethat is a bad thing indeed.
so your telling me that you read those one-sided books that tell all of the technical details of some faiths; books that are ether in an agnostic view point, or should only be read if one already believes. like how your book is meant for people who are already atheist. i mean, a priest or a very faithful person who knows there faith, and the apologetic arguments with atheist. and i don't mean on the internet, because unless its a live video feed those arguments fought with back-to-back paragraphs of text go nowhere
"Christian "morals" are a bit silly"
ReplyDeletekind of a blunt and disrespectful thing to say
-Homosexuals, adulterers, disobedient children being put to death is rather silly. And I don't have respect for nonsense like that.
"documents the horrors of the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, slavery and many other religion-sanctioned atrocities"
you do relies that we condemned those actions, right.
-And yet the church still condemns homosexuality, bars the distribution of condoms to AIDS-infested countries and denies scientific advancement. Will we have to wait another millennium?
"The priest child-abuse scandals are the most glaring case of religion run amok that has cost Christianity dearly"
despite the fact that this is really rare, anyone who stops going to church because of this are just being spiteful.
-Or perhaps it's nothing to do with spite but the fact they're so outraged that an organisation they're affiliated with would do such a thing. It's not unreasonable to expect an organisation that claims to be a moral centre to hold those morals itself.
Isaac - Again, you're making unwarranted assumptions. You have absolutely no idea which books I've read, yet you launch an attack with very specific claims as to my reading habits.
ReplyDelete"-Homosexuals, adulterers, disobedient children being put to death is rather silly. And I don't have respect for nonsense like that."
ReplyDeleteand i dont have respect for people putting us all in the same boat off the religious zealots. ignorant comment
"-And yet the church still condemns homosexuality, bars the distribution of condoms to AIDS-infested countries and denies scientific advancement. Will we have to wait another millennium?"
get your facts straight, the pope said condoms can be used in certain cases, like third world countries to stop AIDS. the homosexual lifestyle is just as sinful as per-marriage sex, which is still forgivable. also, despite the fact the Christianity was practically required part of peoples lives in some areas in history, we still advanced both scientifically and socially.
"-Or perhaps it's nothing to do with spite but the fact they're so outraged that an organisation they're affiliated with would do such a thing. It's not unreasonable to expect an organisation that claims to be a moral centre to hold those morals itself."
so, your blaming the fact that even though the church has vows for priest to fallow, and when a priest fails to do so, you blame the whole organization. if that were the case then i should blame all atheist for that one guy who threw condoms in Saint Patrick Cathedral.
Craig- books will never be the same as a one-to-one conversation with the other side. my point i was trying to make is that books will always have a set view point, and if you see something that you dispute all most people will do is dismiss it. while if you are talking with someone, then you can stop them at any point to dispute and you will actually get a rebuttal. so my question is, did you ever talk to a scholar who knows there faith? will you ever? or are you going to be dismissive?
ReplyDeleteNo, I'm blaming the whole organisation for the fact that rather than punish those priests to the utmost of their ability AS I WOULD EXPECT from an organisation that claims to be a MORAL CENTRE, instead they harbour and shelter those priests and even reassign them to areas where they'll have fresh victims to prey on.
ReplyDeleteOh, and what's sinful about homosexuality or pre-marital sex? What's inherently wrong with it other than the fact that your precious ancient book doesn't seem to like it? I see nothing wrong with sexual relations between two consenting adults of any gender, and really it's not anyone's business to tell them otherwise. Not your church, or your pope, or your nonexistent god.
Regarding the "Christian Morals are Silly" discussion, see today's blog.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous-
ReplyDeletehonestly, the was its dealt with sometimes is a weakness in the church. but, thats an attack on character and not a legit argument against God.
"your precious ancient book" "your nonexistent god."
whats your angel. seriously, what the hell is wrong with you. your not at all trying to convince me of anything, your just being a blunt jackass. your making all atheist look bad. your intolerant, which is wrong and a primitive thing to be in this world.
oh, and its nice of you to agree with my other two points
Craig- can i get an answer?
Isaac – you write on my blog with terrible grammar, nonexistent punctuation and misspelled words, then you call other contributors by names like "jackass." After all that, you think you can demand answers from me?
ReplyDeleteYou should already know the answer. I wrote an entire book on the history of religion. It took over 3,000 hours of research and writing, which is like 18 months of full-time work. Do you think you're dealing with kids here?
yea, that guy contributes to the militant part of this blog. If what is said wasn't "inappropriate" then i don't know what is.
ReplyDeletemy question was, did you ever talk to a scholar who knows there faith? will you ever? or are you going to be dismissive? I have asked you this maybe 2 or 3 time and each time you tell me something that goes around my question. all i want is a direct answer; is it yes, no, or "i don't care"
Yes. And there are many more resources than scholars. For example, did you ever use the Catholic Encyclopedia? It is the official position of the Roman Catholic Church on every topic, and I've used it often to make sure I wasn't misrepresenting the position of the Church. You might want to look at it yourself before you make claims about your own religion.
ReplyDeleteI am not talking about it as a source, i mean for arguments. i already explained that books, or any other read-only sources, are one-sided. and i don't know what your referring to but you've made ignorant comments before. and didn't you admit somewhere else that you were not an expert in Catholicism? consistency please
ReplyDeleteYours was a thoughtfully worded essay recognizing the realities of modern life. Modernity in itself is not evil, it is just different from the past. I particularly find the tolerance and acceptance of young people of homosexuals to be a promising sign, as well as their dumping of religion, which really has nothing to say to our world. Christians have come to expect that everyone else respect their beliefs without extending the same courtesy to others. Actually, individuals may earn respect, but their beliefs deserve none whatever, and they haven't yet realized they have no right not to be offended. BTW, I have been atheist since I was seven, interesting in the fact that my dad was an Episcopalian priest. He was also an atheist, which he admitted about a year before he died. It explained a lot.
ReplyDelete@ Isaac: I am not talking about it as a source, i mean for arguments. i already explained that books, or any other read-only sources, are one-sided. and i don't know what your referring to but you've made ignorant comments before. and didn't you admit somewhere else that you were not an expert in Catholicism? consistency please
ReplyDeleteDoes the above argument about books being one-sided and read-only sources apply to the Holy books as well or not?