“A person
will worship something, have no doubt about that. . . . That which dominates our imaginations and our
thoughts will determine our lives, and our character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what
we worship, for what we are worshipping we are becoming.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
These words
from one of the ‘giants’ in my pantheon describe what has happened / is
happening to religion in America. The
influence of religion in America is dying because people are more often looking
downward at their devices instead of at their scriptures, and far too
infrequently ‘upward’ toward their Maker and their Redeemer; they are
worshiping what they get more than they do the Giver of all good things. And more and more they are looking inward and
not finding much there. Especially is
this true among America’s teenagers and young adults.
However,
just as there are still a few ‘giants in the land’ among all age cohorts and in
what is called the ‘great literature’ to redirect our attention and give us
positive example, there is yet hope for the positive effect of religion in our
lives and in our culture: “Christianity
has died many times and risen again; for it had a God who knew the way out of
the grave.” (G. K. Chesterton)
An important
national study—the 2003-05 National
Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR)—found
that although America still purports to be Christian and has some involvement
in it, in general it has become very shallow and in reality does not make much
difference in the way people live their lives as measured against traditional
moral and theological standards. Even in
most traditional churches the ‘social gospel’ has supplanted ‘revealed’ and
Bible-centered religion and theology.
I take the
faith of our teenagers as a bellwether of what is happening to our erstwhile
American Christian culture. Here is a
summary of the NSYR study of American teenagers (but could be extrapolated to
adults in our society):
1. A sizable majority (75%) of U.S. teenagers claim some religious (primarily Christian—Protestant,
Catholic and Latter-day Saint (Mormon) in terms of number) identity. About 50% of all
Christian youth say religion is important in their lives.
2. Most U.S. teens follow their parents’ preferences and attitudes in regard to religion. While ministers, priests and rabbis, teachers
and relatives, especially grandparents, may be influential, parents’ attitudes and example
are most important in forming children’s spirituality. Most teenagers have
generally positive feelings toward their religion, and express tolerance of all
religions and denominations (and social trends)—unless their parents are
strongly prejudiced. But measures of
actual religiosity (daily prayer, regular scripture reading, church attendance,
strong influence and acceptance of moral and theological teachings) show that
religion ‘is nice,’ but not particularly or personally important to them.
3. Of the various religions of the world
(Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Asian religions) most U.S. teens claim adherence to
Christianity, and of the denominations
of Christianity those scoring highest to lowest in measures of religiosity are,
first, Mormons, followed by conservative Protestant and black Christians, then
mainline Protestants, and finally Roman Catholic. Jewish (non-Christians) and nonreligious teens
score lowest in religiosity and integration of traditional moral values that
are important to grounded individuals and a stable society.
4. Churches that have religiously grounded
programs, activities, and opportunities for youth to be actively involved and
to serve and be heard, are more apt to foster religious values and spiritual
maturity in young people. Even in these
churches that recognize the needs of their youth, however, they are losing the
battle for the souls of the young if they deviate from the core teachings of
Christianity and focus on a ‘feel-good’ and entertainment-based appeal. Shallowness does not hold our youth.
5. Though American youth may be nominal
Christians or at least tolerant and accepting of those who are religious, their spiritual and religious understanding
are very weak. Even those who are
regular attenders in mainline Protestant and Catholic churches are, in the
words of the NSYR study, “incredibly inarticulate about their faith, their religious
beliefs and practices, and its meaning or place in their lives.” Again, this was not true of the majority
Mormon youth interviewed.
6. As contrasted to earlier times, mainstream
American religion “doesn’t claim teenagers’ time or attention compared to other
social institutions, activities, and organizations,” or to social media. A religious worldview as presented by these
mainstream churches seems to have little influence in shaping the lives of
those youth immersed in the temptations of a secular world.
7. On a positive note, highly religious
teenagers have “sizable and significant differences in a variety of important
life outcomes” as compared to less religious teens. Highly
religious youth succeed.
An
informative book written by Kenda Creasy Dean, one of the researchers who
worked on the National Study of Youth and Religion, titled Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers Is Telling the
American Church, published by Oxford University Press, 2010, is worth a
reading by those interested. Blame for
the watered-down feel-good theology of mainline Protestantism and the compromised credibility of the modern Roman
Catholic church, the author says, accounts for the apathy of our youth and
bodes ill for the influence of religion for the future in most of institutional
churches of America.
My
recommendation? If you, too, feel that
society is headed in the wrong direction and think that a restoration of the ‘old
time religion’ may help ameliorate our most serious problems, study carefully
the programs, practices, theology, and religiosity of the institutions and the
effect on people who are ‘representative members’ of the churches out there, and
align yourself with that Church which in all ways most closely replicates the church which Christ
founded, and has in its members, brought about the change that all serious
religions would hope to achieve.
I submit
that that Church which Christ established has been restored to the earth and
exists. “By their fruits ye shall know
them.”
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