One in four American millennials -- which it defined as those who were born after 1980 and came of age around the millennium -- are not affiliated with any faith tradition, Pew found. They characterize their religion as "atheist," "agnostic" or "nothing in particular."The fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention began in 1979. The rise of the Religious Right in America dates from the same year.
That compares to fewer than one in five Generation Xers -- Americans born from 1965 to 1980 -- who were unaffiliated with a religion when they were in their late teens and early 20s.
Just 13 percent of American baby boomers -- those born from 1946 to 1964 -- were unaffiliated with any religious tradition when they were young adults, according to Pew.
Am I the only one who perceives a link between in-your-face religion in the public square and declining interest in organized religion among young people?
Baptists and other evangelicals used to believe that people entered the kingdom of God one-at-a-time by personal faith and conviction. Since 1979 they have been trying to usher in the kingdom of God by political action and involvement.
Will they ever realize that not only have they been wasting their time, but they have succeeded in turning the "good news" of the gospel into "bad news" for America's young people?
5 comments:
I think you have it right. I think there is a direct connection between the rise of the politically oriented evangelical right and the unchurching of our young people.
Many evangelical politicians and pundits are throwing our country and the Christianity under the bus in the drive for power.
I also think that the emphasis upon a "conscious" anti-science and anti-reason stance has contributed to this decline. The more educated our population becomes the more they are going to be turned off by a literalistic approach to faith that not only ignores human knowledge in so many areas but consciously fights against it with the pseudo-science of creationsim/ID. Additionally, the church continues to stand against human well-being in its approach to women and the GBLT community. I have a 20's something cousin once removed who was raised in an extremely conservative Baptist tradition and now will not come near any church door because of the experience.
Dear Sir;
Regarding your rhetorical question.
In a word, "No".
A right-wing Southern Baptist Christian apologist, Mary Jo Sharp, recently debated with Dr. Tabasum Hussain on the issue of "Women in the Bible & Qur'an". Many have been disappointed by Sharp's performance. Another dark day for Texan Baptists? See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLcbMkzqtx8
Alister McGrath's theory expressed in "The Twilight of Atheism: The Rise and Fall of Disbelief in the Modern world" is interesting to those who support the separation of church and state. He believes that one of the factors that supported the rise of atheism in Europe was the state church relationship. The church became identified with the oppressors and atheism could present themselves as liberators. His claim is that atheism has less impact in the United States because the church was not identified with the government. While this is a minor point in his book, I recommend the book for any thoughtful Christian.
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