\n\tPeople with strong convictions of any kind often function best when believing themselves under siege. So long as it is believed that contemporary trends
\n\tand prevailing forces are inflicting notable harm on one\u2019s cherished values, justification for one\u2019s persistence in proffering and practicing an
\n\talternative is easily found.\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\tThis is even truer in the religious realm than in the secular. During the great persecution of Christians by the Roman emperor Decius in the third century
\n\tA.D., the great Christian scholar Tertullian coined the memorable line that the blood of martyrs was the seed of the church. Christendom has often
\n\tflourished best in times of adversity, ostracism, and revilement. Even the late U.S. senator Eugene McCarthy, running for his party\u2019s presidential
\n\tnomination in 1968, noted publicly—during the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia in August of that year—that Christians frequently found a more vibrant
\n\tfaith when confronted with official hostility and perilous circumstances.1 (Not perhaps the wisest statement for an aspiring U.S. president at that time,
\n\tto be sure, but one difficult to gainsay from a historical perspective.)<\/p>\n
\n\tPredictions of the decline and fall of so-called \u201cChristian America\u201d have proliferated in the public media—both secular and otherwise—for the past several
\n\tyears. In the spring of 2009 Newsweek\u2019s cover article \u201cThe Decline and Fall of Christian America\u201d2 was paralleled by a Christian commentator\u2019s dour
\n\tprediction of \u201cthe coming evangelical collapse.\u201d3 The latter article was both particularly insightful and dramatic in its forecast of diminishing biblical
\n\tfaith, the demise of thousands of ministries, millions leaving the evangelical fold, and denominations vanishing.4 A more recent piece, depicting
\n\tcontemporary evangelicalism as a neutered horse unable to reproduce because of cultural fixation and compromise,5 focuses blame for the crisis as much on
\n\tinternal spiritual failure on the church\u2019s part as on surrounding societal trends.<\/p>\n
\n\tA recent Pew survey noted that 16 percent of Americans claimed no religious affiliation at all,6 up slightly from the 12 percent noted in a 2009 survey.7
\n\tAt the same time, the number of Americans professing Christianity is in fact marginally higher in the latest Pew poll—78 percent.8—than in the 2009
\n\tNewsweek-reported survey noted above, which set the figure at 76 percent.9 Even more curious is that five years earlier Newsweek reported another poll
\n\tstating that 84 percent of Americans called themselves Christians.10 One must wonder what factors could have produced a shift of this many points in so
\n\tshort a time.<\/p>\n
\n\tOne way or the other, it is fair to say the collective survey data at the present moment on American religious trends has verified an uptick in the
\n\tpercentage claiming no particular religious profession. One can argue as to the size of the increase or its exact meaning; the \u201cunaffiliated\u201d label can at
\n\ttimes be used to describe Christians who style themselves \u201cnondenominational\u201d while belonging to structurally autonomous congregations with a very
\n\tconservative Christian worldview. (Certain members of the Calvary Chapel network of churches, for example, depict themselves as unaligned with any
\n\tparticular denomination. One friend of mine who has dialogued with some of them calls them a \u201cnondenominational denomination.\u201d)<\/p>\n
\n\tSo is a secular tide truly lapping at the door of the American church? If so, is it likely to build or recede in coming years?<\/p>\n
\n\tThe peril of analyzing either religious or secular trends too quickly is one any careful historian recognizes, no matter how easily pundits and media
\n\tcommentators seem to forget even the very recent past. In the political world especially, ideological obituaries are dangerous; such graveyards are
\n\tnotorious for resurrections. (One recalls, following the 1962 California gubernatorial race, the ill-fated ABC News television special titled \u201cThe
\n\tPolitical Obituary of Richard M. Nixon.\u201d) In his chronicle of the 1964 presidential candidacy of Barry Goldwater and its impact on American history, Rick
\n\tPerlstein writes: \u201cHere is one time, at least, in which history was written by the losers.\u201d11 Actually this has been a repetitive phenomenon in the modern
\n\thistory of the republic. In the wake of Watergate, with the bitter nomination feud between Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan approaching its crescendo, pundits
\n\twondered aloud whether the Republican Party would survive.12 But a scant four years later, with Jimmy Carter and Ted Kennedy embroiled in a similar fight
\n\tamid a country convulsed in crisis, similar thoughts were voiced about the Democrats.13<\/p>\n
\n\tThe peril of premature obituaries seems a lesson most difficult for the \u201cchattering class\u201d—otherwise called the fourth estate—to learn. Following the
\n\tGingrich Revolution of 1994, predictions of Democratic demise would be heard again.14 Few remembered these predictions two years later, when President
\n\tClinton easily won reelection over Bob Dole and Ross Perot. During the second term of President George W. Bush, one very respected commentator even warned
\n\tof an \u201cAmerican theocracy\u201d crafted by what he called the \u201cerring Republican majority.\u201d15 But less than three years later, after Barack Obama\u2019s election to
\n\tthe presidency, one prestigious liberal publication ran an article titled \u201cConservatism Is Dead.\u201d16 That ink was barely dry before the Rightist reaction,
\n\totherwise called the \u201cTea Party,\u201d came on the American scene, winning dramatic midterm victories during the 2010 elections. Far from being dead,
\n\tconservatism dared to dream of unseating a liberal president. Many speculated that the enthusiasm attending Obama\u2019s first election had long since died,
\n\tespecially among the young and minorities. Yet in 2012 Obama won reelection by a comfortable margin, with even larger totals among the aforementioned voter
\n\tgroups.17<\/p>\n
\n\tIt would appear George Santayana\u2019s warning about those not remembering the past being condemned to repeat it is one little considered in the circles of
\n\tpunditry and political analysis. When considering American religious trends and their implications for religious liberty, it helps to keep fresh the
\n\tknowledge that a formidable tide one moment can turn to a ripple the next.<\/p>\n
\n\tWhen we look at long-term challenges, it often helps to consider the more enduring, underlying factors in a particular situation. It behooves us to
\n\tconsider such factors with regard to the course of American religion and its interaction with culture and politics.<\/p>\n
\n\tPerhaps the most significant of these factors is the continuing state of the world, both natural and cultural. Kevin Phillips rightly notes the staying
\n\tpower of religious conservatism and apocalyptic interest on account of tsunamis, killer hurricanes, financial panic, and much more.18 Newsweek ran a
\n\tstriking cover story in the spring of 2011, following the Japanese tsunami of that year. The title, in large red-and-white font, screamed: \u201cApocalypse Now:
\n\tTsunamis. Earthquakes. Nuclear Meltdowns. Revolutions. Economies on the Brink. What the #@%! Is Next?\u201d19 (Not a bad opener for a seminar on the biblical
\n\tbook of Revelation, I might add!) Such headlines may be written off as marketing hype, but they illustrate a key reason that religious interest and fervor
\n\taren\u2019t going away any time soon.<\/p>\n
\n\tDuring the past decade I lived for seven years on Manhattan\u2019s Upper East Side, perhaps one of the most secular, culturally elite neighborhoods in America.
\n\tDuring those years, books in the famous Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins—a fictionalized chronicle of end-time events as believed by
\n\tmany conservative evangelicals—were making headlines as best sellers. I was fascinated by how, even in my very secular Manhattan community, the local
\n\tBarnes & Noble store—five minutes from my apartment—couldn\u2019t keep these books in stock. Giant stacks of each sequel in this series would be conspicuous
\n\tin the store one day, and be all gone a few days later. Reasons for the popularity of such books in such a neighborhood might be debatable, but sales like
\n\tthese truly make it difficult to conclude religious interest is waning in our land, even among professedly secular people.<\/p>\n
\n\tUnbelief of a sort may be on the rise just now, but it isn\u2019t likely to last. Increased natural chaos, accelerating disasters of all kinds, growing
\n\tfinancial uncertainty, and heightened political polarization don\u2019t lend themselves to humanistic notions of self-sufficiency. If evidence could be found,
\n\teven to a limited degree, that men and women in today\u2019s technological nirvana were showing any perceivable ability to solve vexing world problems and move
\n\tbeyond rending quarrels toward reconciliation and resolution, perhaps a case could be made that humanity was getting better on its own. But it isn\u2019t
\n\thappening. iPhones, Facebook, and Twitter have made the world smaller, but not safer or more loving. Albert Einstein\u2019s words when the atom bomb was
\n\tinvented still hold true, relative to the advancement of mortal knowledge and scientific awareness: \u201cThe release of atomic power has changed everything
\n\texcept our way of thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe human pattern is clear that when times get bad, people search for stable anchors, enduring markers, and timeless truth. Religion is nearly always a
\n\tprimary refuge during such moments. It won\u2019t necessarily be good or healthy religion, by biblical or perhaps other standards, but it will offer a welcome
\n\tretreat from the moral cluelessness and empty self-exploration of our postmodern age. The pendulum will swing back toward faith, absolutes, and a yearning
\n\tfor transcendence. In the face of natural calamity, heightened social injury due to moral experimentation, and systemic failure within the culture on an
\n\tunimagined scale, religion will come to the rescue as the savior of civilization.<\/p>\n
\n\tAnd then, with the world order hanging in the balance, genuine liberty will be truly tested.<\/p>\n
\n\tYears ago an Oregon congressman wrote an article in The New Republic ominously titled \u201cThe Sky Is Falling.\u201d20 Such a headline might have been written off
\n\tas laughable paranoia, had it not been penned by a respected lawmaker and its content been as substantive as it was. Regardless of those predictions in the
\n\tarticle arising from perceived perils now gone (e.g., developing nations\u2019 indebtedness to Western banks), it is the cultural impact of the economic ruin
\n\tforetold by the congressman that still holds relevance in our present day.<\/p>\n
\n\tMost insightful perhaps of this lawmaker\u2019s reflections were the following:<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe effects of our affluence were pervasive. We became a \u2018permissive society\u2019 that condones everything from no-cause divorces to free sex. We switched
\n\tfrom Ovaltine to cocaine. Our kids lived in their own apartments and did as they pleased. Every group in the country demanded its \u2018rights\u2019; our legal
\n\tsystem sued for ridiculous sums on every ground imaginable. We transplanted hearts and forgot the common cold. That will all change. Not only will our
\n\tchildren come back to the nest for support, but the liberal lifestyles will vanish. The bluenose rebellion is about to begin in earnest. Its harbingers are
\n\tthe anti-abortionists and right-wing religionists.\u201d21<\/p>\n
\n\tThe congressman continued by predicting that America\u2019s political savior in the wake of this crisis would not be a liberal like Franklin Roosevelt,22 that
\n\teconomic collapse would ignite bitterness among the once-comfortable classes,23 and that these \u201cmay well demand harsh remedies, remedies that only a despot
\n\tcan promise.\u201d24<\/p>\n
\n\tNone but God can predict the future, of course. But the human tendency to seek solace in faith and transcendent values in adverse times is a staple of
\n\thistory as constant as the recurrence of war, greed, and the quest for wealth and power. When hard times come again, the brief blip in overt irreligion
\n\twill likely dissipate. Religious freedom will face challenge, all right, but not from secularists.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe late conservative jurist Robert Bork, in his 1997 book Slouching Towards Gomorrah, wrote of American decline both moral and political at the alleged
\n\tbehest of rampant, radical liberalism.25 But when I look at the recent cycles of American history and contemplate what might be next, I cannot help
\n\tthinking of what Christ said about the Galilean towns of His day, whose principal sin was self-righteousness, in comparison with the sexually immoral
\n\tcities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which God had destroyed in the Old Testament. In the words of Jesus:<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAnd thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell; for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in
\n\tSodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for
\n\tthee\u201d (Matthew 11:23, 24).<\/p>\n
\n\tPerhaps a more appropriate title for a book on America\u2019s pending, possible moral decline could be: Slouching Toward Capernaum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
People with strong convictions of any kind often function best when believing themselves under siege. So long as it is believed that contemporary trends and prevailing forces are inflicting notable harm on one\u2019s cherished values, justification for one\u2019s persistence in proffering and practicing an alternative is easily found. This is even truer in the religious<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[301],"tags":[133],"class_list":["post-6269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-july-august-2014","tag-july-august-2014"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6269\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}