A post-Christian future for America ? The question to ask, if the following article is correct in its implications, is, from the vantage of younger population groups : What will replace traditional Christianity ? In a sense we have been down this road before. In the 1970s it was New Age religion of the 60s that had taken root among the young, that, and a rock 'n roll version of Christianity called the Jesus movement. By the 1980s the New Age, while still popular, was in retreat everywhere and the Jesus movement had morphed into more conventional forms of Christian faith. But the era was one of revival of traditional faith, and alternatives to that faith were unable to compete in terms of the test of time. The 2000s and now the 2000-teens, are different years. If anyone can see winds of change that might bring about a revival similar to that of the late 70s and early 1980s, please let us know. Speaking personally, based on my sources of information, I don't see this happening anywhere in the United States. No-one can rule out some localized revival, of course, but speaking of national trends........ There still is a "market" for revival-style preachers, or for feel-good preachers like Osteen, but the "reach" of such religion is limited. It moves just about no-one in positions of cultural influence and certainly not in terms of political influence. In so many words, except for fairly small percentages, the young are not "buying" what is being "sold." Christian faith clearly has a future. But will this be a future of continuing decline or a future in which Christian faith is dramatically reconceptualized and, to use the word, "re-invented." Not talking about cosmetic changes. Snazzy new editions of the Bible, new hymnals with hymns written in recent years, professional lighting at worship services, etc, cannot possibly change much of anything that really matters. But how far are Christians, any Christians, prepared to go ? NOT talking about abandonment of basics of Christian faith either. However, to continue to ignore the Nag Hammadi texts with the various classical-era gospels that we now have, to continue to act as if East Asian religions have no meaning for believers, to continue to overlook the findings of behavioral sciences that pertain to how people find meaning in life, to continue to look at the Internet as religiously neutral rather than as a major source for new religious ideas, and still other such things, is guaranteed to result in growing irrelevance as perceived by the young --and these days, including more and more of the not-so-young. The main consideration is that reconceptualization is not easy. And there is the caution that it is easy to make mistakes when trying to reconceptualize something as important as religion. The point, regardless, is that it is necessary. Thoughts for today Billy -------------------------------------------------------------------- America Becoming Increasingly 'Post-Christian,' Research Shows
By _Jeff Schapiro_ (http://www.christianpost.com/author/jeff-schapiro/) , Christian Post Reporter April 15, 2013 While most Americans refer to themselves as Christians, a study released Monday by Barna Group shows an upward trend in "post-Christian" beliefs and behaviors among the nation's adult population. According to the study, which is an analysis of nearly 43,000 interviews conducted in recent years by the Ventura, Calif.-based organization, more than 70 percent of American adults describe themselves as Christians. Only 63 percent of people rank "low" on the Barna Group's post-Christian scale, however, while 28 percent are considered "moderately" post-Christian and nine percent are considered "highly" post-Christian. The post-Christianity scale is based on 15 faith-related metrics researchers have tracked in recent years. Included in these metrics are measurements indicating the percentage of people who have not prayed to God in the last year (18 percent), who haven't read the Bible in the last week (57 percent), who don't consider faith an important part of their lives (13 percent) and haven't been to a Christian church in the last year (33 percent), among other things. Individuals whose beliefs and behaviors matched nine or more of the 15 characteristics were labeled "post-Christian," while those who met 12 or more were labeled "highly post-Christian." David Kinnaman, president of Barna Group, explained the purpose of trying to measure the level of post-Christianity in a statement on the group's website. "First, we wanted to expand the scope of secularization beyond what people call themselves," said Kinnaman. "Faith-oriented self-descriptions are fine, but they are really only skin-deep in terms of understanding faith. In addition to identity, we also wanted to account for two other critical aspects of faith: belief as well as behavior. "For decades, our research shows the variations of asking people about faith. For example, many self-described atheists also claim to pray to a deity. Long-time churchgoers often lack basic orthodox beliefs. People who effortlessly self-describe as 'Christian' may live like practical atheists in most other parts of their lives." The research also discovered that each generation is more post-Christian than the one that came before it. Only 28 percent of seniors (ages 67 and greater) are considered post-Christian, as compared to 35 percent of Boomers (ages 48 to 66), 40 percent of Busters (ages 29 to 47) and 48 percent of Mosaics (ages 18 to 28). Kinnaman says this type of research could serve as a glimpse into the "spiritual, moral and social future" of the United States. Other poll results published within the last few months indicate that the percentage of "nones," or those who don't affiliate with any particular religion, is also on the rise in America. These results are consistent with the trend toward post-Christianity revealed by the Barna study. In a recent column for FoxNews.com, megachurch pastor Craig Groeschel _speculated_ (http://www.christianpost.com/news/craig-groeschel-nones-are-wary-of-baggage-laden-labels-93545/) that the "nones" are not resistant to belief in God, but rather to certain religious labels that carry negative connotations. "Peeling off the labels that cling to our reputation brings great freedom for us as individuals and as the global body of believers known as the Church," wrote Groeschel. "Only when we push past those artificial constraints can we truly become who God created us to be." -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
