The End of Christian America
I always like listening to, but more
importantly reading the work and thoughts of John Meacham. He reminds me of my
idealized notion that Americans seek out information, education, and dialogue
about big ideas and hard issues. Just when I think we are too much a fast food,
reality TV, self absorbed society, Meacham reminds me that there are segments
still able to learn from the past and apply those lessons to the
future.
By Jon Meacham |
NEWSWEEK
Published Apr 4, 2009 | From
the magazine issue dated Apr 13, 2009
It
was
a
small
detail,
a
point
of
comparison
buried
in
the
fifth
paragraph
on
the
17th
page
of
a
24-page
summary
of
the
2009
American
Religious
Identification
Survey.
But
as
R.
Albert
Mohler
Jr.—president
of
the
Southern
Baptist
Theological
Seminary,
one
of
the
largest
on
earth—read
over
the
document
after
its
release
in
March,
he
was
struck
by
a
single
sentence.
For
a
believer
like
Mohler—a
starched,
unflinchingly
conservative
Christian,
steeped
in
the
theology
of
his
particular
province
of
the
faith,
devoted
to
producing
ministers
who
will
preach
the
inerrancy
of
the
Bible
and
the
Gospel
of
Jesus
Christ
as
the
only
means
to
eternal
life—the
central
news
of
the
survey
was
troubling
enough:
the
number
of
Americans
who
claim
no
religious
affiliation
has
nearly
doubled
since
1990,
rising
from
8
to
15
percent.
Then
came
the
point
he
could
not
get
out
of
his
mind:
while
the
unaffiliated
have
historically
been
concentrated
in
the
Pacific
Northwest,
the
report
said,
"this
pattern
has
now
changed,
and
the
Northeast
emerged
in
2008
as
the
new
stronghold
of
the
religiously
unidentified."
As
Mohler
saw
it,
the
historic
foundation
of
America's
religious
culture
was
cracking.While
we
remain
a
nation
decisively
shaped
by
religious
faith,
our
politics
and
our
culture
are,
in
the
main,
less
influenced
by
movements
and
arguments
of
an
explicitly
Christian
character
than
they
were
even
five
years
ago.
I
think
this
is
a
good
thing—good
for
our
political
culture,
which,
as
the
American
Founders
saw,
is
complex
and
charged
enough
without
attempting
to
compel
or
coerce
religious
belief
or
observance.
It
is
good
for
Christianity,
too,
in
that
many
Christians
are
rediscovering
the
virtues
of
a
separation
of
church
and
state
that
protects
what
Roger
Williams,
who
founded
Rhode
Island
as
a
haven
for
religious
dissenters,
called
"the
garden
of
the
church"
from
"the
wilderness
of
the
world."
As
crucial
as
religion
has
been
and
is
to
the
life
of
the
nation,
America's
unifying
force
has
never
been
a
specific
faith,
but
a
commitment
to
freedom—not
least
freedom
of
conscience.
At
our
best,
we
single
religion
out
for
neither
particular
help
nor
particular
harm;
we
have
historically
treated
faith-based
arguments
as
one
element
among
many
in
the
republican
sphere
of
debate
and
decision.
The
decline
and
fall
of
the
modern
religious
right's
notion
of
a
Christian
America
creates
a
calmer
political
environment
and,
for
many
believers,
may
help
open
the
way
for
a
more
theologically
serious
religious
life.click
here
to
read
more
Filed Sun - April 5, 2009, 09:43 PM in
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