by VorJack
I’ve previously made reference to the post A Sociologist Lives Among Christian Fundamentalists: His Conclusions over at Blog on the Way. One of the insights that Jeri mentions is about the damage done to the fundamentalist community by the constant outrage:
These days, even those American Christians who oppose abortion, sexual promiscuity, and homosexuality find the Fundamentalist culture of Outrage to be unacceptable. [...] Indeed, in America’s increasingly pluralistic society where tolerance is now accepted as essential just for domestic peace in the nation, the Fundamentalist habit of Outrage has become increasingly polarizing even among conservatives. More and more, the culture of Outrage resembles ignorance, fanaticism, and even disobedience to God.
That “culture of outrage” is also present in many conservative Christian groups who aren’t technically fundamentalists, and I believe we’re seeing signs that it is causing damage. The constant battle over issues of morality – the Culture Wars – are pushing some people, particularly young people, away from their communities.
That’s basically what I get from books like The Outsider Interviews, which is a follow up to the Barna Survey at the core of the work unChristian. It seems that many in America’s younger generation have a perception that the Christian church is hostile, arrogant and judgmental. Young men and women, both inside and outside the church, feel that the American Evangelical Christian church isn’t … well, isn’t very Christian.
There was a recent post at CNN’s Belief Blog based on a conversation with Jim Wallis that expands on that, Has The Religious Right Lost It’s Children?:
Wallis said the children of ultra-conservative Christians are deserting their parents’ theology in droves. Wallis is the president of Sojourners, a network of progressive Christians.
He says a new generation of Christians are tired of their faith being defined by two issues: fights over abortion and homosexuality.
(As an aside: I’d be a lot happier if this wasn’t coming from Wallis, a man who has been predicting the eminent fall of the Religious Right for over a decade now – usually with very flimsy evidence. Here’s Frederick Clarkson with a rundown.)
My impression is that the younger folks are trying the leave the acrimony behind without leaving their faith. In many cases, I still get the feeling that they accept the party line about homosexuality, women’s equality and abortion, but they’d rather talk quietly about Jesus than shout about the Bible.
Anything that makes a person question their faith is good. It’s just a shame that we’ll never see the headline “Rational thinking and education drive millions from religious superstition”. I think that they use these arguments about morality to distract people from the real argument about whether or not any of it is actually true.
” It seems that many in America’s younger generation have a perception that the Christian church is hostile, arrogant and judgmental. ”
Maybe because it is?
Bingo.
MrCheese is right on. The only good reason to reject a religion is because it is false, not because you don’t like what it teaches.
Young, “emergant” Christians are just as wrong as their conservative parents. But they get to play the hip rebel, which is a thrill for them. “Oh no, we’re not like those intolerent fundamentalists! But let me tell you about the REAL Jesus…” What bullshit.
I’ve noticed 2 things that don’t seem promising:
1) Religious conservatives seem to be separating themselves from society at larger through private schools/homeschooling, christian colleges, christian sports leagues, christian day cares, etc… This doesn’t bode well if these people don’t have contact with the rest of the population as they won’t be able to easily see the truth.
2) I just turned 40 and have noticed people I went to high school and college with who were once non-religious, or at least moderate, are becoming increasingly more religious and more conservative. While its true I’m in South Carolina and the population of the state is more religious than most, it still is disheartening to see that trend. So while as kids they may be put off by it, as the get older that can change.
Constant outrage can’t be good for one’s health, either. However, even a brief spin around YouTube will demonstrate that, sadly, there are plenty of young people who play the outrage game, both religious and political. My observation is that low-income Americans of all races, genders, and religions are quick to become belligerent whenever they feel threatened, whether the conflict arises from cosmological beliefs or a parking place.
The religious fanaticism has never been about the young as they really don’t care; at one point they are ‘wanna go play’ , a few years later is is ‘i wanna get your clothes off’ . Then they start all the intolerance stuff. Don’t worry all the young ones will get to the bigot stage soon. Only a very very few will ask the tough questions. For the most part Leviticus rules! They love to hate.