{"id":1069,"date":"2013-11-14T09:15:00","date_gmt":"2013-11-14T09:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/11\/religious-identity-in-a-post-religious-age.html"},"modified":"2013-11-14T09:15:00","modified_gmt":"2013-11-14T09:15:00","slug":"religious-identity-in-a-post-religious-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/11\/religious-identity-in-a-post-religious-age.html","title":{"rendered":"Religious Identity in a \u201cPost-Religious\u201d Age"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
\n
It seems that Western society has entered into a \u201cpost-religious\u201d age. Attendance at religious services has steadily decreased while those who eschew religious labels are the fastest growing demographic.This shift in our cultural consciousness has been both celebrated and vilified by all sorts of people with various agendas. In popular media, a strict dichotomy between \u201cfundamentalists\u201d and \u201csecularists\u201d is often presented as the driving force behind this cultural shift. The popularity in recent years of books such as \u201cThe God Delusion\u201d and \u201cGod is Not Great\u201d concurrent to folks like Bill O\u2019Reilly declaring a \u201cculture war\u201d feed directly into this narrative. Nothing like a good passionate \u201cdebate\u201d between irreconcilable ideologies to sell books and drive TV ratings, after all.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
As usual, the media narrative is an overly dramatic representation that does not reflect the complex reality that we find ourselves immersed in. The reasons for our shift in cultural awareness are varied and while it\u2019s true that polarity exists between religious fundamentalists and passionate secularists, it would certainly be a stretch to identify that tension as the driving force that\u2019s shaping the changes in our culture. Ultimately, it\u2019s the universal human impulse towards a greater sense of unity and connectedness that is driving all of this. The religious labels of \u201cCatholic,\u201d \u201cProtestant,\u201d \u201cJewish,\u201d etc. are becoming increasingly irrelevant, and this is a beautiful thing. It means that people are coming together and treating each other as equals; that love between people of differing ethnic and religious backgrounds (and same sex couples as well) is being celebrated rather than condemned; that friendships that would have been impossible a generation or two ago are flourishing today. This is the great paradox: As religion is increasingly seen as irrelevant and divisive, the embrace of secular values like pluralism and egalitarianism is fulfilling spiritual needs where religion simply hasn\u2019t been delivering. The human spirit\u2019s drive to be free and evolve simply won\u2019t be held back by the systems of old any longer, and if those systems want to remain relevant, they are going to have to change.<\/span><\/div>\n
Read the rest here<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It seems that Western society has entered into a \u201cpost-religious\u201d age. Attendance at religious services has steadily decreased while those who eschew religious labels are the fastest growing demographic.This shift in our cultural consciousness has been both celebrated and vilified by all sorts of people with various agendas. In popular media, a strict dichotomy between […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nReligious Identity in a \u201cPost-Religious\u201d Age<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It seems that Western society has entered into a \u201cpost-religious\u201d age. Attendance at religious services has steadily decreased while those who eschew\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/11\/religious-identity-in-a-post-religious-age.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Religious Identity in a \u201cPost-Religious\u201d Age\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It seems that Western society has entered into a \u201cpost-religious\u201d age. Attendance at religious services has steadily decreased while those who eschew\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/11\/religious-identity-in-a-post-religious-age.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rhetoric Race and Religion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-11-14T09:15:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/11\/religious-identity-in-a-post-religious-age.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/11\/religious-identity-in-a-post-religious-age.html\",\"name\":\"Religious Identity in a \u201cPost-Religious\u201d Age\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-11-14T09:15:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-11-14T09:15:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2\"},\"description\":\"It seems that Western society has entered into a \u201cpost-religious\u201d age. Attendance at religious services has steadily decreased while those who eschew\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/11\/religious-identity-in-a-post-religious-age.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/11\/religious-identity-in-a-post-religious-age.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/11\/religious-identity-in-a-post-religious-age.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Religious Identity in a \u201cPost-Religious\u201d Age\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/\",\"name\":\"Rhetoric Race and Religion\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2\",\"name\":\"Guest Contributor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Guest Contributor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/author\/admin\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Religious Identity in a \u201cPost-Religious\u201d Age","description":"It seems that Western society has entered into a \u201cpost-religious\u201d age. Attendance at religious services has steadily decreased while those who eschew","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/11\/religious-identity-in-a-post-religious-age.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Religious Identity in a \u201cPost-Religious\u201d Age","og_description":"It seems that Western society has entered into a \u201cpost-religious\u201d age. Attendance at religious services has steadily decreased while those who eschew","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/11\/religious-identity-in-a-post-religious-age.html","og_site_name":"Rhetoric Race and Religion","article_published_time":"2013-11-14T09:15:00+00:00","author":"Guest Contributor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Guest Contributor","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/11\/religious-identity-in-a-post-religious-age.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/11\/religious-identity-in-a-post-religious-age.html","name":"Religious Identity in a \u201cPost-Religious\u201d Age","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-11-14T09:15:00+00:00","dateModified":"2013-11-14T09:15:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2"},"description":"It seems that Western society has entered into a \u201cpost-religious\u201d age. Attendance at religious services has steadily decreased while those who eschew","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/11\/religious-identity-in-a-post-religious-age.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/11\/religious-identity-in-a-post-religious-age.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/11\/religious-identity-in-a-post-religious-age.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Religious Identity in a \u201cPost-Religious\u201d Age"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/","name":"Rhetoric Race and Religion","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2","name":"Guest Contributor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Guest Contributor"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/author\/admin"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1069\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}