{"id":221,"date":"2010-08-30T12:07:18","date_gmt":"2010-08-30T17:07:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theamericanjesus.wordpress.com\/?p=221"},"modified":"2010-08-30T12:07:18","modified_gmt":"2010-08-30T17:07:18","slug":"almost-christian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2010\/08\/almost-christian\/","title":{"rendered":"Almost Christian"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

Author: More teens becoming \u2018fake\u2019 Christians<\/h1>\n
By\u00a0John Blake<\/strong>, CNN<\/p>\n
\u2014 If you\u2019re the parent of a Christian teenager, Kenda Creasy Dean has this warning:<\/p>\n
Your child is following a \u201cmutant\u201d form of Christianity, and you may be responsible.<\/p>\n
Dean says more American teenagers are embracing what she calls \u201cmoralistic therapeutic deism.\u201d Translation: It\u2019s a watered-down faith that portrays God as a \u201cdivine therapist\u201d whose chief goal is to boost people\u2019s self-esteem.<\/p>\n
Dean is a minister, a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and the author of \u201cAlmost Christian,\u201d a new book that argues that many parents and pastors are unwittingly passing on this self-serving strain of Christianity.<\/p>\n
She says this \u201cimposter\u201d faith is one reason teenagers abandon churches.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this is the God they\u2019re seeing in church, they are right to leave us in the dust,\u201d Dean says. \u201cChurches don\u2019t give them enough to be passionate about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Continue reading the story<\/a><\/p>\n
This is a great article about an even better book, Almost Christian<\/a> by Kenda Dean. You don\u2019t have to work with teenagers, or even like teenagers, for this book to be of interest to you. In short, both the book and the article are about a large survey that was done recently among American teenagers which found that while most of them thought religion was a good thing, few of them thought it was very important in their lives.<\/p>\n
What the study concluded, in part, was that Christianity has been supplanted in the United States by a feel good religion of being nice they label \u201cMoralistic Therapeutic Diesm.\u201d While that may not come as much of a surprise, what may is that this isn\u2019t an invention of teenagers bored with Christianity who are coming up with their own faith, it is in fact the faith that has been handed down to them by the church.<\/p>\n
I picked up a copy of the book this weekend and I\u2019m about halfway done. So far it is absolutely fascinating. I haven\u2019t read a better observation and critique of American Chrisitianty, but I am really anxious for the second half in which they offer ways in which the church can combat \u201cMoralistic Therapeutic Diesm\u201d. So, whether you care about teenagers or not, if you care about the church and our American brand of Christianity, then I HIGHLY recommend picking up a copy of \u201cAlmost Christian.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Author: More teens becoming \u2018fake\u2019 Christians By\u00a0John Blake, CNN \u2014 If you\u2019re the parent of a Christian teenager, Kenda Creasy Dean has this warning: Your child is following a \u201cmutant\u201d form of Christianity, and you may be responsible. Dean says more American teenagers are embracing what she calls \u201cmoralistic therapeutic deism.\u201d Translation: It\u2019s a watered-down […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3437,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[41],"class_list":["post-221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review","tag-book-review"],"yoast_head":"\nAlmost Christian<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Author: More teens becoming 'fake' Christians By\u00a0John Blake, CNN -- If you're the parent of a Christian teenager, Kenda Creasy Dean has this warning: Your\" \/>\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\/zackhunt\/2010\/08\/almost-christian\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Almost Christian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Author: More teens becoming 'fake' Christians By\u00a0John Blake, CNN -- If you're the parent of a Christian teenager, Kenda Creasy Dean has this warning: Your\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2010\/08\/almost-christian\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Semi-Official Blog of Zack Hunt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-08-30T17:07:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/theamericanjesus.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/safe_image-php.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Zack Hunt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Zack Hunt\" \/>\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\/zackhunt\/2010\/08\/almost-christian\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2010\/08\/almost-christian\/\",\"name\":\"Almost Christian\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-08-30T17:07:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-08-30T17:07:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#\/schema\/person\/92d888feb798c511bc3c9cb2fc4a4226\"},\"description\":\"Author: More teens becoming 'fake' Christians By\u00a0John Blake, CNN -- If you're the parent of a Christian teenager, Kenda Creasy Dean has this warning: Your\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2010\/08\/almost-christian\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2010\/08\/almost-christian\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2010\/08\/almost-christian\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Almost Christian\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/\",\"name\":\"The Semi-Official Blog of Zack Hunt\",\"description\":\"Zack writes about the intersection of faith and politics\u2026and sometimes BBQ.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#\/schema\/person\/92d888feb798c511bc3c9cb2fc4a4226\",\"name\":\"Zack Hunt\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7a3db085a35a483a38418a4937abcd6?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7a3db085a35a483a38418a4937abcd6?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Zack Hunt\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/author\/zhunt\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Almost Christian","description":"Author: More teens becoming 'fake' Christians By\u00a0John Blake, CNN -- If you're the parent of a Christian teenager, Kenda Creasy Dean has this warning: Your","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\/zackhunt\/2010\/08\/almost-christian\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Almost Christian","og_description":"Author: More teens becoming 'fake' Christians By\u00a0John Blake, CNN -- If you're the parent of a Christian teenager, Kenda Creasy Dean has this warning: Your","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2010\/08\/almost-christian\/","og_site_name":"The Semi-Official Blog of Zack Hunt","article_published_time":"2010-08-30T17:07:18+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/theamericanjesus.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/safe_image-php.jpg"}],"author":"Zack Hunt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Zack Hunt","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2010\/08\/almost-christian\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2010\/08\/almost-christian\/","name":"Almost Christian","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-08-30T17:07:18+00:00","dateModified":"2010-08-30T17:07:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#\/schema\/person\/92d888feb798c511bc3c9cb2fc4a4226"},"description":"Author: More teens becoming 'fake' Christians By\u00a0John Blake, CNN -- If you're the parent of a Christian teenager, Kenda Creasy Dean has this warning: Your","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2010\/08\/almost-christian\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2010\/08\/almost-christian\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2010\/08\/almost-christian\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Almost Christian"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/","name":"The Semi-Official Blog of Zack Hunt","description":"Zack writes about the intersection of faith and politics\u2026and sometimes BBQ.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#\/schema\/person\/92d888feb798c511bc3c9cb2fc4a4226","name":"Zack Hunt","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7a3db085a35a483a38418a4937abcd6?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7a3db085a35a483a38418a4937abcd6?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Zack Hunt"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/author\/zhunt\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3437"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}