I’ve been reading, and enjoying, Bradley Wright’s Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites… and Other Lies You’ve Been Told. Wright is Associate Professor of Sociology and UConn. The assertion of his book is pretty simple: The numbers purported to tout the decline of evangelicalism are being wrongly used…
- By liberals and secularists who want to see evangelicalism go away
- By evangelicals wanting to whip up their troops
From my perspective, both of these observations are spot-on.
Of course, the “numbers” I’m referring are what Time Magazine called The Rise of the Nones. Who are these rising “nones”? They are the “none of the aboves,” those 16% of Americans who eschew religious affiliation. It’s a growing demographic that has caused much consternation among evangelicals and much glee among non-evangelicals.
But by far, it’s opponents of evangelicalism that have piled on. Seems like every other religious poll or statistic fuels their narrative that Organized Religion is Dying. At least, according to them. However, the degree to which this religious decline is celebrated smacks of over-compensation. In other words, they want to see evangelicalism decline and will play up every possible angle to ensure it does.
Which is what I felt as I read the following article.
In Does the Internet Spell Doom for Organized Religion? psychologist Valerie Tarico writes::
A traditional religion, one built on “right belief,” requires a closed information system. That is why the Catholic Church put an official seal of approval on some ancient texts and banned or burned others. It is why some Bible-believing Christians are forbidden to marry nonbelievers. It is why Quiverfull moms home-school their kids with carefully screened textbooks. It is why, when you get sucked into conversations with your fundamentalist Uncle George from Florida, you sometimes wonder if he has some superpower that allows him to magically close down all avenues into his mind. (He does!)
Religions have spent eons honing defenses that keep outside information away from insiders. The innermost ring wall is a set of certainties and associated emotions like anxiety and disgust and righteous indignation that block curiosity. The outer wall is a set of behaviors aimed at insulating believers from contradictory evidence and from heretics who are potential transmitters of dangerous ideas. These behaviors range from memorizing sacred texts to wearing distinctive undergarments to killing infidels. Such defenses worked beautifully during humanity’s infancy. But they weren’t really designed for the current information age.
And just when my info-bubble got cozy.
According to Tarico, there are six kinds of web content that is progressively destroying organized religion:
- Radically cool science videos and articles.
- Curated collections of ridiculous beliefs.
- The kinky, exploitative, oppressive, opportunistic and violent sides of religion.
- Supportive communities for people coming out of religion.
- Lifestyles of the fine and faithless.
- Interspiritual okayness.
Nothing like a “radically cool science video” to obliterate thousands of years of church history.
Sorry, but if this is the “information” I’m supposed to fear, it’s not working. In fact, it’s rather fitting that the author ends her article with this blustery warning:
The Vatican, and the Mormon Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the Southern Baptist Convention should be very worried.
Can the Catholic Church withstand the unfiltered fury of the interwebs? Will the Southern Baptist Convention endure the onslaught of “Lifestyles of the fine and faithless”? Can evangelicalism survive the “Curated collections of ridiculous beliefs”?
It leaves me yearning for the Dark Ages.
Oh. One other ingredient for the blender. The author has written a book entitled Trusting Doubt: A Former Evangelical Looks at Old Beliefs in a New Light. Is it a coincidence that a “former evangelical” is opining about the impending doom of organized religion? I think not. Which brings me back to my initial assertion: They want to see evangelicalism decline and will play up every possible angle to ensure it does. Including how the Worldwide Web spells out our doom.
Jesus said that the gates of Hell would not prevail against His Church (Matt. 16:18). But that was before the internet.
If anything, I would think the Internet makes the church stronger. If there are people who reject the premises of the Christian belief system because of a laundry list of empirical propositions (evidentialism), it might be because they would not have believed in the first place (if you consider Christian belief to be an assent to a priori propositions).
The church numbers would dwindle, but there would be less chaff with the grain.
1. “evangelicalism” isn’t The Church
2. Yearning for the dark ages? Really? Really? Are you just hankering after a time when the church prevented the laity from reading the Bible? Do you thirst for the days of being taxed for your sins via the selling of indulgences? Are you eager to see Jews tortured and slaughtered? Are you chomping at the bit to see women die in parturition at astronomical rates; longing to see most babies die before they reach their second birthday? Are you thrilling to the thought of human excrement and urine flowing down the gutters to the river, contaminating the drinking water?
That’s the fantastic dark ages for you.
Um, joking about the Dark Ages.
Oh thank God. I’m relieved.
I just got done reading a book that romanticised them so I think I’m tone deaf. There’s nothing worse to me than people thinking that a lack of dentistry and sewage treatment is sexy.
I ordered some really distinctive info-bubble undergarments off Amazon (I really wanted to fit in with the new paradigm), but the only problem is they pop every time I sit in front of my computer. And I’m left wondering why this sort of defense worked in humanity’s infancy, and not now. I’m mystified, to be honest.
I think it will backfire. The common key to all of these things is sort of an urban knowledge-worker provincialism that really is starting to grate on people. A lot of these style of beliefs really aren’t as ironclad as thought; they are held more because they are the proper beliefs said urban people are assumed to have. Not only do they become less threatening over time, they eventually will see a backlash.
I mean, good lord, sciency science! It’s not like many Christians aren’t familiar with it, or realize the limitations of the scientific method tend to be lost on people who stretch it willfully to disprove religion. It’s not the Bible isn’t full of “why do the wicked prosper?” verses either. I think Christians are fully aware that people may seem to live well without God. There’s plenty of ridiculous beliefs and kinky things from the irreligious too, to the point of mockery; reddit atheists and bang your friends apps for example.
The internet tends to corrode all things by its flow of information. Eventually the floodwaters will turn to irreligious belief, and I think authors like the one you mention may find it’s not as sturdy as they thought.
I think Mike was joking with the Dark Ages comment. Weren’t you, Mike?
Christians are *forbidden* to marry non-believers? You know, I’m a Christian and I never realized that. What do they do to the unequally yoked? Lock them in prison? Come to think of it, my Dad refused to go to church with my Mom. I suppose that’s why I never realized it was forbidden.
It isn’t good to be unequally yoked. Think of it: if God is the center of your life as He should be, and your husband doesn’t share it….think of the issues. I know people who struggle with that in their marriages. It’s a point of contention. That’s why God warns us about being unequally yoked and there are numerous articles on the web about the problems that causes. It’s always good to begin a marriage on a solid foundation. And sometimes two nonbelievers marry and one becomes saved, but the other doesn’t and problems arise.
I was joking…sorry, should have made it more obvious. The error in Valerie’s comment is her use of the word “forbidden” as if there is some grand Christian governing body that knocks us over the head if we choose to do such a thing. I realize the Bible and therefore God advises against it, but these things happen in churches and, unless the church is extremely legalistic, everybody moves on.
Forbidden is def an extreme word, but then her comment is pretty extreme. I think forbidden was a term she used sarcastically. :o)
They really believe were closed off? Seems to me Valerie has had some run ins with a smaller percentage of people who are closed off, but the majority of believers I know of welcome discussion. Closed off is of course liberal language for “you don’t believe in my worldview, so I consider you closed minded.” She seems biased and maybe a bit hurt letting the wound speak. The internet opens up discussion. I think it can be a very effective tool to reach more people for Christ. The otherside uses it and we all need to use it. I believe the internet opens up a whole new world for missions.
Tarico’s article also assumes that there is no benefit for the church from the internet, which is clearly untrue. As a Christian, I now have the Bible within a keystroke. I can search commentaries and multiple versions. If I have a question about apologetics, I can get multiple answers in a few minutes. Not to mention that my circle of Christian brothers and sisters has grown substantially due to the internet.
Aside from all that, the church I belong to broadcasts the services each week…via the internet. And we have proof that it is watched worldwide, by people who weren’t associated with our church before. In fact, we’ve had groups from other countries ask our pastors to visit!
Internet ending the Church. In her dreams, mabye.
(BTW, Mike, I read Wright’s book as well. Real eye-opener. Enjoyed it!)
*face palm*
Reminds me of Don Henley’s “The Garden of Allah”
“I am an expert witness, because I say I am
And I said, ‘Gentleman….and I use that word loosely….
I will testify for you
I’m a gun for hire, I’m a saint, I’m a liar
Because there are no facts, there is no truth
Just a data to be manipulated
I can get any result you like “
Well done, Mike, with some juicy lines, too.
The Church (not just “evangelicalism” as KC points out) will thrive because of the internet. Unfortunately, so will a lot of hell’s fervor.