A new study by The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life shows that Americans are soft on religion. Here are a few headlines:
Survey Shows US Religious Tolerance (New York Times)
On Religion, there are few absolutes (Dallas Morning News)
Study Finds Most in US Reshape Religion (SF Gate)
The study reveals many apparent contradictions that are fascinating. The numbers are higher than I would have guessed. 57 percent of evangelical Christians believe multiple religions can lead to salvation (compared with 70 percent of people affiliated with religions). On the other end of the spectrum, 21 percent of atheists say they believe in God.
Doubtless everyone has a theory to explain the results of the study. What’s yours?
It seems clear enough that religion has less of an ideological grip over Americans than most of us have assumed. Even among religiously committed people, the majority hold their key theological beliefs quite loosely. I’m surprised — only a little — and I’m sure lots of leader-types are dismayed (and feeling a bit more alone).
It reminds me of Willow Creek’s situation. Last year Willow Creek, one of the largest and most influential evangelical churches in the USA, concluded a major study. They discovered that their members were not being deeply transformed, and they declared that this failure demanded a total reevaluation of their mission. It turns out, it’s not just Willow Creek, but Christian religion in general that’s coming up short.
People within religious systems are not being deeply informed or changed. Americans believe in God (more than 92 percent of Americans according to the study) — but what does that mean? Christians have a higher divorce rate than so-called atheists… I guess what people call “belief” is a hodgepodge of head knowledge, vague assents, religious feelings, self-serving affirmations, and (in some cases) the results of real encounter with God lived out in real life.
Real encounter with God lived out in real life…that’s the only belief I know (as a follower of Jesus, if I dare say) that really changes me.
On another note, an American (a former pastor) whose blog I read asks: Should you want to be spiritual?