Deja' Vu All Over Again

Back in the day when we led youth groups at church, we would occasionally make reference to the difference between Christianity and Churchianity. The former was a personal relationship with Christ lived out in the context of the church and the latter was a commitment to the institution. While a commitment to the institution of the church is good as far as it goes (as opposed to a commitment to a drinking society, poker group, or porn) it does not go far enough. It is the dynamic of a relationship with God that renews our inner being while the world does its best to constantly erode it away.

Now comes a study from Duke University that makes it official that Churchianity is fading out in the U.S.  The researcher:

"...recently plotted survey data over the last 25 years recording what Americans say about the importance of religion in their lives. Those who say it's extremely important have grown slightly, along with those who say it's not at all important. But the number of people who said it was "somewhat" important dropped from 36 percent to 22 percent in about 20 years."

I'm only surprised that it has taken this long. If you are lukewarm at best about your faith, and you have bought into "It's all about me!", then is it more enjoyable to go to church on Sunday or watch the NFL, go to the coast, or any one of a number of other things? Pretty soon the religion "habit" begins to fade away and the Good Life moves front and center. Too bad one's soul leaks out in the process. 

The U.S. is beginning to see the consequences of these "leaking souls" in society. At least with Churchianity, there was some consensus about what was good and it was sufficient to reach agreement about what was best for American society and to motivate the sacrifice required to achieve it. It is hard to find the wherewithal, though, to do what is best for the country when it's all about me. Thus, Wall Street happily steals away with a big bailout, unions and the Detroit automakers divvy up their cut of TARP dollars and the rest of us get 9.3% unemployment, inflation on the price of basic goods, and a lower standard of living for our children and grandchildren as far as the eye can see.  The current operative philosophy in this country is Woody Allen's - take the money and run! Even hearing JFK's admonition of "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country!" is hard on modern ears. Hearing it requires at least some residual moral fiber and we're not in that business any more.


Western Europe is in the advanced stages of this process: huge and empty cathedrals, little discernible moral fiber, populations that are perplexed by the rise of increasingly militant Islamists and seem unable to meet their moral challenge. The breakup of the EU has begun and the probable rise of Eurabia in the not too distant future is looming. Well, eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we ... I don't want to think about it. Pass the wine and cheese, please.

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