Free God Now! Old Time Religion vs The Mainstream

[cbayer]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/clay-naff/the-real-divide-old-time-religion-against-the-mainstream_b_1432230.html

Clay Farris Naff
Science and religion writer, journalist, author

Posted: 04/23/2012 11:41 am

A fresh wind is blowing through church steeples and minarets. It's got the archbishops, pastors, rabbis and imams of Old Time Religion in a reactionary rage. And no wonder. As Bob Dylan sang a generation ago, it'll soon shake their windows and rattle their walls, for the times they are a-changin'.

I'm speaking of the wind of freedom, the kind that howls when ordinary people break free of the ancient, oppressive, us-against-them, woman-despising theologies heaped upon them for so many centuries. The trend of liberation holds great promise, but it's also dangerous as all hell. Here's why.

Christianity remains America's largest religion, but membership has fallen to about 80 percent of the population. Among those who remain, less than half attend church regularly. It's not for lack of room: of the 225 seats in the average American church, only 105 are filled each week. A similar situation faces American Judaism. Astoundingly, a majority of American Jews are now nonbelievers.

-snip-

But those who have broken with the old regime are unorganized, unfocused and fractious -- not to say ideologically fratricidal. A loss of belief in the authority and credibility of religious institutions seems to be the primary motivation for leaving. What the new "Nones," along with the religious liberals and tolerant Mainstreamers, fail to recognize is that they need new allies and goals, or they will soon lose much of their hard-won freedom.

more at link

[patrice]

1. Lord Jesus was a liberator. That's why his state-church killed him. nt

[Ezlivin]

2. New churches don't even mention their denomination any longer

All the churches springing up 'round here go by names like "The Mount", "The Fellowship Church", "Keystone Church" and "Gateway Church".

No one cares about the theology of these churches; all that matters is if they have good programs for children and sermons talks that are interesting and positive. All the small churches are dying off and the replacements are the big-box churches with the young, upbeat pastor leader.

[patrice]

3. feel-good social clubs that provide family services, like babysitting, teen supervision & vacations.

[cbayer]

5. Are these places small? Big? Do they identify themselves as Christian or not?

Are they actually affiliated with a denomination and just not mention it?

I am very interested in what this is all about.

[Ezlivin]

8. Most are huge

In the Dallas-Fort Worth Area these churches have sprung up everywhere. Some have split into many separate "campuses".

One church I mentioned, "Gateway Church", is the new church home for Glenn Beck; it has "campuses" and I have no idea what denomination it is. But all of the churches are definitely Xian.

The Southern Baptist Convention is desperate to increase attendance. One way it thinks will help is by making churches seem a lot less like traditional churches. Another is to not publicize the denomination. I believe they are right: People do not think about theology, only facilities and services. The SBC loses most of its members when they switch to the LDS church. It was horrifying to the SBC leadership to discover that their members really didn't care about the major theological differences between the Baptist Faith and Message and the teachings of the Latter Day Saints. As long as the LDS church had good programs for the family and children, Baptists would quit their own church and join.

Can you imagine how the leadership feels with Romney as nominee?

[cbayer]

9. So, it sounds like the social politics of these places are pretty RW, is that correct?

From what I had read, these kinds of places were bleeding to death. I know around here what people report are smaller, mixed faith *churches*, akin to the UU concept more than anything else.

I had no idea that people were leaving the SBC for LDS. That is really surprising.

[Ezlivin]

10. The tilt to the right is marked

When I was completing my master's at seminary (an SBC seminary) I studied the LDS church. When I visited one and went to a couple of classes and services I could see why SBC leadership were worried. Even as a very aware Xian I couldn't see the differences between their teachings and those that I was familiar with from my own church. The emphasis on "making a decision for Christ" was absent from their service, but the same could be said of any of the many different Protestant denominations.

But the programs for children and youth were spectacular. The people were open, warm and friendly. I could see how an "unwary" Xian could visit and be enthralled.

The two largest groups that are draining the SBC of membership is the LDS and apathy. Many of the younger generation are simply not interested in what the SBC has to offer, even with a modernized appearance. They are desperate and their increased political involvement is probably a side-effect.

[cbayer]

11. I can see how the LDS focus on family and *clean living* would appeal to many families.

Most of the mormons that I have know have been kind, thoughtful and never pushed anything on me. I never even got the feeling that they wanted me to even consider their church. But I can see how a concerted effort in recruiting is an important part of what they do (the missionary year being the most obvious).

For the apathetic, I think many still miss the community and fellowship. I think we will see more and more innovative solutions for this which may or may not involve matters of faith, belief, etc.

For me (and many others), the social activities available as a child and teen were something I could have found nowhere else in the community.

[trotsky]

4. Again with the blinders. What is it with liberal believers?

Sorry to break this to you again, but the "old time religion" *is* the mainstream. Or is the Catholic Church not mainstream?

[dmallind]

6. To be honest, there is fungibility of meaning

Mainstream/Mainline Protestantism should not technically be read to mean the beliefs of majority non-fringe Protestants. There is no current aspect of the term that equates to numbers or norms. It is a theological term that refers to the groups that opposed the burgeoning fundamentalism of 100 years ago, and occasionally still do. The denominations have not referred to a majority or norm amomg Protestants for almost that long, as the fundy sects quickly gained the upper hand and retain it today.

[onager]

7. And there's that "fresh new wind" meme again!

Smells like Mean Spirit...