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The Merriman-Webster Dictionary defines culture as:
- the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group
- the characteristic features of everyday existence (such as diversions or a way of life) shared by people in a place or time
American culture in the 21st century is vastly different from American culture as it was one hundred years ago. We behave differently, we believe different things, our daily lives have changed, work is different, the way we learn about what is going on in the world around us has changed, our cultural icons are different, how we spend our time is different, and so on. The zeitgeist, a German word meaning the general intellectual, moral and cultural climate of our time, is vastly different from that of our great-grandmothers. What are the beliefs and characteristic features of contemporary culture and how have these evolved over the past seventy years?
There are six fundamental changes that define our culture today]:
- A decreased importance of religion in our lives
- A changing family structure
- Changing beliefs about ethics and morality
- Changes in the way we earn our daily bread
- Changes in where we live
- Changes in how we receive information
I will cover religion and belief in this post; subsequent posts will discuss the other trends above.
Religion and Belief. The Pew Research Center regularly conducts polls on Religious beliefs and practices in the United States. These polls try to quantify both belief and practice. In 2017, 80% of the survey said they believed in God, but only 56% believe in the God of the Bible (see chart below). These polls show that 22% of Americans identify themselves as unaffiliated with any religious group. These are the “nones,” as in “none of the above.” And non-belief is increasing. Between 2007 and 2014, the percentage of people who were certain God existed fell from 71% to 63%. The future looks even dimmer for belief in America; 38% of those aged 18-29 do not believe in God compared to 12% of those 65 or older.
How do beliefs in God affect people’s beliefs and practices in other realms? In aPew Research Center Survey, only one-third of all Americans believe that there are clear standards for what is right and what is wrong. Not surprisingly, belief in absolute standards is much lower in millennials (11%) than in baby boomers (36%). What is surprising is the fact that belief in absolute standards is very low (13%) among the silent generation (those born between 1928 and 1945).
The numbers by faith group are interesting.
This erosion of absolute standards has led to confusion in both the Church and the world around many issues including abortion, homosexuality, cohabitation, greed and selfishness. In fact, as we shall see in the next post, the idea of “sin” itself is disappearing from both.