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Nicolas Poussin, The Adoration of the Golden Calf
I recently saw an article in The Atlantic by Derek Thompson entitled “Workism is Making Americans Miserable.” The article is mainly about how upper-class men have adopted “work” as their new religion. This is interesting, but beside the point. What is “on-point” to me is Thompson’s Interview with Craig Melvin on MSNBC. He notes that this is a period of declining religiosity. With God no longer on the throne, Thompson asks what else can we worship? “Something still needs to sit on top of that altar for humans. If not God, then what else can we worship?”
Note Thompson’s two critical assumptions: 1) traditional religion is no longer believed in or practiced among elite Americans and 2) nevertheless, we still need to worship something. Let’s look at each of these points in turn.
Is this a period of declining religiosity?
There is actually a sociological theory about this called “The Theory of Secularization,” which holds that religious values and practices decline as a society becomes more modern. In 2017 the Pew Research Center examined religion in Europe and found that while most people called themselves Christians, fewer of them attended church regularly. The data are presented in the chart below. The Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands were the least “religious,” while catholic Ireland and Italy were the most.
The United States, while much more religious then most advanced societies, is not immune from this general rule. According to a study published in Scientific American, the percentage of Americans identifying themselves as Protestants fell from 62% in 1970 to 49% in 2015. Perhaps more significant is the fact that the percentage of Americans who identified themselves as “nones” (no religious affiliation) had increased from 5% in 1970 to 22% in 2015 and by 2030 the proportion of “nones” is projected to exceed the proportion of either Catholics or Protestants.
What do Americans worship today?
In the summer of 1953, the reverend Martin Luther King wrote a series of short sermons which he collected under the title False gods We Worship. He named three “false gods”: 1) science, 2) nationalism and 3) money. He begins his sermon with the following: “Men always have worshipped, and men always will worship. There is the ever-present danger, however, that man will direct his worship drive into false channels. It is not so {much} disbelief as false belief, that is the danger confronting religion. It is not so much downright atheism, as strong, determined polytheism which impedes the progress of religion. The scripture furnishes numerous examples of this ever-present tendency of man to substitute false gods for the One true God.” He goes on to name three false gods: science, nationalism and money.
We will examine each of these and other false gods in our next few posts.
I wonder how you would define a good Christian? If one were to retreat into the woods without regard to science, money or the national government (or any government) would that contribute to being more holy? I think Paul nailed it pretty well.
“As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.’” Romans 3:10-12 (NIV)
I think the biggest false god is our self, and is manifested in selfishness, greed, and dishonesty (lying). I suspect for the culture at large that our civil leaders have more influence on our behavior than our religious leaders do. I believe God’s church has a better probability of thriving if we have civil government leaders who are honest, ethical, and concerned with the greater good as compared with the prosperity of a relative few. The church can not operate outside the scope of the civil structure and values are imposed by civil laws and the enforcement of those laws. Fortunately in this country we can bend ever so slightly , but significantly, the arc of our values (justice) through elections. Some countries with authoritarian governments can do little in this regard. Sadly, history has many examples where the church has been coopted by authoritarian leaders.
There are many false gods. I am saddened at the anti-science movement given all the good the scientific community has done to improve our health and well-being. A case can be made that writ large the scientific community has been a good example of loving our neighbor.