Polarization & Evangelical Christians

There is a notion running through the liberal factions in American politics that Republicans’ catering to an ultra-conservative evangelical constituency will be their death knell, that younger voters are and will continue to desert the evangelical movement in droves. Yes, younger voters are vastly more sensitive against those who embrace climate change denial or minimization. Yes, younger voters are better educated on average and have more tolerance of diversity – from sexual preferences to ethnic and racial differences. Yes, the younger majority does not favor eliminating abortions. Yes, organized religion in the United States is witnessing a trend away from those traditions into more a spiritual or less formalize approach to God. But NO, that section of American faith that adheres to evangelical beliefs appears to be rock solid and not showing much in the way of long-term erosion.

That single bloc of evangelical voters, those who will follow Donald Trump into hellfire if that is where he wants to lead them, has withstood the test of time. While American Catholics and mainstream Protestants have watched their numbers dwindle, American evangelicals can smile in smug knowledge that their constituency, now quite political and unified in their direction, is a strong as ever… and likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future. And while there are elements within the evangelical community strongly opposed to a dramatic and unempathetic movement that dominates that vision of God, the reality is that most evangelicals are unified in a very angry view of the change around them… and the diversity that threatens their vision. But they are and will remain a force to reckon with.

“Evangelicals definitely have problems to address, but they aren’t the Christian group in danger of extinction in the United States—that’s mainline Protestants… Many have spoken as if evangelicals are disappearing from the American religious landscape. According to analysis of the data from the General Social Survey, however, the share of Americans who attend an evangelical Protestant church has been consistent for the past 20 years.

“In 1996, 25 percent of Americans attended an evangelical Protestant church. By 2016, the number had only fallen one percentage point to 24 percent… Since 1972, evangelical church attenders have grown from 18 percent of the population. After reaching 30 percent in 1993, the share has hovered around 25 percent, ranging from 27 to 23 percent.

“Meanwhile, attendance at mainline Protestant churches has suffered a precipitous decline… In the mid-1970s, close to 30 percent of Americans attended a mainline Protestant church. After decades of membership loss, only 10 percent said they attended in 2016.

“Since 1990, there has not been a single year of growth for mainline Protestant church attendance… Corresponding to the mainline drop has been the rapid growth among the religiously unaffiliated Americans, also known as the nones.” Aaron Earls writing for the 3/22/18 FactsandTrends.net, which is also the source of the above chart.

In Catholicism and mainstream Protestantism, there is a growing schism between older, doctrinaire followers of their faith and the inherently more worldly, more liberal younger members of society they are trying to recruit or hold. The Catholic church under Pope Francis is witnessing conflicts of the possibility of allowing married priests, particularly in regions of the earth where there are few if any traditional priests to lead services. Battles over birth control, the realities of generally acceptable premarital sex, gender identity and sexual preference, same sex marriage and the role of wealth among the faithful continue to tear through these more traditional religious establishments, a reflection of changing times and the difference between older and younger values.

Protestant ministries are trying to create relevance for younger worshippers, especially those with families of younger children. Efforts to modernize churches, add music and video screens and update their sermons and even the main service itself, often antagonize the over-60 crowd that likes their church the way they’ve always experienced it. So, it is with the Grove United Methodist Church in the Minneapolis suburb of Cottage Grove, closing for a major remodel – and a younger pastor –that forces the faithful to a parallel house of worship eight miles away. For changes they don’t want.

Jenny Javie, writing for the February 6^th Los Angeles Times, continues the story: “Some complained of age discrimination. Others accused the minister of departing from biblical teaching, a charge he denies… ‘They’re kicking us out of our church!’ said Cheryl Gackstetter, 63, who has attended the Grove United Methodist Church in the rapidly developing city of Cottage Grove for 10 years. ‘God would never do that. It’s unkind. It’s unchristian.’

“The fallout between church leaders and lay members of this Midwestern church lays bare the sort of wrenching decisions that religious institutions across the nation face as they struggle to bring new generations into the fold. While some congregants feel left behind, church leaders insist they do not seek to exclude anyone, but simply want to save an ailing church from extinction… At heart, the battle involves competing visions of the church. Is it a place to engage in cherished rituals of worship and fellowship or a place to convert new followers of Christ?

“As U.S. churches grapple with a sharp decline in attendance — a recent Gallup poll found that the percentage of Americans who report belonging to a church, synagogue or mosque plummeted from 70% in 1999 to 50% in 2018 — many church leaders suggest it cannot be both.

“‘Our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world,’ said the Rev. Dan Wetterstrom, 59, who leads the two campuses that make up Grove United Methodist Church. ‘This isn’t going to work if we do what we’ve always done.’

“As fewer Americans say they have any religious affiliation, and even those who identify as religious are less likely to attend services, a growing number of churches have adopted a ‘relaunch’ strategy to attract new members. Often, this involves hiring professionals who temporarily turn off the lights — a process known as ‘going dark’ — in order to redesign and rebrand religious facilities for fresh, usually more youthful, target audiences. When reopened, the places of worship often feature updated lighting, projection screens, sound systems and child-care options.

“‘Relaunches will no doubt continue to cause a stir in many denominations and established churches,’ said Greg Wiens, the founder and chief strategist for Healthy Growing Churches, a company that offers church coaching and consulting services, and coauthor of ‘Dying to Restart,’ a book that offers tips and solutions for ailing churches to successfully die and be reborn. ‘Our prayer is that it can be done well and with grace.’”

Whenever a faith maintains that it, and it alone, has an exclusive access to God, where it tells the world that they alone possess the “true path,” that is an open door for the politically manipulative to convert passionate religiosity into dangerous autocracy at the expense of everybody else. Even for a political manipulator that is not himself or herself religious. It is also a signal to groups that may not share the relevant religious vision but embrace the likely result to forge an alliance. That has been true since the Inquisition, the Salem witch trials, the ISIS jihad and the Iranian Shiite theocracy.

For Americans, the message is abundantly clear: assuming the republic survives – which in itself is a significant and perhaps unwarranted assumption – polarization is a longer-term issue for the United States, one that cannot be cured by a couple of elections to change the landscape and our basic values. It may not even flow as older leaders are replaced in a normal generational transition. Indeed, if a liberal wind blows new leaders to the top, what exactly will that do to those factions – with their “unique truth” – opposed to that change and solid in both their beliefs… and their numbers?

            I’m Peter Dekom, and do we live in a new era where tolerance and democracy simply cannot coexist with the immutable beliefs of significant embedded constituencies dedicated solely to their contradictory vision?