The Religious of The Group

As religious cultures grow and develop, so do cultural trends. Currently in the American religious culture, particularly African American culture religion is popular. This is among the older generation and less noticeable in the millennial generation. Comparatively African Americans are far more “highly Religious” than that of Latino or those white ethnicity.

I don’t find this surprising however it does make one wonder why up to sixty-nine present of black men say religion is very important versus a much lower forty three percent of white men. Another observation I found peculiar is woman across the board whether its praying, attending church or simply thinking religion is very important on average are at least ten percent ahead of men black, white, or Hispanic. It is not an untold truth that the African America community more than any other community in American history has faced serious challenges throughout the country’s history and still do even today. To see that African Americans are the most religious of the ethnicities in America and at the same time the same group that has had to persevere through so much turmoil makes me wonder if there is a connection between their strength and strong faith “In a separate study, researchers found that blacks who were more frequent churchgoers and religious volunteers were more likely to have greater self-confidence and less likely to feel overwhelmed by personal challenges.” (Briggs). It would make sense that the millennial’s in the African American community are slightly less religious then their elders because while they still have significant challenges to face, they are not the same challenges that their elders had to face during the civil rights movements of the 1960s and events that took place before and after.

What is not surprising to me is whites are ranked third on being the most religious out of the three races mentioned in the article Black Men More Religious than Whites Hispanics in general are more religious than whites that being both men and woman. This is interesting because that puts two minority populations ahead of the white population on these groups’ belief of religious importance and church attendance. Why are the ethnicities that have redoubtably had more challenges ahead of them than their white counterpart more religious?

I don’t believe I or anyone else will ever have an answer to that question. However, I do think it is important to note that these groups of Americans that have face in generally more obstacles set in place by society tend to be far more religious. More evidence of this could not be clearer if one looks at not race but sexes that have faced more obstacles, woman are more religious as well. Out of the two major genders, woman have faced the most scrutiny and yet they are the most religious of the two. I think there is evidence to support a claim that the more religious of groups in America are the ones with the most hardships throughout its history. It will be interesting to see how religion in all these communities plays out in Americas culture as it continues to go forward.

Works Cited

Banks, Adelle M. Black Men More Religious than Whites, Research Shows., 2018. Web. Sep 28, 2018.

Briggs, David. Are Black Americans the most Religious — and Virtuous — of all, 2015. Web. Sep 28, 2018.

Heise, Tammy. “Contemporary American religions.” Religions 2200, Sept. 2018. University of Wyoming. Lecture.

 

In the Mennonite Church USA, Congregations Realign on Sexuality

The Mennonite Church USA decided more than two years ago to welcome members of the LGBTQ community into the church. This led to a Mennonite pastor performing the marriage of a same-sex couple. As a result, pastor Issac Villegas’ ordination credentials were suspended with no plans to review the case or find a resolution. This put a major strain on the Virginia Mennonite Conference. The congregation transferred its membership to other churches and reinstated Villegas. This example proves that even in small denominations, realignment due to issues such as sexuality and gender is inevitable. Despite many of the denominations breaking away and coming together, Shimron states, “But the realignment is far from over.” The Mennonite Church still has a lot of reshaping coming in their future. 

The Mennonite Church is not the first church to be divided by issues to homosexuality and gender. In fact, many issues have been dividing churches since as early as the 19th century. These issues include slavery and women ordination. However, the most prominent issue in the 21st century is sexuality. The Episcopal Church divided dramatically after the first openly gay bishop was elected. Some conservative Episcopalians left the church to join Anglican bodies or a district under the pastoral care of a bishop in Africa. The reshaping of the Episcopal Church has many similarities to that of the reshaping of the Mennonite Church. 

The division of churches was also a topic in class when “My Homosexuality Is Getting Worse Every Day” by Rebecca L. Davis was discussed. Davis discussed, “As liberal Protestants, following the psychiatric mainstream, began to walk away from the sickness/treatment paradigm, evangelical and Pentecostal Christians marched in the opposite direction, championing the disease model of homosexuality” (Davis 361). Even in the 1970’s, the debate over homosexuality was a prominent topic. The debate was over whether homosexuality is a disease that can be cured. The liberal Protestants believed it was a disease until Evelyn Hooker a researcher from the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. said there was no difference in mental health between heterosexual and homosexual individuals. This was the turning point for liberal Protestants to accept this point of view. On the other hand, conservative Protestants adopted the disease/mental health model of homosexuality during the same time.  

The realignment of churches in the United States over the same topic continues to be a burning topic still fifty years later. Often, these divisions continue to be based around conservative Protestants and liberal Protestants. This parallel continues to show in the article “Breaking Faith: Religion, Americanism, and Civil Rights in Postwar Milwaukee” by Kevin D. Smith. In 1963, the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference split apart after the Missouri and Wisconsin Synod could not agree on a wide variety of issues including demographic changes and racial friction. Although this example did not include disputes over homosexuality, it does show how disputes in churches cause divisions that reshape churches. 

As displayed in the many examples above, reshaping of churches and denominations in America is a prominent part of studying religions in America. Although the topics of division and reshaping vary, divisions have been happening for a long time and continue to happen today. 

 

Davis, Rebecca L. “‘My Homosexuality Is Getting Worse Every Day.’” pp. 347–365. 

Shimron, Yonat. “In the Mennonite Church USA, Congregations Realign on Sexuality.” Religion News Service, 26 Sept. 2018, religionnews.com/2018/09/25/in-the-mennonite-church-usa-congregations-align-along-sexuality-axis/. 

Smith, Kevin D. “Breaking Faith: Religion, Americanism, and Civil Rights in Postwar Milwaukee.” Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation, vol. 20, no. 01, 2010, pp. 57–92., doi:10.1525/rac.2010.20.1.57. 

“Goliath” of a Church in Turmoil Following Sexual Harassment Claims

Willow Creek, an evangelistic megachurch located in Chicago, is in a state of uncertainty after various sexual harassment accusations against the founder and former head pastor Bill Hybles, according to an article in the Religion News Service written by Emily Miller. In April, Hybels retired after he denied the accusations against him. Quickly following the retirement, the whole elder board and all of Hybels’ successors stepped down, admitting they had wrongfully defended Hybels by “calling the women’s claims lies” (Miller 5).

Vonda Dyer, victim of Hybels’ misconduct, and Boz Tchividjian, founder of a Christian abuse response group, both agree Hybels had been worshiped like a god by his staff and congregation. Idolatry, as essay “Protestant-Catholic-Jew” author William Herberg claims, is growing more and more common among churches in America and, as a result, Americans shift their focus from religion and God to a person. This shift, Tchividjian claims, often causes the idolized leader to surround himself with loyal people that will support him rather than people who will hold him accountable for his actions.

Willow Creek’s attendance is suffering following the claims and retirement. There were 9 percent fewer attendees across Willow Creek’s eight campuses from this time last year and there was a fifteen percent drop at its main campus. To put this into perspective, Willow Creek had an average weekly attendance of 25,743 in 2017 according to Sarah Burns of 24/7 Wall Street.com; consequently, Willow Creek saw a loss of between 2316-3861 people. This large of a loss in both leaders and attendance is not easy to overcome, even as a megachurch. In 2014, Mars Hill, a megachurch with 15 campuses in Seattle closed after failing to recover from the resignation of the founder and lead pastor Mark Driscoll following plagiarism and abuse accusations. David Eagle, researcher for Duke University, believes Willow Creek is large enough to survive the change and drops in attendance, and will bounce back. While Eagle cannot be certain of the fate of Willow Creek, he said “Willow will never be the same again”. Willow Creek has been a highly influential church, and will continue to be, only in a different way. Scot McKnight, New Testament professor, claims Willow Creek and this sexual harassment event will be studied by seminaries well into the future. McKnight says that seminary teachers will highlight the event as how not to lead a church. I believe William Herberg would have appreciated this remark as Herberg believed in religion as the worship of the divine rather than the common.

Christianity revolves around the story of resurrection. Many members of the Christian religious community believe Willow Creek can recover. Brady Boyd, leader of New Life church in Colorado Springs, is hopeful that Willow Creek can recover from this crisis and can be reborn if it can change for the better. Boyd suggests Willow Creek focuses on the common Christian worship practices as well as providing support to the Willow Creek attendees and the women who bravely came forward despite risk of social isolation by the church community. In the upcoming months and years, Willow Creek and its congregation will be put to the test- it will either break apart like Mars Hills Church of Seattle, or be resurrected and thrive.

 

Works Cited

Burns, Sarah. “25 Largest Churches in America.” 247wallst.Com, 24/7 Wall St., 23 July 2018, 247wallst.com/special-report/2017/10/11/25-largest-churches-in-america/6/.

Herberg, Will. Protestant, Catholic, Jew: an Essay in American Religious Sociology. Univ. of Chicago Pr., 1994.

Miller, Emily. “What’s next for Willow Creek?” Religion News Service, 28 Sept. 2018, religionnews.com/2018/09/28/whats-next-for-willow-creek/.

 

 

 

Is America a Christian Nation?

In Emily Miller’s article, she discusses the views of two Evangelical authors, Eric Metaxa and John Fea, on religion and America. For Metaxa, Miller talks of his past works, including “If You Can Keep It: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty.” The story behind the title is described as being a reference to Benjemin Franklin stating that America is a republic, “if you can keep it” (Miller). Metaxa emphasizes on the idea that it is American’s responsibility to keep America as it is. What America is in Metaxa’s eyes includes Christianity. This view sounds very similar to the ideals of the 1950s. As William Herberg displays in his essay “Protestant-Catholic-Jew,” the people of 1950s America very closely associated religion with America. Herberg saw the association as being so close, that the American people had associated “the American cause with the cause of God” (Herberg 530). They had seen God as their own nationalist cheerleader of sorts. Although the connection may not be that strong today, the same idea definitely still lingers. This can be seen when Miller quotes Fea: “Views of America’s origins play a powerful role in today’s political climate… Part of the idea of making America great again includes keeping America Christian” (Miller). This can also be seen when Miller says that Metaxa’s book is centered around the fact “that the founders recognized virtue, faith and freedom as essential to keeping the republic” (Miller). This may seem to relate more to the Founding Fathers time than our own; however, it is how Metaxa and others have interpreted their writing that is important. People tend to interpret things how they want to see them. Faith and freedom were both important aspects in the 1950s, according to Herberg. Faith was truly valued over God (Herberg 531) and freedom was an important American value which, as was mentioned before, was supported by religion in the 1950s. Metaxa is quoted saying, “When God blessed America… he didn’t do it to bless us. He did it to bless the whole world through us” (Miller). This has to do both with people seeing religion as nationalism and seeing themselves as divine. Herberg argues that Americans saw themselves as divine instead of God in the 1950s (533). Metaxa sees Americans as, not quite divine but, perhaps above others when he says that Americans were blessed to bless those around them.

John Fea, on the other hand, holds an opposite view. Fea, as explained by Miller, believed that the Founding Fathers meant all religions to be prevalent. Fea is quoted saying, “it’s important for evangelical Christians to see a different view of early American history from a fellow evangelical” (Miller). Fea is referring to authors such as Metaxa, but this could be a cause of a separation within Evangelicalism, as the Wisconsin and Missouri synod separated in the 1960s (Smith 58). It does seem to be more about politics than religion itself, but there are denominations with smaller differences.

After nearly 70 years, the same ideas about religion and nationality are still lingering, even if its not as intense. This ideal could lead to a fracture within religion, although it may not be likely.

 

Works Cited

Herberg, William, and R. Marie Griffith. “Protestant-Catholic-Jew.” American Religions, Oxford University Press, 2008, pp. 517–533.

Miller, Emily M. “Is America a Christian Nation? Metaxas, Fea Offer Competing Views.” Religion News Service, 27 Sept. 2018, religionnews.com/2018/09/27/is-america-a-christian-nation-evangelicals-offer-competing-views-at-chicago-event-metaxas-fea-veggietales-trump-swamp/.

Smith, Kevin D. “Breaking Faith: Religion, Americanism, and Civil Rights in Postwar Milwaukee.” Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation, vol. 20, no. 01, 2010, pp. 57–92., doi:10.1525/rac.2010.20.1.57.

San Francisco museum shows off modern Muslim women’s fashion.

The Religious News Service reported on September 21 that the de Young Museum in association with the Hariri sisters will be hosting an exhibition displaying modern Muslim women’s fashion.  The exhibit is set to open Saturday, September 22, 2018.

This exhibit displays clothing from designers such as Dolce and Gabbana, Nike, and over 60 other designers. Items mentioned in the article ranged from a hooded, knee-length girl scout uniform to traditional Pakistani wedding attire. In this exhibit the Hariris’ wish to speak out for Muslim women. Gisue Hariri claims that “Muslim women are increasingly targeted for using their fashion choices to assert their independence and identity” (The Associated Press, 2018).  She hopes that the “exhibition will allow a positive review and examination of the Muslim Community” (The associated press, 2018).  During a time where many Western countries may disapprove of veils, burkinis, and other items worn to protect the modesty of the women in this culture.

There is an overarching theme in Contemporary American Religion; that cultural identity must match cultural stereotypes. By wearing a hijab, Muslim American women are taking a political stand, by showing Protestant Americans, this is who I am, and this is what I believe. This gendered statement engages Muslim women in a highly visible statement of faith. This exhibit tests many conservative Protestant views. One common belief is that Muslim women must dress dully to be modest. This disruption of a stereotypical view may lead to a more overall understanding of the culture as a whole. The breaking of this stereotype may also allow a sense of shared culture among women in particular. Many women in American Protestant culture feel a need to look well kept, and dress well. Showing protestant women that Muslim women feel the same need allows for a sense of shared identity.

 

The Associated Press (2018, September 21) San Francisco museum shows off Muslim Women’s Fashion. Retrieved from https://religionnews.com/2018/09/21/san-francisco-museum-shows-off-modern-muslim-womens-fashion/

 

 

The Growth of Religion

Throughout the globe, religion seems to be on the rise. Based off of 2015 studies, 84% of the world’s population identify with a religious group (Harriet Sherwood). This growth is due to many factors including geographical and a rise in birth and death rates. Furthermore, for the first time in history Muslims could outnumber Christians, causing a huge shift in the religions that dominate the world (Nadia Whitehead). 

Geographical influences have a big influence on the rise of religious identity throughout the world. Three-fourths of people who are religious live in a country where their religion is the majority of the population However, religious minorities still make up a fourth of the population (Harriet Sherwood). By growing up in a community that has some sort of religious association, more and more people are growing up with an affiliation with religion. 

The rise of birth and death rates within groups of people who affiliate with certain religions also has to do with the climb in religious affiliation. People who identify as having a religious affiliation are younger and more likely to produce more children than those who do not affiliate with any religion. Muslim women have a birthrate of 2.9 children whereas Christian women have a birthrate of 2.6. Christians also have a large share of the world’s death rate at 37% (Harriet Sherwood). These rates contribute to the increase in religion because the majority of people are being born into religiously affiliated households.

The growth of Muslims is credited to the demographics of the population. Experts speculate that the biggest reason for increased growth in Muslim population is the high birthrate among Muslim women. Additionally, the vast majority of Muslims are younger than other religious groups which have older populations. This means that more Muslims are starting up families and producing children more than other religions. Moreover, Christianity is declining in Western Europe. Ireland, for example, saw a fall in Catholicism of almost 6% in the span of five years (Harriet Sherwood). The combination of the decrease in Christianity and the high birth rates of Muslims attributes to the increase in Muslim population worldwide. 

It is predicted that by 2050 (if growth rates continue as they are) the number of Muslims will almost equal the number of Christians in the world. This is not due entirely to the decreasing rate of Christianity, it is more largely due to the fact Christian’s growth rate is not as fast as the growth rate of the Muslim population. However, this is all just based off of current data and is very likely top change throughout the years. Some experts speculate that war, political unrest, famine, natural disasters, and much more could effect this prediction and easily change the growth rates of religions (Nadia Whitehead).

The change in global religious presence suggests a worldwide religious revival where more people are associating themselves with religion and religious ideas. However, this idea causes discomfort because the motives of these demographic changes are unknown, making it unclear whether it is an actual religious revival or just an increase in populations. Perhaps this growth is just due to an increase in assimilation to the dominant religion in the area. Although the motives of increased individuals for identifying with a religion are unknown, it is clear that certain religious groups are beginning to have a larger presence based purely on birth and death rates. Overall, this change demonstrates how religion is continuously shifting and changing throughout the years. 

Works Cited

Sherwood, Harriet. “Religion: Why Faith Is Becoming More and More Popular.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 27 Aug. 2018, www.theguardian.com/news/2018/aug/27/religion-why-is-faith-growing-and-what-happens-next.

Whitehead, Nadia. “A Religious Forecast For 2050: Atheism Is Down, Islam Is Rising.” NPR, NPR, 25 Dec. 2015, www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/12/25/460797744/a-religious-forecast-for-2050-atheism-is-down-islam-is-rising.

Billy Graham Sermons

In Menachem Wecker’s article, “Billy Graham drew less from Old Testament as years went by, new exhibit shows,” Wecker talks of how Graham migrated from the Old testament to the new Testament and possible reasons as to why. However, I look at Graham’s sermons and how, and possibly why, his sermons had such a different voice than the majority of the period. Wecker talks of when there were worries about communists during the Cold War, Graham, “drew upon fire-and-brimstone Old Testament admonishments. As the Red threat dissipated, he sought biblical citations with a softer tone.” (Wecker) The fact that Graham chose passages that had a harsher tone goes against the general feeling throughout the United States at the time. Due the World War II and The Cold War, tensions were high in America, and people used churches as an, “emotional service station to relieve us of our worries: ‘Go to church- you’ll feel better.’” (Herberg 533) Graham obviously did not feel this way. His sermons focused on “getting our act together” or else “the communists are going to come bomb and kill us.” (Wecker) As this threat simmered down, Graham’s sermons focused on God’s love. (Wecker) Graham did not seem to think people needed comfort at such time as the Cold War; instead, he expressed views that showed that he thought the American people should have been shaping up and preparing to fight against the communists and support their country. The tone of his sermons reflected that comforts were for times of peace.

Even though Graham seemed to go against the general feelings of the time, he did have some of the same ideals. These ideas could help to point out why Graham was not on the same page as far as seeking comfort in the church. It is mentioned that Graham speaks of American being in covenant with God in Wecker’s article. A similar idea is expressed by Abraham Heschel, differing in that he says the individual is in covenant with God. Heschel states, “…He is a partner to our act.” (Heschel 439) Graham could have used this idea of a “covenant” to say it is America’s Christian duty to fight communism. In Herberg’s book Protestant-Catholic-Jew, Herberg expresses how God became a “Friendly Neighbor,” man’s “omnipotent servant,” and Christianity was man-centered in America (Herberg 533) Graham admits later in his career that, “…he had identified America too closely with Christianity.” (Wecker) This coincides with what Herberg points out in his book. Thus, this further supports the possibility that Graham stuck with more aggressive sermons and used Christianity to say Americans needed to fight the communists.

 

Works Cited

Heschel, Abraham Joshua, and R. Marie Griffith. “God in Search of Man.” American Religions, Oxford University Press, pp. 434–447.

Herberg, William, and R. Marie Griffith. “Protestant-Catholic-Jew.” American Religions, Oxford University Press, pp. 517–533.

Roberts, Nancy. “Civil Disobedience and Divine Obedience.” Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker, SUNY Press, pp. 139–167.

Wecker, Menachem. “Billy Graham Drew Less from Old Testament as Years Went by, New Exhibit Shows.” Religion News Service, 13 Sept. 2018, religionnews.com/2018/08/14/billy-graham-drew-less-from-old-testament-as-years-went-by-new-exhibit-shows/.

Catholic Cover Ups

We all know the stereotypes surrounding the Catholic church. You know the ones, about scandal within the church, especially around abuse by priests secure in their positions. Unfortunately, priests in Pennsylvania aren’t working to change these ideas.

According to the New York Times article, “Catholic Priests Abused 1,000 Children in Pennsylvania, Report Says”, over a period of 70 years, more than 300 priests abused over 1,000 victims. Investigators claim the church has buried such accusations and knowledge of them in order to keep priests in place, though “there was no cover-up going on,” according to Bishop David A. Zubik of Pittsburgh. Despite the dispute, most believe the church was aware of and tried to hide the abuse.

It’s surprising to the outsider, not only that these crimes and cover ups could occur, but that so many people within the US would still associate themselves with Catholicism in light of such claims.

But it’s not quite as simple as that. Though 23% of American people “declared themselves to be…Catholics” in 1955 according to Will Herberg, and, according to the Wall Street Journal’s “Catholicism in the United States”, still about 25% in 2015 “identify as Roman Catholic”, “some 25 million adults, or a third of all active members, no longer identify with the Catholic church” (McGill). This information supports the idea that people in fact do not wish to associate themselves with the Catholic church and their public image.

Why are people still considering themselves to be Catholic, then?

Well, American culture around religion is to blame. At least, in part. American religion emphasizes a belief in a particular faith as opposed to participation. This comes from the Protestant role in the establishment of the US, especially regarding religion. Protestants tend to emphasize belief and faith above all else, unlike many other religions that focus instead on action and participation – a viewpoint emphasized in Herberg’s writing on religion. In the excerpt, Herberg makes it clear the actions associated with Judaism are most important, not the Protestant, the American, “faith…in faith”. However, with the importance of Protestantism in American history and culture, many have lost the drive to act and physically represent their faith, and instead many Americans prefer to simply believe.

With that it mind, it’s unsurprising that people would still identify as Catholic within the United States, and yet not actively attend a church, or even not identify with it. Especially with the track record of the church, where revelations around abuse have come out as far back as “over a decade ago”, as described in the New York Times article, “It’s Really Hard to Be a Catholic’: The Pain of Reading the Sex Abuse Report“. This, coupled with the fact that “everywhere you look, things seem to be falling apart,” as Faith in Public Life program director John Gehring put it in “‘It’s Really Hard to Be a Catholic’: The Pain of Reading the Sex Abuse Report”, seems to be playing a part in the alienation of people from the Catholic church.

Time will tell how the current allegations – especially with such shocking numbers as the ones out of Pennsylvania – will play a role in church participation, and if it will even extend so far as to impact the number of people who identify as Catholic outside of the church. History indicates, though, that while church affiliation may drop, the number of Catholics in the US will not.

Sources Cited:

Goodstein, Laurie, and Sharon Otterman. “Catholic Priests Abused 1,000 Children in Pennsylvania, Report Says.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 14 Aug. 2018, http://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/14/us/catholic-church-sex-abuse-pennsylvania.html.

Herberg, Will. “Protestant-Catholic-Jew.” American Religions: a Documentary History, by R. Marie Griffith, Oxford University Press, 2007, pp. 517–533.

McGill, Brian. “Catholicism in the United States.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 18 Sept. 2015, graphics.wsj.com/catholics-us/.

Robertson, Campbell, and Sharon Otterman. “’It’s Really Hard to Be a Catholic’: The Pain of Reading the Sex Abuse Report.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 15 Aug. 2018, http://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/15/us/priest-sexual-abuse-catholic-church.html.