Quote:
Originally Posted by simplicitus
The impetus with evangelicals these days seems to be more liberal/spirit of jesus than law and order. Like you can have more or less the exact same religion, and the associated politics, justified with appeals to that religion, can go 180 degrees in three generations. There is a lot to infer from that relationship, but one of the thigns is that people really hate close, careful study of texts (except jews).
Underlying the Southern Baptist problem is like a 15 year slide in membership/attendance. They're not alone, either; it's manifest in a lot of organized Christian religions in America. Church attendance, membership and activity is in a long-standing decline.
I say this in a value-neutral way; despite claims to being eternal, what's obviously happening is that they're trying to
evolve.
I think the thing we have to recognize or reconcile is that contrary to what we might think, what liberals might want to believe -- that right-wingers alienated people out of church -- I don't think we can claim the attendees who are leaving were necessarily turned off by the infection of right-wing proselytizing; nor is it that the people turning away form the church have all become liberal and hipsters. There may be some of that among younger groups. I think that what's ultimately worrying is the church is being replaced with nothing. They're not turning to modern liberal churches, or investing their time in civic life, or their professions and careers, their towns, or their families. Some are probably turning to more strident, reactionary right-winger ideologies than the church was offering.