NEWSWEEK Cover: The Decline and Fall of Christian America
In the April 13 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands April 6), "The Decline and Fall of Christian America," Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham writes that America today has moved into a "post-Christian" phase. Plus: how GM crushed Saturn; the fall of Russia's richest man; Fareed Zakaria on how to achieve energy independence; a profile of Senator Arlen Specter; how puppy mills may benefit from Obama dog choice; and what makes a gay icon. (PRNewsFoto/NEWSWEEK)
NEW YORK, NY UNITED STATES
America Has Moved Into A "Post-Christian" Phase
"[God] Is Less Of A Force In American Politics And Culture Than At Any Other Time In Recent Memory"
NEW YORK, April 5 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new Newsweek Poll, fewer people now think of the United States as a "Christian nation" than did so when George W. Bush was president. Two thirds of the public now say religion is "losing influence" in American society, and the proportion of Americans who think religion "can answer all or most of today's problems" is now at a historic low of 48 percent. Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham explores this issue in the April 13 cover, "The Decline and Fall of Christian America" (on newsstands Monday, April 6). According to the American Religious Identification Survey, the percentage of self-identified Christians has fallen 10 percent since 1990, from 86 to 76 percent. Meacham writes that these figures show that America has not only become less Christian, but moved into a "post-Christian" phase. "This is not to say that the Christian God is dead," he writes, "but that he is less of a force in American politics and culture than at any other time in recent memory."
Not only has the number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation nearly doubled since 1990, the Northeast, formerly the "home base" of American religion, has emerged in 2008 as the new stronghold of the religiously unidentified. In addition, many conservative Christians believe they have lost the battles over issues such as abortion, school prayer and even same-sex marriage, and that the country has now entered a post-Christian phase. "A remarkable culture-shift has taken place around us," R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theology Seminary tells Newsweek. "The most basic contours of American culture have been radically altered. The so-called Judeo-Christian consensus of the last millennium has given way to a post-modern, post-Christian, post-Western cultural crisis which threatens the very heart of our culture." What was once the cradle of American civilization may be the cradle of "America's secular future."
"Judging from the broad shape of American life in the first decade of the 21st century, we value individual freedom, free (or largely free) enterprise and tend to lean toward libertarianism on issues of personal morality," Meacham writes. "The foundational documents are the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, not the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament."
According to R. Albert Mohler Jr., the post-Christian narrative offers spirituality without binding authority. "It is based on an understanding of history that presumes a less tolerant past and a more tolerant future, with the present as an important transitional step." The present, in this sense, is less about the death of God and more about the birth of many gods. According to the new Newsweek Poll, 30 percent describe themselves as "spiritual" rather than "religious."
Evangelical Christians have long believed that the United States should be a nation whose political life is based upon and governed by their interpretation of biblical and theological principles. While we remain a nation decisively shaped by religious faith, our politics and our culture are, in the main, less influenced by movements and arguments of an explicitly Christian character than they were even five years ago," Meacham writes. "The decline and fall of the modern religious right's notion of a Christian America creates a calmer political environment and, for many believers, may help open the way for a more theologically serious religious life."
