Christian Smith’s new book is a broad study of the decline and obsolescence of “Traditional Religion” (for Smith this is predominantly white Christian denominations) in America.
Terms & Times:
Obsolete: Smith defines obsolescence as “No longer
useful because something else has superseded it in function, efficiency, value,
or interest.” His primary example of the subjective feel of obsolescence is the
Western as a movie genre. It peaked in the 1970s and then all but disappeared. It is
now a passe, outmoded, and worn-out genre.
Pivotal Period: Smith keys in on the 18 years between
1991-2009 as the time period that shaped Traditional American Faith irreparably.
Zeitgeist: The overall vibes of an era.
Neoliberalism: “Utilitarian individualism.” “Greed is
good.” Free markets, small government, viewing humans as merely workers and
consumers.
The Times
The
time period Smith focuses on is from the end of the Cold War to the “end” of
the War on Terror, so ’91-2009. Smith describes this period as encompassing the
exhilarating boundary-breaking 90s and the depressing gloom of the 2000s. In
the 90s the Church responded to boundary-breaking with calls for repression,
and in the aughts' gloom with a happy clappy positivity. The best example of
this he uses is comparing grunge music, particularly the song “Smells like Teen
Spirit” to Contemporary Christian Music. In short, the vibes were wrong, and
that hamstrung the church greatly.
The Vibes
Smith
describes the Millennial Generation’s Zeitgeist as, “Immanent, Individualistic,
Anti-institutional, Presentist, Relativist, Distrustful, Subjective,
Anti-authority, Multicultural, Minimalist, Transgressive, Pornographic, Jaded,
Consumerist, Entertained, and Re-enchanted.” All of which made Christianity
less compelling.
Behind
many of these “vibes” and stalking the whole era, was the upsurge and ascension
of neoliberalism. “The neoliberal conception is simply not compatible with
those of American traditional religions (which believe) humans are divinely
dependent and socially interdependent creatures who inhabit a morally
significant universe in which they are on a quest to realize, with divine aid,
their spiritually and morally higher selves, the aim of which is to enjoy
flourishing lives in communities of peace and love that reside under the
governing care and judgement of God.” Instead the human is to be an “efficient
producer, rational exchanger, and desiring consumer.”
If all
that sounds a little obtuse or abstract, consider how Traditional American
Religion deals with stress: “Quiet prayer, contemplation, worship, centering,
reading, meditation, singing, connecting with other humans, volunteering,
sharing a meal… doesn’t really make anyone money.” Neoliberalism responds
instead with, “shopping for and buying new products.” Instead of citizens or members
of a particular denomination, neoliberalism demands only that we are consumers.
Particular
Moving
from the big picture forces that constrained and are suffocating traditional
religion, what did that look like at a more granular level?
-A new National Identity & Religious Violence
The
enemy during the Cold War was Atheistic Communists, so Americans defined themselves, at least nominally, as Religious Capitalists. Without an atheist enemy, there
was less reason to identify as religious. Likewise, after 9/11 religious extremists
became the enemy, so being anti-religious was a way to be a good American. Religion became linked to violence in a way it hadn't been directly connected in the Cold War era.
-The Religious Right & Televangelism
After
Jimmy Carter’s presidency Evangelicals embrace the right wing of America, and got in a weird feedback loop in which they begin to mirror the worst aspects of the
GOP, and also encouraged those worst tendencies. Additionally, there was a two decade
long period of high profile religious scandals, religious leaders using their authority
to satiate their lust, greed, and wrath.
-Mainline success & schism
On the other end of the spectrum, Smith points to the Mainline/liberal theological tradition winning the culture war and finding it all somewhat hollow. Their emphasis on: individualism, pluralism, emancipation, tolerance, free critical inquiry, and experience as a source of religious knowledge, was sucked into the Millennial Zeitgeist/Neoliberal soup and was made redundant. Additionally, mainline denominations had decade long fights over abortion and same sex marriage, which left these denominations split and confused.
-Postmodernism & Multiculturalism
Suspicion
of any grand idea, critiques of any thought system as simply an internal linguistic
game, and hyper-tolerance have all made proclamation of the Gospel trickier.
-Intensive Parenting, Emerging Adulthood & Power Hording
Boomers
One of
the consequences of neoliberalism turning humans into worker/consumers is a constant need to
achieve and compete, a skills race that starts incredibly young. No longer
can parents let kids be kids, kids need to be developing skills to compete for jobs
on a global scale. This means kids have activities 24/7, which crowds out
non-competitive activities like church.
Many more competitive skills require
a Bachelors or even Masters level degree for just an entry level position. That
means a whole new life-period has developed, “Emerging Adulthood” a 5-10 year
period where young adults are adult and not—universities and trade schools step
into the role of parents while young people continue to be trained. This is a very unstable
time of life. The church doesn’t know what to do with these young adults, and
they will likely move to a new city or 3 before they settle down, so the church
gives up on them and they return the favor.
Finally, and perhaps as a
consequence of the disappearing young adults, Baby Boomers have held onto power
way longer than was normal in the church. So long, in fact, that they have sort
of calcified in place. Now even when younger generations of church folk come
along wanting to take the reins, the Baby Boomers refuse.
-Spirituality and the Occult
One
of the more fascinating parts of this study was the number of post-Boomers who
are “Spiritual but not Religious” or even “Occult.” There is a very eclectic
sense of the Divine out there. Everything from UFO-focused folks to Bookstore Buddhists
to people convinced that werewolves and vampires walk among us. For example,
25% of millennials surveyed believed in werewolves. (I’m not surprised by this,
as I’ve written before I’ve met people who sincerely believe St. Paul was a
werewolf).
Trapped?
All of
these factors, Smith says, have put the Church in quite a bind, and forced us into
any number of no-win situations. We regularly must choose between being milquetoast
or narrow-minded, self-degrading or arrogant, archaic or non-distinctive, empty
of meaning or exclusivistic, outdated or pandering. Do we spend our time engaging
with scientific modernism or engage with postmodernism? If we embrace internet
culture we’ll be seen as too anonymous but if we focus on in person events we
will be seen as too demanding. The Church can not win.
For
that matter, the loss of Traditional Religion is having damaging consequences
for society writ large. Smith points to isolation, a loss of social capital and
trust, degradation of mental and emotional health, and spiraling social support.
And
yet, I’m hopeful. While Smith cites James Baldwin’s famous “Not everything that
is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced” quote as
a call to the Church to finally take a look around, and as much as this
book may send some shockwaves or large ripples on the pond… those of us who’ve
been paying attention already are out beyond this data and analysis. For
post-Boomer clergy this isn’t new information, this is the water in which we
live.
I’ve been writing about religious violence
since my undergraduate degree more than TWENTY YEARS ago, preaching
regularly on it for at least a decade. I literally get kids and adults to play
with Legos to talk about post-modernity. My 15
wise people, and 4Ds
engage with the vast majority of these dynamics Smith brings up. We post-Boomer
clergy have been facing these changes for our whole ministry, in fact, this is what we signed up for.
We can do no other.
But
what do we do?
Okay, it’s all well and good to thump
my Millennial chest about all that, but what ought we be doing?
-Clergy. Live beyond reproach. I know, it’s a silly
phrase connecting to our ordination, but seriously, we must never gratify our
personal desires with the office we hold. We’ve seen what happens if we fail—decades
of slaughtered souls.
-Look to Judaism & The Black Church. One of Smith’s
asides is that Judaism retained post-Boomers by committing real funds on
programs that were intentionally focused on passing the faith on to the next
generation. Likewise, the Black Church has retained younger people by having
many role models who lived their faith in a compelling way that Smith describes
as, “religion done right.”
-We are still “restless until they rest in him.” If nothing else, the eclectic re-enchantment of
America, fuzzy werewolves and all, suggests that people are still hungry for faith,
for meaning, for something beyond the box of a 9-5 neoliberal existence.
-The Ache and the Need. It is worth naming that
hunger—people still ache for God. When God’s goodness is named, when grace and generosity,
faith and hope, are pointed to, it is still compelling. People are still
willing to say, “Wouldn’t that be nice, good even, if it was true.” And that’s enough of a
witness. For that matter, all the good social/cultural stuff the Church does—food
banks and filling the banks of loneliness by offering community—that’s maybe enough.
Together, the need and the ache—I think that’s more than enough for the Gospel to sprout anew.
