23AR28-14

( - previous issue - / - next issue - )

pdf = www.bit.ly/40yfbTm

AR 28:14 - The secularization of America is not an "open question"

In this issue:

SECULARISM - general declines "in religion in areas that have traditionally been home to many different faiths"

WOKEISM - "Equity = Disrupt and Dismantle" vs. hope in Christ bringing repentance

Apologia Report 28:14 (1,611)
April 25, 2023

SECULARISM

"3 big numbers that tell the story of secularization in America" by Phil Zuckerman (Professor of Sociology and Secular Studies, Pitzer College) -- Zuckerman finds that "when it comes to three key realms of religious life - belief, behavior and belonging - all are lower than they have ever been in American history.

   "What's going on? In my view, it's clear: secularization. ...

   "Secularization is the process whereby religiosity weakens or fades in society." His opening line: "About six months ago, Americans' belief in God hit an all-time low." This is soon followed by "According to a 2022 Gallup survey, <www.bit.ly/40B5F1R> the percentage of people who believe in God has dropped from 98% in the 1950s to 81% today; among Americans under 30, it is down to an unprecedented 68%.

   "Up close, the trend looks even more dramatic. Only about half of Americans believe in 'God as described in the Bible,' while about a quarter believe in a 'higher power or spiritual force,' according to a Pew poll. <www.bit.ly/3H729VR> Just one-third of Generation Z say they believe in God without a doubt.

   "Congregational membership, too, is at an all-time low. In 2021 Gallup found that, for the first time ever, fewer than half of Americans - 47% - were members of a church, synagogue or mosque. <www.bit.ly/3Nb0nXB>

   Also from the Gallup 2022 report mentioned above: "Yet another crucial measure of institutional religion in the U.S., the percentage of people identifying as religious, is also at a low: About 1 in 5 adults now say they have no religious affiliation, up from 1 in 50 in 1960." [That's a jump from two percent to 20 percent, *if true*.]

   "Organized religion loses its overarching public power. Welfare of the poor and sick, for example, is *no longer* overseen by religious orders, but is largely the responsibility of state bureaucracies. ... [emphasis ours]

   "Fewer people believe in supernatural claims, attend worship services or follow religious teachings. For instance, more and more Americans are choosing to get married in secular settings, and record low numbers are wanting to have religious funerals. ...

   "Secularization in industrializing societies had been anticipated by many European thinkers in the 19th century, including the likes of Emile Durkheim and Max Weber, two of the founders of sociology. ...

   "The most notable critic of secularization was sociologist Rodney Stark, who, in the 1980s, insisted that secularization theory was a sham. ...

   "As recently as 2015, Stark wrote that religion in the U.S. has actually strengthened, arguing that Americans simply aren't responding to pollsters much anymore, and therefore results were unreliable. He also noted that only a small slice of people identify as atheists: fewer than 5% in most nations." <www,bit.ly/3HyWkkD<

   Zuckerman, together with religion and secularism scholars Isabella Kasselstrand, and Ryan Cragun, <www.bit.ly/3QCr7Cm> "argue that religious faith, participation and identification are unambiguously weaker than they have ever been" in their 2023 book, Beyond Doubt. <www.bit.ly/3owyQG9>

   "Our book lays out data on declines in religion in areas that have traditionally been home to many different faiths. ...

   "In our analysis, the transition from a traditional, rural, nonindustrial society to an urban, industrial or post-industrial society is a key part of the answer - along the lines of the first sociologists' predictions. ...

   "In nearly every society that we examined that has experienced these concomitant phenomena, secularization has occurred - often in spades."

   Zuckerman concludes: "Beyond the more universal factors, other developments that have been detrimental to religion include a strong reaction against the political power of the religious right, and anger at the Catholic Church's child sex abuse scandal.

   "The consequences of religion's weakening are unclear. But while its meaning for America remains an open question, whether secularization is happening is not." The Conversation, Feb 17 '23, <www.bit.ly/3MZBEpa>

   Publisher's Weekly (Feb 13 '23) finds: "The authors examine the rise of secularization in this edifying entry [and] predict secularism will continue to rise, and while they don't anticipate religion's extinction, it will 'become less prevalent... and taken-for-granted.'"

 ---

WOKEISM

The authors in the above item found the consequences of religion's weakening "unclear." We think the example below is pretty clear. It also emphasizes the value of a basic and often-overlooked rule in worldview comparison - the need of anticipating differences in the meaning of common terms. This comes from "Equity: A Translation from the Wokish," an entry from cultural critic James A. Lindsay's free, online <www.bit.ly/43MVWbB> Plain-Language Encyclopedia of Social Justice Terminology (New Discourses, 2023).

   Lindsay notes: "Because of the blank-slatism and simplistic ideas of power and identity found within Critical Social Justice worldviews, all imbalances of representation in desirable areas of work are held to be caused by [their] perceived power dynamics. Equity is the intended remedy to this problem, and it is made applicable only (and especially) to positions of status and influence. For example, there is no equity program that attempts to increase the number of female sanitation workers, though there are equity programs that seek to increase the number of female doctors and politicians, and these endure even in high-status positions that employ more women than men. Of particular concern are positions that have influence where power is concerned, including in terms of shaping the discourses of society.

   "For this same reason, the measurement for equity is wholly on assessing the most superficial aspects of outcomes and then ascribing any differences from either demographic parity or parity adjusted upward to 'correct' for historical exclusion to systemic bigotry. ...

   "Where equality would imply not being particularly concerned with the demography of people filling certain roles, equity is centrally concerned with this. ... 

   "This itself can be considered problematic, however, and often seeks overrepresentation by members of smaller minority/minoritized groups (e.g., trans identities).

   "Moreover, equity, importantly, is often to be assessed historically, not merely in the present moment. ... Thus, we can understand quips like Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's when she said that the proof of equality would be that there are nine women on the Supreme Court of the United States (that is, the entire court is female). ... That is, equity is not merely about 'making up for injustices' but also often about 'making up for past injustices.'

   "Equity is often sought under a combined suite of 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' (DEI) or sometimes 'justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion' (JEDI), and as such, these terms have become major buzzwords in most professional sectors, particularly including education. Often, however, Theorists and activists remark that equity may not be enough, because it is, in some sense, incrementalist in orientation, and therefore that revolution (of the system) might be advocated instead. This is, in fact, the underlying objective of the critical approach—social revolution according to the terms of Critical Social Justice Theory....

   "When equity programs do not meet their intended goals, the 'resistance' by privileged people (especially whites) is typically blamed (see also, white fragility). The program itself isn't allowed to be a failure. This 'resistance' is often easy to find 'proof' of because equity programs deliberately stack the deck in favor of certain identity groups and occasionally explicitly attempt to reduce the numbers of others (famously, Asian students at Ivy League universities like Harvard)....

   "In early 2020, and rather shockingly, in the Washington state legislature, an 'Equity Task Force' was assembled that offered the following definition for equity: 'Equity = Disrupt and Dismantle,' which is to say an explicit call for a systemic revolution. (NB: The Task Force was assembled even after the state voted against Affirmative Action.)" <www.bit.ly/3otpwTp>

More to the point, regarding "consequences of religion's weakening," the comic reply, "What could go wrong?" comes to mind with this startling review of our culture's DEI phenomenon. In "The Sudden Dominance of the Diversity Industrial Complex," Thomas Hackett (Real Clear Investigations, Feb 14 '23) quotes Marti Gurri, a former CIA analyst who studies media and politics. Gurri writes: "In the scope and rapidity of institutional embrace, nothing like it has transpired since the conversion of Constantine."

   Hackett observes: "Yet in our time, no Roman Emperor has demanded a complete cultural transformation. No law was passed mandating DEI enactment. No federal court ruling has required its implementation. There was no clarion call on the order of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's 'military industrial complex' warning. No genuine public crisis matched the scale of the response."

   Hackett's article is lengthy. Some important selections include: "Two decades ago, MIT professor Thomas Kochan estimated that diversity was already an $8 billion-a-year industry." And, "Little more than a decade ago, DEI was just another arcane acronym, a clustering of three ideas, each to be weighed and evaluated against other societal values. The terms diversity, equity, and inclusion weren't yet being used in the singular, as one all-inclusive, non-negotiable moral imperative. Nor had they coalesced into a bureaucratic juggernaut running roughshod over every aspect of national life."

   More recently, Robert Sellers, University of Michigan's first chief diversity officer, said (in 2020): "Five years ago, if you said DEI was a core value of this institution, you would have an argument." <www.bit.ly/3HbCeN8> Sellers put it as we did above: "Although no hard numbers exist on the exact size of the industry, the 'DEIfication' of America' is clear." {How darkly appropriate.]

   "The industry's reach can also be seen in the many Orwellian examples of exclusion in the name of inclusion, of reprisals in the name of tolerance. ...

   "Often enough, the inquisitions have turned into public relations debacles for major institutions. But despite the intense criticism and public chagrin, the movement marches on."

   We encourage you to read the original here <www.bit.ly/3AhGner> for yourself. As in the past, this new emperor, has no clothes. 

   Pray with us for a common-sense and spiritual awakening to this corruption ... and may we all cry out in consequent global repentance.

( - previous issue - / - next issue - )