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25 June 2011
Ranked a Bigger Threat to Christianity Than Islam
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released a new survey this month of over 4,000 evangelical Christian leaders who had attended an annual evangelical Christian world Congress in South Africa in late 2010.
The survey, intended to identify and rank the biggest perceived threats to Christianity and the world at large by the group, showed that over 70% of attendees believed that secularism was the biggest threat; with over 90% of those from North America (and 92% from the United States) believing so.
In comparison, Islam ranked much lower, with only 47% of attendees ranking it as a major threat. After the influence of secularism, participants ranked too much emphasis on consumerism and material goods, and sex and violence in popular culture as larger threats to Christianity and the world than Islam.
Why would evangelical leaders be so concerned about secularism?
Evangelical and other Christian leaders regularly phrase this threat as “they want to wipe out Christianity”. One might think from such over-the-top characterization that secularists are on the rampage in America and elsewhere, passing laws banning religious expression, threatening local churches and churchgoers, and shoving reason and the scientific method down every religionist’s throat.
But that’s clearly not the case. The United States is one of the most religious countries in the world by most any standard. Over 70% of Americans declare themselves to be religious (admittedly, this is down from 98% in the 1960s, but still a dominant majority); and religious advocates not only have regular access to congressional and legislative leaders, but they themselves have had regular representation in Congress and state legislatures since the earliest days of the Republic – not to mention several of their own elected to the office of President. Billions of dollars are raised in the United States each year by religious institutions who are able to do so without any taxation, but even without any reporting to government authorities of the amounts collected and spent. Billions of dollars, too, are spent by the US military to sustain an immense chaplaincy program that too often is found proselytizing not only to US soldiers but to local communities in war zones where the US is operating.
In contrast, less than 20% of Americans consider themselves non-religious, and only a fraction of those belong to the organized freethought community. This entire community raises less than 5 million dollars per year at most – only a pittance compared to the monies raised by the religious community. Of the thousands of legislators at the federal and state level, only one has felt free to self-identify as non-religious – and even he is a member of a religious community. It is only in the past three years that any administration representative has ever met with anyone from the secularist community; and to-date, no member of Congress has ever introduced any legislation that served to directly benefit or even protect the nontheist community.
So on the surface, the idea of secularism being a threat to evangelical Christianity by the size of its clout is rather ludicrous. In fact, there is far more evidence of evangelical Christianity having the ability, the clout, and the desire to suppress and “wipe out” secularism than the reverse.
Could it be, then, that the threat that evangelical Christians see is one of persuasion? That their faith simply doesn’t stand up to the arguments and evidence presented by the secularists?
Prominent atheists like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens regularly point out that the arguments used to poke holes in the world’s great religions have remained as solid and unchallenged since they were first raised thousands of years ago; and that religious apologists and their clients (gods) have yet to effectively refute any of them. Instead, they simply raise a loud din of feigned offense and launch ad-hominem attacks at those who offer the arguments until observers are distracted enough to forget the original critiques.
But that can only go on so long. In this age of instant communication and the internet, the truths of religion are easier to access than ever, and more and more of the public are recognizing the frauds and choosing to withdraw their allegiance to any religious faith or leader.
Perhaps this is why the world evangelicals see secularism as their biggest threat – to their power base, to their survival, to their ability to bedazzle the masses with their stories of love and comfort.
We can only hope that they’re right.
