Since the beginning of the nineteenth century, and maybe even before then, religious congregations have been struggling to maintain relevance. And although the United States may statistically be a predominantly Christian affiliated nation, there is no national religion. With the emergence of mega churches and television evangelists in the 1970s and 1980s, it may be easy to think that the percentage of religiously affiliated people surely should have gone up since then. But in fact, “if current trends continue, religiously unaffiliated Americans could comprise as large a percentage of the population as Protestant … as recently as 1993, a majority of Americans (51%) identified as Protestant, but that percentage dropped to 32 percent by 2014” (Jones, 51).
In 20 years, protestant affiliation dropped by almost 20 percent. I believe that this decline is related to the religious connections to certain political trends and stances on civil rights.
The concept of ‘separation of church and state’ seems so prominent in American culture and is consistently brought up in the media when discussing religion. However, citizens of the United States have not elected and probably will never (in the foreseeable future) elect a president with no Christian affiliation. The idea of morals and how they tie back to religion is the primary excuse for electing a religious candidate. Protestants, and frankly the majority of voters in this country, seem to think that if a candidate is religious, they must have what is best for the country in mind.
But it is not just any Christian affiliated religion that is wanted; it is specifically Protestant aligned Christianity. See John F. Kennedy, a Catholic; Norman Vincent Peale, a Protestant leader said, “It is inconceivable that a Roman Catholic president would not be under extreme pressure by the hierarchy of his church to accede to its policies with respect to foreign interests Kennedy had to assure the voters that he: … believe(s) in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute, where no Catholic prelate would tell the president how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote; where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference; and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the president who might appoint him or the people who might elect him (Kennedy).
Despite this speech, many people still weren’t convinced. “No matter what Kennedy might say, he cannot separate himself from the Church if he is a true Catholic,” said Ramsey Pollard, president of the Southern Baptist Convention. However, no one was this concerned if a Protestant aligned president could do his job. This obsession with religion, specifically Protestantism, in politics has caused many younger people to question whether or not that is ethical. If the United States really stands by the separation of church and state, why are people so worried about their president’s religion? Fewer and fewer people in the past two decades are identifying as religious.
The toxicity around religion in politics has caused many people to leave religion out of who they vote for. A relevant example of religion declining even in the political realm is the 2016 election. Donald Trump himself isn’t an overtly religious person (although he aligns himself with Presbyterianism), however, since his followers primarily identify as Christian (mainly white evangelical Protestantism), he coordinates his rhetoric to fit their ‘agenda.’ Many of his followers have begun to blur the line between Christianity and civil religion; aligning their beliefs in Christianity with their incredible patriotism. In the span of the years since Trump has taken the presidency, many Christians have not wanted to identify as such due to the bad reception of the behavior and attitude of the Christians who support Trump.
When it comes to civil rights, Many religious people use their religion as an excuse to discriminate against others. Jones mentions the song “Same Love” by Macklemore, and how it “was an indictment of religion using its own principles and symbols” (Jones, 113). Christians against same-sex marriage and other civil rights issues often cite the Bible, specifically the book of Genesis and the story about Sodom and Gomorrah. These stories are traditionally associated with homosexual acts.
These Christians will use these stories to excuse their discrimination against sexual minorities. However, those who are pro-same-sex marriage, etc. also use these same stories to prove their side of the debate. They believe the people living in Sodom and Gomorrah perished due to their lack of hospitality, not their supposed homosexuality. Even politicians used civil rights to gather more followers to support their campaign. As seen in Bob Dole’s campaign against Bill Clinton, Dole rallies his crowd by smearing Clinton’s views on gay rights and women’s rights, relying on the fact that most of his followers were white evangelical Protestants. This debate will certainly never end, and because of this, it is creating an ever-widening divide between both sides.
Even as churches are becoming more accepting, this could also be a way of trying to bring in more congregants due to already declining attendance. This negative attitude toward sexual minorities, and sometimes minorities, in general, has caused many young Americans to distance themselves from Christianity.
It can be said that American culture has grown and changed greatly since the 1950s for the better. Many Americans would agree with this sentiment. “Roughly six in ten (59 percent) say… that American culture has changed for the better… religiously unaffiliated Americans also say American culture and way of life has changed for the better… as do African American Protestants (55 percent)” (Jones,87). What is interesting is that the majority of Democrats and Christian minorities agree that The United States has mostly changed for the better, but on the other side, Republicans and the white Christians believe the opposite. “More than seven in ten (72 percent) white evangelical Protestants and nearly six in ten (58 percent) white mainline Protestants say that American culture and way of life has changed for the worse since the 1950s.
Roughly six in ten white Catholics (58 percent) agree…” (Jones, 87). What I see when I read these statistics is that White Christians view the increasing progression for the equal rights of everyone has caused a decline in American culture. While that may not be the truth, I can’t help but think that those who think American culture has changed for the worse only think that because they think their rights are supposed to be theirs and theirs only, as straight white Christian Americans, and those who do not fit that label need not apply. Regardless, the great divide between the two sides is growing and the rate of decline in religiously affiliated people can be attributed to the attachment of Christianity to American politics, and the treatment of minorities by the (mainly) Christian left.
