In a recent
rebroadcast of an interview between journalist Krista Tippett and poet Christian
Wiman on Tippett’s OnBeing program on NPR radio, Wiman made a comment that
really called me up short. “I
think that God calls some people to unbelief so that faith can take new
forms.” He and Tippett were discussing
Wiman’s own journey from a childhood faith, through a period of
agnosticism/atheism and a return in his late 30s to a Christian religious
faith. But the idea that God calls
some people to unbelief so that the faith of believers may take new forms got
me thinking!!
The “beliefs”
and “faith” of an increasingly large group of the American population, those
dubbed the “nones” meaning people who claim no religious affiliation and/or who
consider themselves atheist/agnostic or spiritual-but-not-religious (SBNR),
have been the subject of lively conversation recently as the Pew Forum released
its most recent study of religious life in America in which the statistics show
that fully 20% of the American population today falls into the category of “no
religious affiliation” or “none.”
Among those under age 30 the percentage is even higher – fully 30% of
that age group. Christian churches,
both mainline and Evangelical, are struggling to make sense of this data and
trying to figure out what it means for their very existence, as church
participation continues its precipitous decline. The Pew Forum research shows that of those “nones”, fully
88% of them are not even seeking to affiliate with an established religious
denomination or religion. Certainly
in the Christian context, for those who seek to know what it will take to “grow
the church” these statistics are not encouraging.
While
participation in established religious traditions and their rituals is on the
decline the statistics also suggest that the American public is not
uninterested in the issues and concerns that have typically been dubbed the
purview of religion. Issues of
human purpose, existential questions about meaning, about suffering, about the
quest for emotional, spiritual and physical wholeness and healing, about the
role and place of humans in the universe, are burning questions for lots of
people. The sad truth is many of
them have not found traditional religious communities to be places where such
questions are deeply considered.
They have often found that their own quest for understanding and
exploration of those Big Questions is not affirmed in traditional religious
settings either. Among the nones
fully 70% think religious groups are too concerned with money and power and 67%
say they are too focused on rules.
The other fascinating
finding in this study is that among the nones there is a significant percentage
of folks who pray regularly and engage in other spiritual practices, such as
meditation, yoga, spiritual reading and other traditionally spiritual
practices. The nones do not
categorically eschew religious rituals or practices. Indeed, they recognize and yearn for such rituals, but
again, do not find the traditional places of religious worship meeting their
particular needs for such rituals in their own lives.
In the world of
interreligious dialogue, the nones have been seeking a place at the table for a
number of years. Atheist/agnostic/
SBNR groups have been actively a part of interreligious conferences, including
the Council for the Parliament of the World’s Religions in 2009. Colleges are beginning to discover that
Secular Student Alliances and Atheist/Agnostic groups seek to be part of
college chaplaincy activities, with Harvard University going so far as appointing
an Atheist/Humanist chaplain. The
voices of the nones are being heard at interfaith dialogue tables and their
presence is to be applauded because they are not afraid to ask the hard
questions and to push the affiliated participants to deep thinking and clear
articulation of their long held religious beliefs and assumptions. Indeed, in Krista Tippett’s interview
with Christian Wiman, Wiman recalled that Dietrich Bonhoeffer once commented
that he enjoyed engaging in dialogue with atheists because of the questions
they ask of religion.
Religious people
have a tendency, if they invite the nones to the dialogue table, to think of
themselves as the purveyors of wisdom to these unaffiliated persons. Secretly,
many religious people also hope to convince the nones that their religious
tradition does have something valuable to offer and hope to see those folks
join a religious tradition. I
think its time we in the religious traditions look to the nones as sources of
wisdom in their own right, and engage in dialogue with them, not in the hopes
of winning them over to religion, or back to religion, but in order that our
faith might take new and invigorating forms.
Perhaps the
increased presence of the nones in our culture and their willingness to engage
in dialogue with us is God’s way of moving us towards new and revitalized forms
of faith. Perhaps their
willingness to engage our secular culture without trying to demonize it is an
invitation to all of us within religious traditions to embrace our culture,
including literature, the humanities, science, the social sciences, psychology
and other disciplines, not to mention the arts and even popular culture, in new
ways and with enthusiasm for how those voices may contribute to new forms of
professing and living our faith. Perhaps the challenges that the nones lob at
people of religious faith can become opportunities for us to dig deeper into
our religious traditions to develop thoughtful and nuanced responses that take
seriously the challenges raised by those with no commitment to a particular
tradition. Douglas John
Hall, Reformed theologian from Canada, speaking about the struggles in
contemporary Protestant contexts says it well:
[T]he gift of a
future will have to be met by a new, cheerful, and disciplined readiness on the
part of Christian individuals, congregations, and “churches” to take
responsibility for its implementation.
That is, the church will have to become the ‘disciple community’ all
over again, and in great earnestness.
And for churches in the United States and
Canada, it seems to me, that means one thing in particular: they will have to
seek to deepen. And they will only
deepen if they are ready to become communities of theological struggle, contemplation and dialogue. …Thought is of the essence of the cross
that North American Christians today are called to pick up and carry![1]
The call to
deepen the discussion and engage in thoughtful dialogue sounds clearly from the
nones and is a call that we who profess religious faith should take seriously. Interreligious
dialogue must include the voices of the nones/SBNR/atheist/agnostic thinkers
for the sake of the religious people at the table. The rise of the nones on the American religious landscape
may be just the catalyst many of our communities need to develop new and
creative forms of faith.
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