Christianity’s increasing identification with conservative politics is a turnoff to young adults
Joel of Unsettled Christianity alerts us to an interesting piece in the LA Times which charts rapidly increasing numbers of young people rejecting organised religion and cites the reason for this:
So, why this sudden jump in youthful disaffection from organized religion? The surprising answer, according to a mounting body of evidence, is politics. Very few of these new “nones” actually call themselves atheists, and many have rather conventional beliefs about God and theology. But they have been alienated from organized religion by its increasingly conservative politics.
This is potentially significant for us here in the UK as I believe we are witnessing a rise in US style Christian politicking in some quarters of the conservative Christian wing. I’ll name no names but you know who they are.
Interestingly, Dr Jim West repudiates this theory and – in his typically forthright style – lays the blame elsewhere.
Tags: Christianity, Church Life, Politics
October 24th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
I seem to remember Larry Norman, no less, saying that if you didn’t vote left wing when you were young you hadn’t got a soul and if you didn’t vote right wing when you were older you hadn’t got a brain.
Certainly I recall when Labour lost to the Tories in 1970 being devastated that anyone would vote Conservative. And look at me now!
October 24th, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Hi John, I really enjoyed your recent post on climate change and was going to ask to cross-post it and then completely forgot…
October 24th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
Many of us have travelled that route, John – it’s called ‘growing up’!
October 24th, 2010 at 5:53 pm
Supporters of the far right in America often describe themselves as Christian but if they didn’t make this claim I’d never recognise them as Christians. They don’t act like Christians, and they’re certainly no credit to their faith.
It’s encouraging to read that the young are walking away from this repellent witches brew of greed, prurience and guns.
October 24th, 2010 at 9:23 pm
John,
The quote has its origins in 18th Century France. The original was as follows:
“Not to be a republican at twenty is proof of want of heart;
to be one at thirty is proof of want of head.”
-Francois Guisot (1787-1874)
It was revived by French Premier Georges
Clemenceau (1841-1929): “Not to be a socialist at twenty is proof of
want of heart; to be one at thirty is proof of want of head.”
Variations have since been attributed to Churchill and many others.
I think we all get more conservative (with a small “c”) when we get older – but I don’t think it was originally an exhortation to “vote right wing”.
October 25th, 2010 at 1:55 am
@ Jim: I think we become less open to risk and adventure as we age, and more aware of our vulnerability. This affects us in many ways, not all beneficial.
Although it’s probably a good thing we’re not as physically daring at 80 as we are at 18, it’s important to acknowledge the larger part fear plays in our decision-making as time goes by. Too many older people seem to take up positions – whether politically or otherwise – that represent underlying fears. There’s a balance to be reached – I guess it comes down to analysing whether our changing views represent true growth or just the anxious withdrawal that characterises the classic fuddy duddy.
October 25th, 2010 at 9:55 am
Here in the UK the problem is the opposite. I was looking through issues of Buzz from the 80′s — the number of left-wing policies being presented as Christian is in retrospect remarkable.
October 25th, 2010 at 11:33 am
@Jill:
“Many of us have travelled that route, John – it’s called ‘growing up’!”
Or just growing ruder.
October 25th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
@ Roger Pearse: Sorry, it seems to be our day for disagreeing! You write “the number of left-wing policies being presented as Christian is in retrospect remarkable.”
It’s only amazing there aren’t more of them. Liberal socialism – the idea of the caring society – is, with all its flaws, far closer to the teachings of Christ than most other positions.
This is not directed at you, Roger, but it never fails to astonish me to hear relentless condemnation of homosexuals by smug Christians who simultaneously wholly ignore the very powerful condemnation Jesus expressed of what I would call the right-wing agenda.
The religious right obsess about sexual morality when Jesus’s only direct comment on the matter was that only those without sin could cast the first stone. That was adultery. He said nothing about homosexuality. However He had very much more direct comments to make on the “Greed is Good” society.
What bit of “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” do they not understand?
October 25th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
@ webmaster: Just joined up the dots. Didn’t realise the full humour of your sentence “Interestingly, Dr Jim West repudiates this theory and – in his typically forthright style – lays the blame elsewhere. ” until I read it again later…
“Typically forthright style” – Lord, he’s a miserable git, isn’t he? If anyone could drive young people out of anywhere it’d be him! That’s one of the things I like about you. Some of your best jokes are a bit of a slow burn. Or maybe it’s just me…
October 25th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
@ Sophie
I agree that most of us become more risk averse as we get older, but isn’t that as a result of wisdom? I know I and many of my contemporaries did things in our late teens that by any standard were insanely dangerous and stupid, but we all thought we were invincible at that age.
But does that mean that most of us have a tendency to become like Victor Meldrew? (the cantankerous old man of the UK TV series “One Foot in the Grave” for those too young to remember it…)
I rather think the Victor Meldrews of this World have always been like that. They just tend to finally find their voice when they get older. None of the 80 year olds I know could be described as fuddy-duddy, but then they never were.
October 28th, 2010 at 9:09 am
@ Jim: Yes, it can be wisdom, but it isn’t always. People may mellow with age, but there are qualities which are relatively rare in the young – pomposity, sanctimony, avarice, a sort of generalised malice for example – which seem to be more common in the old. The cliched miser, for example, is always old – and there’s some truth in this.
Whereas some have their finer qualities honed by life’s lessons, others become coarsened. In some cases pragmatism may be some excuse for the gradual erosion of principle, but not always.
I know a couple of people who have frankly become embittered – seemingly content to spend the rest of their lives whinging about how unfair it all is. A fate worse than death, it seems to me.
October 28th, 2010 at 11:55 am
And there’s the challenge Sophie. I think the secret to happiness is acceptance of things as they are, not wishing for things as they might be/have been. Sounds so simple, but incredibly hard for many older people to achieve.