Michael Gerson wrote a column this week on the decline of religious affiliation in America. A number of recent studies have shown that an increasing number of Americans are either non-religious or not affiliated with any organized religion. Gerson speculates why this may be so.
As Gerson says, the big decline in religious commitment began in the 1960s. However, I reject his explanation that "the philosophy of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll is an alternative to religious affiliation" was the cause of that decline. Speaking as a member of that very demographic -- baby boomers who left their religions-of-origin -- I think that's too glib. I would say that walking away from "establishment" churches and growing a counterculture were both reactions to something else.
The "mainline" Protestant Christian churches -- Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Episcopalians, Methodists, etc. -- had the steepest declines in membership. Through the 19th and early 20th centuries, the old Protestant denominations were the largest demographic of Christians, and now they are a shrinking minority. For some reason, a huge percentage of baby boomers who were raised in the mainline Protestant churches simply stopped attending church when they became adults. Some came back after a few years, but many did not. And, of course, some of the latter turned to Buddhism.
You can find no end of speculation about why the mainline Protestant churches went into such a steep decline. My take on it, for what it's worth -- first, as I remember it, in the 1950s and 1960s "going to church" was sold to us as one more thing we "should" do, like eating vegetables. But with the mainline Protestants especially, for many there seemed to be no compelling reason why, and younger people lost interest. I understand something like this is going on with Japanese Buddhism now. I suspect the fault is not in the religion but in a kind of institutional inertia. It can happen to any organization.
Anyway, evangelicals had less of a problem with exiting boomers because they had a more assertive message, reaching out to people who were troubled, telling them Jesus was the answer to their personal pain. In comparison, mainline Protestantism seemed something like spiritual dental floss.
I also think the decline is very much tied into a decline in community life in general in the U.S. People are less inclined to get involved in local organizations, including churches, unless there is a compelling personal reason to do so. And, again, I think the evangelicals have done a much better job of reaching people on a personal level.
But now evangelical numbers are declining as well. "The number of people baptized in Southern Baptist churches fell for the fourth straight year in 2008 to the denomination's lowest level since 1987," the Associated Press says. Gerson says the politicization of religion by the Religious Right has turned off many young people to religion altogether. I suspect he's right.
Buddhism seems to get mostly good PR ("We're cool!"), but recent data do not show our numbers are growing in the U.S. I personally know of individual Buddhist communities that are growing nicely, but if the numbers are correct this growth is being offset by losses elsewhere. Anyone want to guess why this might be true?
My guess why Buddhism is not growing in this country is largely because, frankly, it’s not so easy to be a Buddhist. Meditation is something hard to get away from if you are Buddhist, and for many people meditating is like torture–or, at least, that is what they think. All that thinking about the meaning of existence is not easy either, nor is not having a comforting, theistic view of the universe. Another reason Buddhism might not be so easy for Americans is that we do not have a casual, cultural Buddhism here–a long family tradition, celebrations in the street for Buddha’s birthday and so forth, all those things that are in the air people breath in places like Thailand or Korea or Burma. In other words, if you become a Buddhist here it is probably out of conviction, and that means if you backslide later you might be too discouraged or ashamed to continue. On the other hand, Buddhism is attractive enough to replace its losses with new people–me, for example. So it comes out even. I think that the Quakers are a parallel example; they seem to neither grow nor shrink, maintaining a small but steady population.
I agree to some degree with both of you. I’ve watched lots of people come to Buddhism searching for meaning to life or wanting to ease their pain with life only to find out Buddhism brings them face to face with themselves and many leave to find something different. And then there are the John Waynes of the American culture …(me; sort of) “Thank you for teaching me to sit .. now I’ll just do it myself.” and because we don’t try to recruit members I’m surprised that Buddhism actually does grow.
Gashho
The John Waynes of Buddhism. That makes me smile. Imagine–”Ya better sit zazen right now, mister, if ya know what’s good for ya.”
David’s first post hits what I was thinking when I got to the end of the article. I’ve been calling myself a Buddhist for a few years now, but haven’t really met others (in person anyways) so it’s pretty much entirely up to me to keep pushing myself to learn. If I had others practicing with me, even state recognized holidays, it would help keep my motivation higher. I can deal with this, but I know most people couldn’t keep practicing on their own. They would feel too isolated. As they say, humans are social creatures.
Why did we leave? Uh…the churches quit teaching the Gospel (the real Gospel) after the 60s changes, and in Catholicism, Vatican II. People want a real message, not some government-oriented tract on multi-culturalism, gays and women in the minestry, etc. I never heard a sermon after 1970. The Epsicopal church (what was left) split over the hiring of a drunk gay bishop. Um…years ago, we studied scripture (and gay people just quietly did their thing, weren’t the center of the attention). Now…people meet in small groups and other things. The “Evangelical Right” DID NOT just preach what people wanted to hear about pain. Some started actually teaching morality right-wrong and Bible base again. I can’t believe I read this article.