Cathy Grossman of USA Today has written an excellent summary of the issues involved in the Supreme Court’s peculiar ruling yesterday that the cross is not exclusively a Christian symbol. One of the more compelling objections to the decision comes from an evangelical scholar who understands that in making the cross an icon of civil religion the Court has diminished it as a symbol of the Christian religion.
Most young adults today don’t pray, don’t worship and don’t read the Bible, a major survey by a Christian research firm shows.
Barna’s study among unchurched adults shows that nearly four out of every ten non-churchgoing Americans (37%) said they avoid churches because of negative past experiences in churches or with church people.
The book explores ideas of heaven: Heaven as a real place, heaven as an idea of something beautiful and perfect but unattainable, heaven as a location somewhere, heaven as a process, heaven as a galvanizing or corrupting influence or an incentive for good behavior.
In all, 42% of Americans said that the meaning of Easter was the resurrection of Jesus or that it signifies Christ death and return to life. One out of every 50 adults (2%) said that they would describe Easter as the most important holiday of their faith.
As I survey the religious landscape (for more than a dozen years I served as counsel to some of America’s largest Protestant groups), I sense a growing energy — if not membership rolls — among these more liberal Protestant churches. Part of that energy could be because Protestants are developing an identity that jibes with what matters to young people.
A year ago, people wondered which church the Obamas would attend when they came to Washington. It appears that the President has decided to marshal the resources of the presidency to pursue a more private, and distinctly American, expression of faith.
Seminarian Karri Backer has been leading contemplative prayer groups for men in a LA Correctional Facility, which houses the most severe offenders.
This is what happens when the divine meets the mundane, when speaking in tongues collides with picking up milk, when God’s love is offered alongside the express checkout.
“Roger,” she said, “that is just something you have to believe. Pray for faith.” Then I lay awake wondering how I could pray for faith to a God I could not believe in without faith.