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Wednesday, July 19, 2017

What Is America's Predominant Religion?



This article probably isn’t about what you think it’s going to be about.

When I think of being religious, the first picture that pops in my head is of the beautiful cathedral of Notre Dame in France. Another picture which pops in my head is the Islamic mosque located off of I-75 approximately forty-five minutes north of my home.

Christianity and Islam are two of the most prominent world religions and certainly have a coast to coast presence in America, but neither of these two religions is the predominant religion in America. If you read the stats from recent surveys, it would appear that Christianity is overwhelmingly the predominant religion in America followed by a growing population of religiously unaffiliated people.[1]

But my research indicates that neither of these stats is correct; Christianity is not America’s most predominant religion and there is no such thing as religiously unaffiliated. Instead, I believe there is another religion which has swept this country, having won the hearts of people from coast to coast.

What is this mysterious religion and how has it been so successful at winning the hearts and minds of people all over this country?

Defining Religion


We begin our investigation by defining the word “religion.” Although many of us have a picture in our heads of what constitutes religion, many of us have only applied this definition in certain contexts thereby preventing us from seeing the broad spectrum of various religions which exist in this country. Two distinguishing characteristics of a religion are: (1) a god and (2) worship of that god. Let’s take a brief look at both of these components.

A God


Martin Luther, a sixteenth century philosopher and theologian, defined a god as:

To whatever we look for any good thing and for refuge in every need, that is what is meant by “god.” To have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe in him from the heart…To whatever you give your heart and entrust your being, that, I say, is really your god.[2]

Luther’s definition of a god is progressive. The foundational component of a god is that he must be able to meet our needs. When we find someone or something who is able to meet our needs, then we begin to trust that it’ll continue to meet our needs. This will then lead us to entrust ourselves to this god.

Worship


John Piper, a more contemporary philosopher and theologian, defined worship as follows:

Worship is a way of gladly reflecting back to God the radiance of his worth.[3]

Whether we are worshiping the God of the Bible that Piper is referring to or we are worshiping another god, worship is defined the same way; simply replace the capital “G” in “God” with a lower case “g”. Before moving on, I need to point out the importance of the word “gladly” in Piper’s definition. If radiance is reflected back dutifully with no emotion in it, then it’s not worship; worship only occurs when we reflect radiance gladly.

Christianity is Not the Predominant Religion


Now that I’ve defined a religion and its two most necessary components, let’s take a quick look at why I believe Christianity isn’t the predominant religion in America.

What gods do Americans gladly worship? If I was to go to an Ohio State Buckeye football game on a Saturday afternoon, I would see a lot more worship going on there than in most church buildings on Sunday mornings. When people go to an Ohio State Buckeye football game, they gladly stand to their feet and cheer when their team hits the field. They gladly jump out of their seats and scream when OSU scores a touchdown. And they gladly sing their praises when OSU wins the game. Conversely, it’s like pulling teeth to get people who attend church services to read their Bibles, pray, and sing God’s praises. This is what leads me to the conclusion that Christianity is not the predominant religion in America.

There Is No Such Thing as Non-Religious


Whether we like it or not, everyone worships someone or something. As an example, look at the worship which takes place every autumn Saturday at college football stadiums around the country. They may not worship an invisible god, but they obviously worship a god whether it’s the OSU, Alabama, or USC football teams. We may not all worship the college football gods, but we all worship one god or another, making us all very religious.

The American god


Now this brings us to the point where it’s time to unveil the god Americans are worshiping. It is true that there are some Americans who worship Yahweh, Allah, or Buddha, but there are many more Americans who worship another god. Who, then, is this god?

Another way of asking this question is: Who or what is most valuable to Americans? Is it money? A big house? A luxury car? A smoking hot spouse? A successful career? A happy family? All of these things are at least somewhat valuable to most Americans, but they are not the most valuable things to most of them. Above all else, the most valuable thing to most Americans is…me.

Now, I don’t mean me personally; I hope no one is worshiping me since I’m not worthy of being worshiped. What is most valuable to the majority of Americans is themselves. On the whole, we trust in ourselves to provide for all of our needs.

In America, we are our own gods who worship ourselves. The resulting religion is what I call Me-ism. Me-ism has captured the hearts of Americans from coast to coast, making it America’s predominant religion.


Take a few minutes to meditate on these questions: Who or what is your predominant god? Is this god the same god as the one you previously thought you were worshiping? Is this god the god you want to continue worshiping?


[1] Alan Cooperman, “America’s Changing Religious Landscape,” Pew Research Center, May 12, 2015, accessed July 18, 2017, http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/.
[2] F. Samuel Janzow, Luther’s Large Catechism: A Contemporary Translation with Study Questions (St. Louis: Concordia, 1978), 13.
[3] John Piper, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, rev. ed. (Colorado Springs: Multnomah, 2011), location 1393, kindle.

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