Religious Experiences in America

Last sunday I read this article in Dallas Morning News, in which the author Christine Wicker expresses concern about a sharp decline in Christian Evangalism. Reading the article I was surprised to note that the Southern Baptist Convention, one of the leading christian denominations is experiecing rapid decline. The SBC currently has over 43,000 churches across the country and if the present decline continues at the same rate it will be forced to shut half of them by 2030. The author says that only a miracle can revive the movement and keep the churches open.

 Part of me refused to believe the article and part of me wondered if it was true. I have been in Texas for a little over 6 months and during this period I have noticed that more churches in here than anywhere else in the world. In fact in my opinion there are more churches here than there are mosques in Dubai and temples in Ayodhya. If there has been a decline then how come there are so many churches?

“Evangelical faith has been dropping since 1900, when 42 percent of the U.S. claimed that distinction. Every year, Religious Right evangelicals, such as those who lead the Southern Baptists, are a smaller proportion of the country. Every year, their core values are violated more flagrantly by the media, scientific discovery and mainstream behavior,” writes the author sounding a serious warning to devout followers of the faith.

According to the author evangelical faith is being attacked both inside and outside its places of worship. She rues the fact that several of the biblical prinicples employed by various organisations including the 12-step offspring a de-addiction methodology used by Alcoholics Anonymous is not attributed to Christianity. The article goes on about two other areas where Southern Baptist faith is failing and mention is made about other areas also where the faith may be lacking.

I wonder how devout christians would feel reading this article, I guess the same way when I as a Hindu would feel when I read something which says that Hinduism is on the decline and christian missionaries are slowly but surely converting our home country by attacking the very foundation of our religion - polytheism. I have read several missionary literature which blatantly ridicules and criticizes Hindu practices and religion and felt outraged.

But believe me this article came as a bigger surprise than any of the other material I read earlier.

Read More: Dallas Morning News