On "Thinking Christianly" (Part IV)

"Moralistic Therapeutic Deism"--the default religion of America's youth--shows why we must be thinking Christians

An important new survey reveals what teens, generally, are thinking about religion and spirituality. In sum, they aren't. Teens may have thoughts about these things, but that's not the same as thinking.

Dr. Albert Mohler's weblog has the most insightful report I've seen on this study. I urge you to read it--there's so much of crucial impact in it, I'm tempted to copy about half of it here, but I'll resist. I do want to hit some high points, though, that relate to my ongoing topic.

Mohler says youth generally share a belief the researchers call "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism."

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism consists of beliefs like these: 1. "A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth." 2. "God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions." 3. "The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about one's self." 4. "God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem." 5. "Good people go to heaven when they die."

This is a far cry from Biblical truth. He goes on to say that teens have hardly given this a moment's reflection:

The researchers, whose report is summarized in Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Eyes of American Teenagers by Christian Smith with Melinda Lundquist Denton, found that American teenagers are incredibly inarticulate about their religious beliefs, and most are virtually unable to offer any serious theological understanding. As Smith reports, "To the extent that the teens we interviewed did manage to articulate what they understood and believed religiously, it became clear that most religious teenagers either do not really comprehend what their own religious traditions say they are supposed to believe, or they do understand it and simply do not care to believe it. Either way, it is apparent that most religiously affiliated U.S. teens are not particularly interested in espousing and upholding the beliefs of their faith traditions, or that their communities of faith are failing in attempts to educate their youth, or both."

As the researchers explained, "For most teens, nobody has to do anything in life, including anything to do with religion. 'Whatever' is just fine, if that's what a person wants."

(There's a key word in there not to be missed: they're talking about religious teenagers, not the unchurched.)

This "whatever" attitude really grieves me. What an empty view of life! And yet it's the best they know. I prefer a life where love is strong and deep, where actions and convictions really matter, where I know I make a difference! "Whatever" seems so pale by comparison, yet they do not know the way to rise above it.

Mohler draws out further findings from the study: teens are not inarticulate in general, just about religion; and they tend to be very moralistic in general, except when it comes to religious topics. Their general moralism conflicts with their selective relativism, but they're unaware of the contradiction or don't care about it. Most have never had a serious talk with an adult about spirituality.

Here's my question: where did they get this "religion," if not from thinking about it? They've absorbed it from our general culture, which preaches a gospel of environmentalism, success, not interfering with others' lifestyles, and above all, avoiding commitment to any theology. This culture, in turn, arose because of the influence of many thought leaders--theologians, philosophers, scientists--who rejected belief in a transcendent God. Today Christian thinkers are showing we did not need to give up that intellectual ground so lightly. Biblical religion is intellectually defensible.

Artists of all kinds--writers, musicians, playwrights and screenwriters, visual artists--picked up beliefs that they found congenial because they allowed moral latitude without responsibility to a God. (Francis Schaeffer described this process in The God Who Is There, which remains current more than 35 years after he wrote it.) These beliefs are pervasive in popular music, movies, and TV shows. Our schools and universities are rife with relativism.

Thus our youth have this vague, unformed, yet strong conviction that God is out there somewhere, but he doesn't really care how we live. Everything is okay with him (they think), except maybe pollution, discrimination, and believing he really does care how we live.

I don't blame teens for any of this, including the carelessness of thought. Since at least the 1960s we've lived in an experience culture. Schools teach careers, not critical thinking, and we're content simply to get a job and find enough experiences to entertain us. (No matter if our foundations are crumbling under us.) Too few adults and almost no schools are really teaching youth how to reason.

This is why we need to be thinking Christians. Later in this series we'll face the fact that it's hard work, but we have to do it. Beliefs have consequences. Christian beliefs stand on a firm foundation, and they lead to solid, strong lives, lives that rise far above "whatever." We need to know our beliefs, to be able to articulate and defend them, and to teach them well to our youth--so they and the next generation have something better to follow.

(Other entries in this series may be found under the Thinking Christianly blog category.)

Posted: Mon - April 11, 2005 at 09:06 AM |

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On "Thinking Christianly" (Part IV)

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson