The cheapening of religion

Posted on January 6, 2010
Filed under Culture, Interfaith | by David 1 Comment

An interesting comment by a reader of Andrew Sullivan’s blog describes the “cheapening of religion” that seems to have found its essential expression in the absurd outburst by Brit Hume. It seems to me that we’ve been seeing quite a bit of this sort of thing in Loudoun, such as in the recent outburst over displays at the Leesburg courthouse. It wasn’t so much the sentiment of wanting to continue a long-standing tradition that was problematic – that part is understandable.

What was so disturbing about the incident was its tone. There was an almost gleeful manner with which certain churches and individuals embraced the status of victim, as if they welcomed something they could feel militant about. Although there was no reason to see the policy change as intending to discriminate against Christians, it was immediately publicized as a “war on Christmas,” complete with testimony by white Christian suburbanites that they were suffering from “religious persecution.” And worst of all, some of the comments left at online forums and the petition (organized by one of the most militant individuals) directed hateful vitriol at members of other communities, for example: “I do not like the smell of curry therefor if we are unable to have a Christmas Tree and a Nativity Scene then get rid of your curry!” and “Freedom of religion is a right of every citizen this is not the middle east. If a nativity scene or christmas tree offends you, go home.” It was certainly jarring to witness this behavior during the Christmas season.

I realize you rarely get to travel in true “teabagger country” but here in rural Mississippi, there is an interesting phenomenon occurring that the Brit Hume brouhaha brings into clearer focus.

If you travel down any road, you will see churches popping up everywhere. I’ve lived here my entire life, and it used to be that each community had one church, usually Baptist, with a place name. Now they have names like Bread of Life, The Living Water, and By Faith; single-word names like Cornerstone, Compass, and Centricity.

They pop up in the middle of nowhere, in abandoned storefronts, in closed-down factories, in metal buildings put up in the middle of the woods. And everyone has a preacher who is called Brother, or Elder, or Bishop. And all these fundamental churches spend the majority of their time either directly or indirectly involved with local, state, and national politics, involved in the Tea Bagger Movement, the War on Christmas movement, the myriad boycotts of every hue, and posters and ads of every conceivable variety.

As someone who had become immune to most of it, I can’t help but be aware of the way in which religion in this area has been very deeply cheapened. It ceases to occupy a space of personal and public sacredness. It focuses not on the personal, but the political. And I am even beginning to detect this cheapening in acquaintances who I know to be quite religious.

So I think the Brit Hume incident may be very reflective of what is happening here in the South.

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Comments

One Response to “The cheapening of religion”

  1. don on January 9th, 2010 7:51 pm

    And fortunately… you have not cheapened religion in any way… By your standards it only becomes more expensive! Or should I say ‘costly’ – as in ‘the cost of discipleship.”

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