Squeezing Out the Middle

THE WORLD IS BECOMING MORE SECULAR,as traditional religions struggle against the headwind of science, technology, and education. Europeans are abandoning Christianity at a pace which would, were it to continue, render the continent entirely secular by mid century. In the United States, traditional protestant churches, Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, have experienced a leveling off in membership, and even a slight decline in membership relative to population growth, over the past half century. Only the Catholic church has manifested significant growth, primarily in Latin America and Africa. In the United States, the growth of Catholicism has been brought about by immigration; one quarter of all American Catholics are Hispanic. The United States remains perhaps the most decidedly Christian nation in the world; overwhelmingly, Americans say they believe in God, and roughly eighty five percent of the population considers itself Christian. Attending church in the United States was once a matter of presumed habit; nearly everyone attended, including the lukewarm Christians, side by side with those of fervent belief. But, just as in politics, religious affiliation has become polarized; the lukewarm believers have dropped out, and what remains is a highly motivated core of church members, whose lives are shaped to a great degree by their religiosity. In politics, the moderates have left the scene, and what remains are two 'armies" of passionate political "believers", both on the left and on the right. In religion, politics, as in economics, the middle has been squeezed out. Thus, we are left with what has been described as a "cultural war", or "cultural gap". There is no indication that this trend is going to reverse or even mitigate. Ladies and gentleman, choose your weapons.