Not A Prayer Of An Intelligent Argument

Untidy liberal miscreant that I am, I have always been skeptical of news organizations that cater to a broad-based audience but appear to advocate religion or spirituality of one type or another. That is why I have always been squeamish about the “On Faith” section of the Washington Post; for news particular to my religion, I would go read from a special interest publication such as the Catholic Standard and Times, and let the Post serve as the dumping ground for all of the latest Beltway blatherings and nothing more.

So I happened to comes across this from someone named Claire Hoffman today in the Post which states the following…

…combined with the decline of American-born Catholics (the Church's numbers are still strong due to immigration) and this does start to sound like something new for us, nation (sic). Fickle to a particular faith yes, but fickle to faith in general would be a new era for the U.S. That's the number to keep watching. I doubt we'll become like those godless Europeans anytime soon. The vibrant and faithful flow of new Americans will keep that at bay. But it's something to watch.

Hoffman then goes on to tell us that, according to her data, Hindus and Jews are likely to earn more money in this country, so we Christians have to “hit the books,” I suppose.

Notwithstanding Hoffman’s patronizing insults, I should point out the following from this link…

The Catholic Church has maintained a higher level of participation (in Europe), but (author Philip) Jenkins adds, faces considerable challenges. The social and cultural forces have influenced the population to the point where family size in Catholic countries has dropped to the lowest levels in Europe. In addition, Church attendance in countries such as Italy and Spain has declined sharply in the last decade or so. Vocations to the priesthood and religious life have fallen notably, with little sign of any turnaround.

Nevertheless, Jenkins continues, along with this negative trend we need to consider other, more positive, elements. Despite the decline Europe is still home to a considerable Christian population. In Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, religious participation is still very high. In Britain Polish and Croatian immigrants have brought about a religious resurgence in some areas.

…

Another source of strength for Christianity in Europe is immigration. In addition to the Muslim immigrants a portion of new arrivals are Christians. Birthrates have plummeted in Italy, but Rome, for example, can count on the presence of tens of thousands of immigrants from the predominantly Catholic Philippines.

There is also a growing presence of clergy from other continents that is helping to make up the shortfall in local vocations. Great Britain, says Jenkins, is host to around 1,500 missionaries from some 50 nations, many of them African. Another example he cites is that of a French Catholic diocese that hosts around 30 priests from former colonies in Africa.

Jenkins goes on to say that, in his estimation, the secular European media is more hostile towards religion and tends to portray the situation as worse than it really is; also, the popularity of Pope Benedict XVI and religious pilgrimages are factors.

And I would say to Hoffman that perhaps the reason than Americans of an earlier generation as a whole (more European in ancestry, including your humble narrator) are more “fickle” about Christianity is because we’re tired of self-styled know-it-alls such as yourself implying that we are somehow bad people because we don’t confirm to your standard of good behavior.