In This Corner:  King David, author of Psalm 14, written centuries before the birth of Christ, wrote these fighting words:  “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”  According to the King, rejecting the existence of God is the epitome of foolishness, because it means ultimately living with a false view of reality.

And In This Corner:  Sam Harris, author of Letter to a Christian Nation, which I have been reading this week.  If Harris were to write a Psalm 14 of his own, it would likely read “The fool says in his heart, “There is a God, and I know what He/She/It is like.”  According to Harris’ book, those who believe in God are blinded by their narrow view of the world, have missed the obvious signs that there is no God, and are ultimately living with a false (and dangerous) view of reality.

And here comes the Referee:  The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released a study this Monday that detailed the religious affiliations of Americans today, based on a 2007 study of over 35,000 Americans (shown below).  As you can see, 78% of Americans consider themselves some sort of Christian, while 4% consider themselves atheist or agnostic, and another 12% consider themselves unaffiliated with any particular religion. 

So what does this mean?  Well, if Sam Harris is correct, we’ve got a nation full of idiots.

Certainly the fact that 78% of Americans consider themselves Christians doesn’t prove the existence of God (especially since the staggering number of denominations shows how much disagreement there is on how to best worship Him).  But it does prove that the notion of faith in God is worthy of some serious consideration.  I know that religious affiliation is not the same as belief in God, but assuming the number of people who believe in God is somewhere near that 78%, is it really likely that that many million people are emotionally stunted, truth-repressing, simple-minded people with serious wish-fulfillment issues?  Is it more likely that the 4% who have looked at the evidence and concluded that there is no God have realized the obvious while the other 78% have chosen to repress it out of fear for their mortality or their inability to think for themselves?

Now, as I said, the fact that 78% of Americans consider themselves Christians does not prove the existence of God.  Nor does it prove that the Christian version of God is the correct one, since a similar poll taken in Afghanistan or India would surely reveal a high number of religious people, but adhering to religions other than Christianity.  But I find it interesting that no matter how many times people have predicted that our increasing understanding of science and technology would eliminate our need for religion, here we are in 2008 with an overwhelming percentage of these scientific and technological minds still convinced that there is a God.  Apparently we didn’t get the memo…

Beginning on Easter Sunday, I will be preaching a series that will entertain some of the most common objections to faith in the God of the Bible.  I will be dealing with questions about the problem of evil, the legitimacy of the Bible, the issue of Hell, and the exclusivity of Jesus.  I will also be spending some time blogging about some of the more personal and relational reasons people reject Christianity, such as the hypocrisy and judgmentalism of believers and the atrocities found in church history.  And hopefully, along the way, I’ll convince some people that not all of the 78% are idiots, but that there is good reason to believe in God.
 
Let me share just a few other quick observations from the Pew Forum’s study:

 25% of young adults 18-29 say they are not affiliated with any particular religion.  This could mean that younger generations are more skeptical about religion, or that that stage of life is marked by less religious affiliation regardless of the generation.  It’s probably a little of both; many people drop out of church only to return once they have children out of a desire to give their children some “moral guidance.”  But it is probably also a sign that younger generations in America, who are more aware of different cultures, faiths, and ways of life, as well as more aware of the failings of religious leaders and people, have grown more skeptical of organized religion.  Either way, I’m thankful that our church has found a way to reach a disproportionate number of people in this age group.

 Nearly 20% of men say they have no formal religious affiliation, compared with roughly 13% of women.  No surprise there.  Churches often do a poor job capturing the mind and spirit of the active, adventure-seeking American male.

 The Northeast has the greatest concentration of Catholics.  I’m pretty sure you’ve all noticed that.  Probably half of our church grew up Catholic.  It’s also interesting to see how 26% of Americans consider themselves evangelical Christians, seeing as how the percentage of people in Glastonbury who would say that is probably closer to 1% (and even that number might be too high).

 Jehovah’s Witnesses have the lowest retention rate of any religious tradition. Only 37% of all those who say they were raised as Jehovah’s Witnesses still identify themselves as Jehovah’s Witnesses.  Very interesting – they are out witnessing so much that their faith is growing, yet almost two-thirds of those raised as JW’s drop out.

Finally, before any believers in God walk away thinking that they can boast of the fact that they believe, let them be reminded that if it were not for the Lord’s intervention, they would still be in their ignorance.  Even David understood this, as he wrote in the next two verses of the Psalm I quoted in the beginning:  “The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.  All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Psalm 14:2-3).  Let us thank God from the depths of our heart for the grace He has given us that has allowed us to not only believe in Him but to know Him and to have experienced His salvation.

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