"The reports of
my recent death have been greatly exaggerated."
- attributed to Mark
Twain
I just finished reading the book, The End
of White Christian America by Robert P. Jones. As I am a Christian who happens to be white
and American, I felt I needed to be informed concerning the demise of a group
of which I am apparently a member. The
book has enthusiastic blurbs on the jacket by a number of men whom I respect.
Robert Jones, we are told, "is the
founding CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and a leading
scholar and commentator on religion and politics." He informs us that he was raised in White
Christian America (henceforth to be referred to as WCA) and comes from a long
line of Georgia Baptists, though he does not claim to share their faith.
I have been concerned for many years about
the politically rightward drift of many of my fellow Christians, especially of
those in leadership roles. My concern
involves the association by many, of these three terms as describing
themselves: white, Christian and
American; for some the words are practically synonymous. So I wanted to see if this author could offer
some encouragement. Before I make
further comments on the arguments presented, I must say I appreciate the data
given.
The book begins with an obituary for
WCA. WCA is, as presented in this book,
White Protestant American Christianity, which the author tells us, can
be divided into two groups: Mainline
Protestantism and Evangelical Protestantism.
He starts with the stories of three buildings which he apparently considers
allegories for the history of the decline of WCA: the United Methodist building in Washington,
DC (ca. 1923), the Interchurch Center in New York City (ca. 1960) and Robert
Schuller's Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, CA (ca. 1980). The decline of these three began almost as
soon as they were built.
The author tells us that his story does not
deal with the distinctions between the sub-groups, but deals with WCA as a
"single dynasty." "The
key question here is not why one white Protestant subgroup is faring worse than
another, but why white Protestantism as a whole - arguably the most powerful
cultural force in the history of our country - has faded. This is a story of theology and culture, but
it is also a story of powerful demographic changes." (page 40)
Chapter 2:
"Vital Signs ... " is the most informative with charts and
graphs to back up its claims; this data makes a clear case that WCA is
declining in number. Though Mainline Protestantism
was the first to decline from its position of power, Evangelical Protestantism
is now beginning to decline - at least as a percentage of the American population.
Then follows Chapter 3: "Politics: The End of White Christian Strategy; Chapter
4: Family: Gay Marriage and WCA; Chapter 5: Race: Desegregating WCA. In these chapters the author presents brief
histories of the actions of WCA, with criticisms for the behavior of
Evangelicalism and mild praise for the behavior of Mainline Protestantism. Most of the material in these chapters has
been heard before and it is here that the author clearly reveals opinions that
are sometimes biased.
The 6th and final chapter is entitled "A
Eulogy for WCA." In it the author
uses Kubler - Ross' well-known stages of grief and applies them to WCA: "Denial and Anger," "Bargaining,"
"Depression and Acceptance."
Though I don't believe their use was meant to be humorous, I actually
found this chapter a bit amusing.
So?
What to do with this book? I fear
that like many books of this sort, it will be applauded by those who agree, and
either condemned or ignored by those who disagree. However, I find myself in some place in
between.
Mr. Jones appears to be one who is not really
mourning the end of WCA. And while I
agree with him in many areas, I find my major area of disagreement is that we
come from two very different starting points.
The author seems to judge WCA from modern, pragmatic criteria, rather
than a biblical, spiritual base. His is
the judgment of the "natural man" (to use Paul's term) or the man
"under the sun"(to use Ecclesiastes' term). So the following are my views on WCA:
- First, I agree that these three have been identified too closely by many of my Christian brothers and sisters. We have failed to get out of our cultural shell and to judge our culture from a truly biblical worldview.
- The political
adventures of many prominent Evangelicals have brought shame on the Name of the
Lord. Sadly this is becoming more and
more evident in this election season.
What this book brought out is the idea that (perhaps) this is a
last-ditch effort to recover an influence that is rapidly slipping away.
- The issue of race has
been a burden of mine for a long time.
White Christians judge their brothers and sisters from their own WCA
perspective and fail to deal with the blatant racism that permeates not only
our politics, but our churches themselves.
The chapter on race points out many of these faults, criticizes and
praises some, but seems to be brought more from an outside perspective.
- The issue of the
church's dealings with the LGBT community is not as clear-cut as that of race,
in spite of the claims made in this book.
With the race issue efforts can and must be made to clear away
non-biblical traditions; but with the issue of sexual orientation, we cannot
clear away biblical teachings to just get along. We must learn to love those who are
different, but we cannot endorse certain behaviors.
- The book did not (I
feel) deal enough with the "America" part. There is much more that needs to be said
about the identification of Christianity with the super patriotism that is
being over-emphasized by many today.
So is WCA dying? I suppose so.
But Christianity is not! I
believe we need to shed WCA's trappings and live a purer Christianity - one
that identifies with those of other ethnic and national groups. Perhaps the information in this book will
lead to a Christianity that is cleaner, purer and less encumbered with wrong standards
and goals.
