COMMENTARY: Faith in America and Utah

Marc K. Ensign has been active in community and business affairs for many years, and lives in Paradise.

A new “Faith in America” survey conducted by Marist College and released by the Deseret News last Tuesday, finds that Americans are more faith-oriented and spiritually minded than much of the mainstream media would lead you to believe.  Declines however, have been observed in Americans’ attachment to traditional religious institutions.

The survey found that Americans retain ‘core religious beliefs’ such as daily prayer, and caring for those in need, even as they are less attached to religious practices and organizations.

It points out that “with the demographic characteristics of the American population shifting as baby boomers enter retirement, the state of religion is reaching a tipping point … as the demographic face of religion within America changes, so does the role religion plays in society.”

The survey notes that younger generations are less likely than their older counterparts to believe that being part of an organized religion is necessary in order to live a moral life.

Many young people are exchanging discipleship for membership.  Instead of filling the pews on Sunday, you’ll find them helping in soup kitchens, hospitals, and homeless shelters.  They are tuned in to their communities, and to the needs of those around them.  In this way, they have chosen the greater good over individual religious advancement.

This focus on discipleship is inspiring to me.  I have long held that when we can answer affirmatively the question, “Are you willing to put your own salvation on hold to help someone else with theirs?” without the least reservation or anxiety, we are on the right track.

What are the influences behind this shift from institutions to personal, independent faith?  For many, there’s a growing distrust of organized religion. Clergy abuse scandals, gaslighting members for honest inquiry, othering, and the changing narratives within a religious institution’s history or doctrine have all taken their toll.  These concerns are more pronounced among the rising generations who are simply not ‘in as deep’ as their elders.

According to Daniel Cox, the director of the Survey Center on American Life, “it’s clear that a renegotiation is underway as people grow less willing to make strong religious commitments and are more interested in doing things their own way.  Many young people, in particular, aren’t interested in making the sort of sacrifices that church membership demands. They may respect the moral wisdom of religious traditions, but fewer are heeding the religious call…”

Cox continued, “Other Americans believe their own values and goals are out of step with the moral vision that’s promoted within many faith communities. They’re rejecting churches’ current teachings in addition to their actions in the past”.

It is not news that much of orthodox Christianity has found itself struggling to respond to many of today’s moral provocations…the LGBTQ movement, the rise of feminism, nationalism, systemic racism, and even religious freedom.

How has this trend affected us closer to home, in predominately LDS Utah?  We are not immune to attrition from organized religion, and seem to be following the national pattern:

In March 2012, the website Mormon Stories presented the first systematic effort to quantify why individual LDS members leave. This work challenged the popular perceptions that Latter-day Saints become disaffected largely because of sin, pride, spiritual apathy, or personal conflicts with leadership or other members. The study showed that Latter-day Saints tend to leave due to a crisis of confidence, “triggered by controversial aspects of church history and doctrine, compounded by official attempts to minimize or obfuscate.”  In step with mainstream Christianity, one could accurately add disagreements with church policy on contemporary social issues to the list.

Doubling down on the failed narratives of the past, or attempts to separate members through exclusionist policies are no longer met with acceptance or unquestioning belief.  Churches nationwide are finding themselves at variance with a more educated, open-minded membership.  This is not a denial of the conservative, historical principles of Christianity, but a marked shift from exclusivity to inclusivity.

In response, many religions are attempting to retain and attract members by becoming more open and transparent.  They are also realigning policies to be more inclusive and responsive.  The old default response of ‘ trust us’ to honest questions is no longer enough.  Patrons want truth, action, transparency, and acceptance.  Those denominations who heed the call will flourish, while those who do not will continue to struggle.

I learned through my career as an automobile dealer that our most satisfied customers were those who had had a problem with the dealership and we resolved it immediately, honestly, accurately, and completely. The process turned them into advocates, for they now knew they could trust us when the chips were down.  To throw the problem back at our customers, or even worse, to blame it on them, would have been anathema to our business.  This dynamic certainly replies to religion as well.

Here are some other findings from the survey:

-Americans are turning to family more often than religious leaders when looking for sources of moral guidance.  Only a very small percentage of Americans look to popular figures in American culture, such as star athletes, actors, influencers, and the like for moral guidance.

– While a majority of Americans do not feel their religion plays a role in their political affiliation, one’s political stance can be a strong indicator of the role they feel religion does and should play in society:  Republicans are more likely than Democrats to believe the future of the nation lies in God’s hands rather than in the hands of the American people.

– Americans recognize the value of a strong social support system, regardless of whether they have one themselves. Nearly 9 in 10 U.S. adults, including 84% of those who do not practice a religion, agree that it’s important to be part of a close-knit community.

-Over the course of the pandemic, many houses of worship saw further membership declines and drops in financial donations. Faith leaders struggled to keep their congregations united when holding in-person events was deemed unsafe.  As the pandemic ends, people are slow to return to full activity, preferring to participate remotely through Zoom or other technological innovations.  This may well have changed the worship dynamic permanently.

-In defense of organized religion, the research showed that being part of a community, being married, and belonging to a church or religious organization are all associated with greater satisfaction in an individual’s personal life.  As imperfect as religions may be, it is simply harder to go it alone, and much can be gained through the support of organized faith.

In conclusion, the basic principles of Christianity are alive and well in America, but not necessarily through traditional religious institutions.  Despite headlines that emphasize religion’s decline, individual faith remains a strong moral force in American life.  The trend toward genuine discipleship, where the rubber meets the road, is the greatest win in the long-enduring struggle between personal faith, and the organizations whose calling it is to guide it.

 

Marc K. Ensign

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3 Comments

  • All Aboard March 29, 2022 at 8:57 pm Reply

    I believe this article, although brutally honest, is spot on.

  • Shebbers March 30, 2022 at 11:50 am Reply

    I hope people read this to its conclusion. So much to consider.

  • Joseph Smitv March 30, 2022 at 11:23 pm Reply

    Mental illness is real.

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