articles about americans leaving their faith are headlining the news thanks to a recent report from the pew forum. the research confirms what is probably old news to many people who work in the religion business (particularly clergy of the christian variety): 25-44% of adults (a conservative estimate) have departed from the faith of their childhood, catholic and mainline churches are in sharp decline, men are less religious than women, and the young (18-29) are far less religious than their older counterparts. the fastest growing [ir]religious group is the “no religion” crowd- and good ol’ seattle/washington is a national leader in that category, along with our immediate neighbors to the south, the oregonians.
so what’s the deal? why are americans so fickle when it comes to faith? and what’s so attractive about “no religion” that the irreligious will soon outnumber any one particular brand of christianity? (more…)
i’m excited to be able to help out with the new conspirators conference coming up next week as i prepare to lead one of the “urban experience” groups on a neighborhood observation walk through rainier valley. the timing has coincided well with my research this quarter that is focusing on columbia city, a historic and recently revitalized part of the larger neighborhood. one of the things i’m hoping to be able to discuss with the group is our understanding of place, or more specifically, our theology of urban space.
what i want to avoid is the urban tourist mentality that finds ethnic and socioeconomic diversity “so fascinating” like animals at the zoo. lots of people who think they are merely “observing” quickly become unintentionally patronizing as they attempt to process what they don’t understand. a question i’m often asked when i invite others to consider moving to my neighborhood goes something like, “yeah that sounds interesting, but isn’t that the ghetto?” (more…)
every once in a while, just when you’re starting to feel optimistic about people and their ability to think and communicate in a civil, constructive manner- regardless of their faith tradition or lack thereof- someone like “pastor steve” comes along (for a real treat, see jack’s comment on eugene’s blog- i almost peed my pants reading it). even though i knew what i’d find, i couldn’t resist checking out steve’s church website, and what i discovered there was indeed equal parts frightening and hilarious. part classic christian fundamentalism and part deep thoughts, steve’s “teaching” embodies the best of what fundamentalism has to offer: ridiculous anti-intellectualism, extreme bigotry and ignorance, and of course, a healthy dose of fear mongering religious manipulation. add a twist of dangerously distorted theology, and there you have it- the perfect recipe for fundamentalism’s greatest hits. (more…)
how many more school shootings will there be before people start to think more seriously about tighter restrictions on access to firearms? four in a week sounds pretty bad to me, but maybe that’s just me. i’m not trying to overly-politicize gun control, but really, when will we say enough is enough? i realize that reducing or even eliminating access to guns is not a magical fix-all one step solution, but i wonder why more radical courses of action concerning gun control aren’t at least on the table.
this recent tragedy defies the stereotypes. apparently steven was just a normal guy, a grad student in social work- friendly, seemingly well-adjusted, nothing abnormal in his background. sure, further investigation may dig up some odd occurrence in his upbringing, but that’s beside the point. when a “normal” guy goes through all the proper channels and procedures and background checks, and we still have this sort of shooting rampage, what are we supposed to do? (more…)
eliacin tagged me with this meme, so i thought i’d play along. the instructions are to grab your closest book, turn to page 123, find the 5th sentence, and then share the next three sentences. so here they are, from a book i’m reading for my research this quarter- the failures of integration: how race and class are undermining the american dream -
see, you have to understand the fundamental feeling in suburbia is fear, let’s face it. the basic emotional feeling is fear. fear of blacks, fear of physical harm, fear of their kids being subjected to drugs, which are identified as a black problem, fear of all the urban ills.
ironically, this is actually a quote from another book titled fortress america: gated communities in the united states. because many argue that the traditional urban/suburban divide is blurring with the gentrification of urban cores (e.g. ballard) and the subsequent suburbanization of poverty (e.g. tukwila), you can actually replace “suburbia” in the above quote with pretty much any homogeneous upwardly-mobile community, many of which happen to be the neighborhoods that we see throughout the seattle north of downtown. (more…)
okay, we didn’t really conquer anything, but we did carpool (in jeff’s prius- how appropriate) to beacon hill elementary for our local democratic caucus yesterday. space was a little tight with five (six, counting our one in the oven), but luckily it’s just a short ride up the hill. by the time we arrived just a few minutes early, the line into the building was already starting to snake around the block, so i knew then it was going to be pretty packed inside. we made our way through the school and followed the signs to our precinct’s spot in the corner of the gym by the rock climbing wall. sure enough, the dense crowd gathered was very representative of the neighborhood- young, old, black, white, asian, latino, LGBT, and everything else in between. we saw quite a few neighbors we knew and it was amazing to see democracy in action firsthand. (more…)
today is ash wednesday which marks the beginning of lent, an important season in the life of the church each year. i didn’t grow up in a tradition that observed the church calendar, and so i always just assumed that lent was for those somber catholics or the rigid episcopalians who had to observe the tradition out of obligation. but in recent years i’ve come to greatly appreciate the rhythm of the church year as it helps to provide a sense of connectedness to the global church and structure to the seasons that often bleed together because of the hectic nature of our hurried lives. (more…)
