There is a fascinating discussion going on which you can follow at mind.expressions regrading whether or not people, at least in the US, who say they are believing practicing members of a religious faith, may actually be lying when they report this to pollsters etc. The discussion goes on to consider why someone who does not “believe” might say they do. What advantages do they gain? Various suggestions are made such as they gain a social support network, social standing and recognition, health, business and political contacts and other things I think which are quite believable.
However, I think there is one group missed by this discussion (or maybe glossed over) that I find more interesting, I also happen to believe they account for most “believers” in the US.
The group I refer to must be described in terms of a contradiction, and it is that contradiction that makes them so interesting. The people I speak of are described in the Bible as “lukewarm”. They hear the message, they assent to it. When asked “Do you believe in God?” they honestly answer “Yes”. When asked “Do you believe in the doctrines of your Church?” they also answer “Yes”. However, when you turn to their lives it is quite otherwise. I am not speaking here of a passionate, struggling believer who battles with sin, but rather of a person who when questioned as to the difference between their behavior and what they say they believe would likely answer “Oh, I don’t think of those things so deeply.” They have no desire or inclination to examine their lives in light of their faith because their faith is almost a purely intellectual exercise. It affects their lives very little.
Being raised a Catholic I knew hundreds of people like this– practically everyone I every met. These people would fret about accidently eating something within the prescribed fast before communion (Catholics used to be required to fast before receiving the Eucharist– the consecrated host which they believe is the body of Jesus Christ). They diligently attend mass week after week. They give consistently to charity, but they give only from their excess, never from their want. These are the same people who were overjoyed when Rome allowed a mass to be said on Saturday evenings that would satisfy the Sunday mass obligation (Catholics are required to attend mass-service- every Sunday. Not to do so is considered a mortal sin). How wonderful they thought, that God would rearrange his schedule to meet their needs. After all there’s so much to do on Sunday and one does want to have a day to sleep in you know!
They “practice” their faith so long as it doesn’t get in the way of anything they want, so long as it doesn’t inconvenience them too much.
These people genuinely have no desire to disavow a belief in God. After all, God might punish them. If Catholic they profess to love the Church, and Rome and the Pope, they just don’t care to follow anything that is not “practical”. These are the Convenient Faithful.
In Protestantism you see these people every week on the TV coming from some MegaCHurch in Texas with soaring stained glass windows and architectural layouts that flush the church with enough light that heaven itself must surely copy the design. These are the “Feel good” Christians, just another variety of the Convenient Faithful. They listen to a gospel describing God as a wishgranter– he finds them parking spaces when none can be found, he stops the rain so they can enjoy a good game of golf, he makes their investments prosper, gives them bigger houses, happier families… whatever. God here is clearly at the service of the imagination of man, not the other way around.
However, I do believe these people when they say they believe in God or more important, they believe they have faith. Despite this, these people walk, talk and act in a way that clearly excludes God from their lives (except on their terms). They are immune from pointing out to them that their lives are not in step with the demands of a real “faith”.
How do they bypass any scruples in this regard? Remember, this is America, the most anti-intellectual country in the world. You don’t want to be an egghead do you? You don’t want to be accused of thinking too much do you? Such contradictions between faith and action are dismissed with a wave of the hand and a look of disgust that some kind of self-examination has been proposed. Contradictions, they say, are simply for nerds, clerics and eggheads to ponder. Turn up the game please, and stop talking nonsense.
To anyone trying to assess the real status of faith in the US, I say pay attention to these people. How do you quantify them? I don’t know because they self-identify as believing, practicing theists of whatever denomination. However, I have a deep gut feeling, albeit based only on limited experience, that this kind of “believer” is the predominant kind of theist to be found out there today.
