The Rise of Secularism is More Brutal Than Intellectuals Hoped

Apparently, Christianity makes people better. Who knew?

by M.J. Randolph

Peter Beinhart, writing in The Atlantic, had a rather fascinating observation about the post-Christian nation we know as America. He said that intellectuals had hoped that the demise of Christianity would usher in great waves of tolerance and love. But now, he admits, this was naive:

“Secularism is indeed correlated with greater tolerance of gay marriage and pot legalization. But it’s also making America’s partisan clashes more brutal.”

Interesting. Beinhart goes on to say that church attendance is actually a good thing in people’s lives:

… even within the white working class, those who don’t regularly attend church are more likely to suffer from divorce, addiction, and financial distress. As Wilcox explains, “Many conservative, Protestant white men who are only nominally attached to a church struggle in today’s world. They have traditional aspirations but often have difficulty holding down a job, getting and staying married, and otherwise forging real and abiding ties in their community. The culture and economy have shifted in ways that have marooned them with traditional aspirations unrealized in their real-world lives.”

Whoa. He continues:

When conservatives disengage from organized religion, however, they don’t become more tolerant. They become intolerant in different ways. Research shows that evangelicals who don’t regularly attend church are less hostile to gay people than those who do. But they’re more hostile to African Americans, Latinos, and Muslims. In 2008, the University of Iowa’s Benjamin Knoll noted that among Catholics, mainline Protestants, and born-again Protestants, the less you attended church, the more anti-immigration you were.

Or, as Jane the Actuary succinctly asked:

The fact of the matter is that Christianity plays an important role in this nation. Apparently, it makes people better. Who knew? I guess it took the election of Donald Trump to get intellectuals to admit that… Is there anything Trump can’t do?

http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/rise-secularism-more-brutal-intellectuals-hoped