Dave Shiflett is a knockabout writer. He did Trump's pre-presidential run book, probably a number of other ghostwriting episodes (like our Jay Homnick), a book defending Christianity from various spurious or somewhat spurious charges, and now one on the growth of conservative churches.
This last book is hardly necessary. Dean Kelley (of the liberal National Council of Churches, of all places) documented the trend decades ago. The reason for the loss of members to liberal churches has been commented upon repeatedly: there's no God there. The liberal churches simply proclaim a spirit of the age who is the same person as the people in the seats. Don't need no Savior. We're doin' just fine. "I'm okay. You're okay." Or something like that.
Nevertheless, Shiflett has done numerous interviews for the new book and it may prove interesting. He's done two pieces for NRO about it. Read the latest here.
I almost forgot, the title of the book is Exodus: Why Americans Are Fleeing Liberal Churches for Conservative Christianity.
6 comments:
Oh, is that I've been doing, looking for someone to treat me like a child and rigidly control me?
Wow, the doors of perception are opening. I should be a full-blown atheist by next Tuesday!
Tlaloc, it's hard to explain the experience of Christianity to someone determined to see it in a certain light, as I think you do.
All I can tell you is that prior to becoming a Christian, my parameters of life were the sports page, comic strips, and lots of television. I was a perfectly normal consumerist American.
When I went to college at Florida State and had people approach me about Jesus, I was frankly embarrassed for them. When I finally attended a meeting, it was to mollify a friend and make up for shoddy behavior.
Since attending that first meeting, I've seen my horizons expand immeasurably. Through the faith, I gained an interest in literature, history, law, religion, and marriage. All of these things have made my life more full and broad than it would have been otherwise.
What I'm trying to say is that the Christian faith has been much less like a prison and much more like a spaceship or an airplane. I've seen more and done more than I ever would have otherwise.
Even the practice of giving away a substantial fraction of income, though almost unthinkable at first, has improved me and made me more generous. The church is no scam, my friend, not when it is really the church.
Tlaloc, the Christian doesn't believe he gets anything special from the building. It is simply a place to gather, to worship God through the preaching of the word and the making of music, and a context for the intermixture of lives. Through the church, I meet others who have placed their hope in Christ. We encourage one another. We help one another. We listen. We consider. We rejoice. We feel sadness. We pray.
What is not happening is that we enter a building with a brand like McDonald's or Burger King and get our head filled with focus group blather. At least, that is not what is happening in a true church. There are some places where I'm afraid you'd find exactly that.
The nice thing about focus groups is that they pay you.
No, the various manifestations of the Christian church are not brands. In the case of those who are orthodox, the denominations stand for particular theological emphases that actually mean something. You clearly prefer the Democratic party. Is that just a consumerist brand or do they stand for certain things you think are important?
I think we may be having one of those "how do you explain music to a deaf man" moments. No insult intended, but you've just got a screen welded into place that precludes the possibility of real devotion in church.
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