End of evangelicalism? Not a moment too soon.
The coming evangelical collapse
Oneida, Ky. – We are on the verge – within 10 years – of a major collapse of evangelical Christianity. This breakdown will follow the deterioration of the mainline Protestant world and it will fundamentally alter the religious and cultural environment in the West.
Within two generations, evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its occupants. (Between 25 and 35 percent of Americans today are Evangelicals.) In the “Protestant” 20th century, Evangelicals flourished. But they will soon be living in a very secular and religiously antagonistic 21st century.
This collapse will herald the arrival of an anti-Christian chapter of the post-Christian West. Intolerance of Christianity will rise to levels many of us have not believed possible in our lifetimes, and public policy will become hostile toward evangelical Christianity, seeing it as the opponent of the common good.
Millions of Evangelicals will quit. Thousands of ministries will end. Christian media will be reduced, if not eliminated. Many Christian schools will go into rapid decline. I’m convinced the grace and mission of God will reach to the ends of the earth. But the end of evangelicalism as we know it is close. </em>
Very interesting article, and being that it appears in the Christan Science Monitor, it will likely carry a lot of weight. Some of the reasons for the (overdue) decline of evangelicalism are given, but none more compelling to me than this:
Evangelicals have identified their movement with the culture war and with political conservatism. This will prove to be a very costly mistake. Evangelicals will increasingly be seen as a threat to cultural progress. Public leaders will consider us bad for America, bad for education, bad for children, and bad for society.
Which, if you continue to insist on discrimination against people because of their sexuality or observance of another religion other than your lilly white Jeebus, and keep teaching your children mythological nonsense instead of scientific fact, then you frankly deserve all the condemnation you will receive. You are bad for America and its children. Sorry, but that is what fact, not faith, based people know. Maybe if you spent more time helping people instead of judging them, the rest of us wouldn’t hold you in such contempt.
