The way religion is organized, practised today is obsolete for many: author

When I started my career over 40 years ago, I used a typewriter to write all my stories. It worked fine; I had no complaints back then.

But now I have a computer with a sophisticated word processing program. I could still use a typewriter, if I wanted — it still would work. But for me, like for most people, typewriters are obsolete. There’s no going back.

Is something similar happening in the world of traditional religion? For Christian Smith, one of the premier scholars about religion in the U.S., the answer is yes. Like the typewriter of old, the way religion is still organized and practised today is obsolete for many, especially young people.

That’s the argument he makes in his new book Why Religion Went Obsolete: The Demise of Traditional Faith in America (Oxford University Press).

For Smith, a professor of sociology and director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at the University of Notre Dame, it’s clear that traditional religion has suffered major losses on multiple fronts, including declining attendance, membership and moral authority — especially among younger people.

While nobody can dispute the changes, it’s the causes that interest Smith. “We have the metrics,” he says, adding the goal of the book is to understand the causes.

Through extensive interviews with members of Generation X, Millennials and Gen Z, he concludes that traditional religion has become obsolete for younger generations and, increasingly, for older people, too. It just doesn’t work for them.

By saying traditional religion is obsolete, Smith isn’t saying it is no longer valuable or that it isn’t still meaningful to some.

“Obsolete does not mean useless or failed,” he says. “It just means having been superseded by alternatives that most users deem preferable. Existing electric typewriters can still type letters as well as they ever did. Most people just prefer computers.”

Like typewriters of old, the old way of doing religion — meet on Sunday mornings, sing some songs and hear a sermon delivered top-down by clergy without any way to interact or engage with the preaching — has become outdated and incompatible with the way most people live and learn today.

That way of doing religion “doesn’t fit the zeitgeist of the age,” Smith says, adding that the idea of traditional religion has been weighed down by sexual abuse scandals and the involvement of many Christians in right-wing politics in the U.S. (For the church in Canada, the problems would include the historical involvement by some churches in residential schools.)

Another reason why traditional religion is becoming obsolete for many younger people has to do with changing views on diversity, including sexual diversity. “Many people see religion today as hurting, not healing,” Smith says of the way some religious groups exclude LGBTTQ+ people or don’t allow women to be clergy.

Smith also attributes their disaffection to technological disruption through the Internet and social media, which has changed the way people get information and interact with each other. Changes in how people work also plays a role; people today need to be more flexible and mobile in their jobs, which means frequent moves and schedules that disrupt attendance at religious services or membership in places of worship.

Individualism, with its emphasis on personal authenticity and autonomy, also contributes to the changes. So does the desire by many to develop their own unique ways of being spiritual — ways that are devoid of doctrinal baggage, communal obligation and the need to be part of organizational structures.

One thing Smith is clear about is there is no overarching secular or atheistic conspiracy to derail religion, as some religious people seem to believe.

“Many people are still spiritual, they are just not into traditional religion,” he says. “They aren’t becoming atheists. They still believe in God or a higher power. They pray and meditate. They want meaning and purpose. They’re just not finding what they are looking for in church.”

One thing Smith wants religious leaders to know is what’s happening in the world or religion today is not their fault.

“Clergy did nothing wrong,” he says. “The culture and context just changed. There are sociological forces beyond their control. They need to understand that.”

He also wants to disavow them of the notion they can fix things by offering cool new programs, music, technology or other experiences. “No new idea or program will change what is happening,” Smith says. Clergy “just have to find ways to live faithfully in this context … there are no easy fixes.”

What about stories about churches that are packed, or reports about revivals in some locations? These things are happening, Smith says, but they are localized one-offs that don’t represent the picture of overall decline in traditional religion.

As for the rise of Christian nationalism in the U.S., with new laws about prayer in school or posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms, Smith says that’s not a sign of religious resurgence in that country but an expression of its obsolescence. “It’s a desperate attempt by some Christians to change the story,” he says.

Smith’s book is about the U.S. But what’s happening to religion there is true in Canada, too — we may be 10 or more years ahead of them. If he is right, then it’s incumbent on Canadian religious leaders to find creative ways to be faithful in this new context, too.

faith@freepress.mb.ca

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