UnChristian - What A New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity . . . and Why It Matters

I finally finished reading UnChristian: What a New Generation Thinks About Christianity . . . And Why It matters. It was a difficult read. In the past I’ve reported on the exodus of young evangelicals away from Bush and the Republican Party, and the shift in focus of young evangelicals from culture war topics like abortion and gay marriage, and towards more community and social justice oriented work on issues of poverty and climate change. I picked up the book hoping for a glimpse into how young people are changing the church along these lines. These issues were only addressed tangentially in the book.

Instead, I got a full-throated defense of the most rigid interpretations of Evangelical Christianity and a market research-based attempt to rebrand Christianity among the general US populace, with a strong focus on capturing Millennials and Gen Xers (what the authors calls “mosaics” and “busters’).

In essence, the authors, after extensive quantitative and qualitative research, identify six negative qualities most commonly associated with Christianity. These are: that evangelicals are hypocrites who do not practice what they preach, they are only focused on a superficial “saving” of others souls rather than real connection, empathy and communication, they are anti-homosexual, they are sheltered and ignorant of the real world, they are too political, and they are judgmental. In most instances, the authors assume that evangelicals themselves must accept responsibility for these negative “perceptions,” which are due to their own failure to practice what they preach and live up to the teachings of Jesus. This failure is the meaning of the books title, UnChristian.

It was extremely disorienting, being in the head of someone holding religious and social views so at odds with my own, even more so in that I’m a Millennial and the research and tactics the authors discuss are designed to make their brand of Christianity more appealing to me. In particular, this manifested itself in two ways – or two tensions – that are present throughout the book

The first is between altering the general public’s perceptions of Christians and altering the lives of Christians themselves to more accurately reflect the values they preach and the teachings of Jesus. At times the authors seem to be arguing for a fundamental revolution in how Christians live the Word and use themselves as examples of what they preach. At other times they seem to be arguing for cosmetic or tactical changes - slicker PR to revitalize a dying brand.

The second tension is between that lived, altered, Christian life and the actual values of those they are trying to convert. In some ways, these are fundamentally at odds no matter how much those in the church change their own lifestyle. Gay marriage and homosexuality as a “lifestyle” are the two most prominent examples of this in the text. No matter how much young people’s values change, the Church’s don’t. The authors may argue for greater compassion and empathy for the GLBT community – essentially hate the sin, love the sinner – but at the end of the day the church and its practitioners are splitting hairs. The sinner and the sin are one and the same and the GLBT community, and its friends, peers, supporters in the younger generations don’t see any sin at all. Until the Church comes to that recognition, all their attempts at empathy really will be just so much PR.

Despite my fundamental disagreements with much of the author’s world view, the book is a wealth of demographic and opinion data, and contains a number of smart tactical ideas that could be applied to any persuasion campaign.

Among the findings:

Perceptions of Christianity among 18 – 29 year olds

Outsiders vs. Churchgoers on Homosexuality (% Who Believe the following to be a “major” problem in America)

Young Adults Are Concerned about Conservative Christians in Politics

Mosaics and Busters - More Skeptical that Churches are Loving Environments

Percent Who Agree that the Bible Should Determine the Laws Of Our Country

These numbers are extraordinary. And while the authors see them as a sign that Christianity is in trouble and needs a serious shot in the arm to revitalize itself, I see a chance - offered by Millennials and Gen Xers, or Mosaics and Busters as the author calls them - to move beyond the culture wars that have entangled our politics for so long. There is clear movement among the younger generations away from the christian conservative politics of the past.

By about 20 percentage points, young born-again Christians (21 – 44) are more accepting of cohabitation, sex outside of a marriage and a variety of other “cultural” issues. The evangelical movement seems to be fighting a losing battle. Look at the charts; more young people perceive Christian conservative activism to be a greater problem than GLBT activism. According to the authors, for every 100 young people who are not born-again by the time they are 18, only 6 will make the conversion later in their lifetime. Perhaps most significantly, the authors predict that an equal number of born-again Christians will vote for Democrats in 2008 as Republicans.

Ultimately, the authors and I fundamentally disagree on the meaning of these numbers. Where they see a problem to be solved, I see a trend in tolerance to be nurtured and encouraged. In one instance, though, we are united in our view. Where as they see it as incumbent upon believers to take the more tolerant, community oriented and diverse views of today's youth seriously in an attempt to engage them in a real conversation (that eventually leads back to the Church), I think that progressives must take the religious views of these more progressive churchgoers seriously and engage them in our own conversations. Their numbers may be shrinking but it is in their power to move the political activism of Christians in a direction that is more in line with progressive, social justice ideas. That's an encouraging thought and certainly a conversation worth having.