secularism and cultural conflict
 

I read an article in The Atlantic that intrigued me and wanted to see what others thought.

The gist of the article is that liberals thought those who attend church were culturally divisive, and that the secularization of society would end the culture wars. but that is not what is happening.

What is happening instead is that people who stop attending church also stop practicing the basics of love for others and end up becoming more divisive on racial and national grounds.

People who attend multiracial/multicultural churches tend to be more accepting and loving of people in general then the secular population.

I don't agree with everything that is said in this article, but still thought it interesting.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine...-faith/517785/

Re: secularism and cultural conflict
 

The worse Americans fare in their own lives, the darker their view of the country. According to PRRI, white Republicans who seldom or never attend religious services are 19 points less likely than white Republicans who attend at least once a week to say that the American dream “still holds true.”

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine...-faith/517785/

Re: secularism and cultural conflict
 

It does seem that racial prejudice is becoming more and more acceptable. It is a sad development that, as a younger man, I never thought I would see happen.

In the mid to late 90's, it really seemed to me like EVERYONE was moving forward, in their thinking and in their personal economics.

Re: secularism and cultural conflict
 

JD - you are very right. As someone who grew up without worrying about race, the current environment is very disturbing. I believed that "we" (meaning my generation), had finally defeated that demon. But, here it is back again. God help us as "The Church" to keep ourselves free of racism.
As Bro. Ensey said Wed. night, "There is no white church, there is no black church, there is no brown church. The only color that matters in the church is red!".

Re: secularism and cultural conflict
 

The level of racism is quite disturbing. But it is complex and rather beyond my understanding.

There is plenty of racism in society. There is plenty of it in Christianity. It is quite disheartening. I had hoped it would fade into the past.

The challenges never end.

Re: secularism and cultural conflict
 

The Pentecostal churches I have attended have been very multiracial and multicultural, but of course I live in the bible belt.

Re: secularism and cultural conflict
 

I remember reading somewhere that Pentecostal churches are one of the most culturally and racially diverse groups in America. And, I can testify that the same has been my experience. Praise God for the Holy Ghost.

What are some ways we can we address this trend of increased racism in our neighborhood and communities?

Re: secularism and cultural conflict
 

It begins with definitions. There is the one on the street definition, but then there is the ivory tower definition.

When pundits and talking-heads and other intelligentsia speak of "racism", they aren't talking the same language as the rest of us.

What we usually mean by "racism" is rather, to the professors and collegiate elite, what is called "bigotry".

Bigotry is any general negative and caustic attitudes, behaviors, or actions that are generated through an intentional, but perhaps sometimes subconscious dislike for another group of people, usually based off of the color of their skin, or ethnic heritage, or other criteria. This is the day to day divisive nature of the beast that keeps oppression, hatred, and distrust alive and well from one neighborhood to the next.

Racism, then, is the understanding that a particular race of people, usually the majority in some way, whether demographically, economically, or etc., systematically elevates their own interests to the detriment of any other competing races.

This can be something as deferential or even preferential treatment in any strata of society, for the in-group, while concurrently exposes the out-group to harassment, discrimination, criminal actions, and etc.

What can the church do about "racism"? Not a whole lot, as, at least in this country, it's a national pastime that transcends any local assembly or even denomination's ability to confront. The real hope, in my opinion, is that the individual day to day bigotry is something the church can confront, wherever the church is, and through prayer and fasting, corporate repentance for national sins, and etc., as one heart changes, then another, then another, eventually, perhaps, one day, enough hearts will be changed, that the effect is felt at the national level.

Until then, it often comes across as self-serving rhetoric, to say the church is confronting this issue, because even though it can be preached against with righteous indignation--something I've heard more than once in my life--it seldom transitions to any real, applicable change from house to house.

What is for sure, however, is that overcoming one's own innate biases, stereotypically thinking, and bigotry is the providence of the Holy Spirit to accomplish.

It's one thing to love on the brother or sister in the church who is ethnically or racially diverse from you, but what about the sinner, the lost, the criminal, or etc. wasting away toward damnation? How do they fare?

Re: secularism and cultural conflict
 

EDIT: Never mind, I misread the opening post.

Re: secularism and cultural conflict
 

I prefer church with white suburbia and a bunch of white washed latinos.