Hound of Heaven on Our Heels?
“A churchless community, a community where men have abandoned and scoffed at or ignored their religious needs, is a community on the rapid downgrade.”
— President Teddy Roosevelt, Speech in Oyster Bay, 1917
Last week an international conference hosted by the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) was held in London to a sold out venue of 4,000 leaders from across the globe. In the wake of the deconstruction of a number of foundations of Western Civilization, such as marriage and religion, the purpose was to explore the restoration of a flourishing society based on timeless truths. The Enlightenment experiment, which assumed that man’s rationality was enough to order our affairs, combined with materialistic assumptions of the nature of man as animal, has proven insufficient to sustain a healthy society. What then, needs to be done?
For some of the elites at ARC, the answer lies not within ourselves, but in the redemption of religion. Yes, there is a vibeshift, and it may be an unexpected one. The elite are pursuing God, expressed most ardently by ARC posterman Jordan Peterson in his recent book, We Who Wrestle With God. Or perhaps, God is pursuing them.
Social observers such as Robert Putnam of Harvard have been warning for decades that the decline of religion in the West, most recently in America’s rural communities, could have a profound impact on the health of communities. Putnam recently goes so far to suggest that the rise of religion could actually be a key to countering polarization, challenging the common view in elite circles that religion is a primary cause of it.
CityServe, an organization who supports the local church to live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ in its community through compassion, hosted a Day of Gratitude to honor and serve veterans, armed forces, and military families.
In his thoughtful recent Free Press essay, Ross Douthat catalogues a number of intellectual elites, including some ardent atheists, who have embraced the value of religion from a utilitarian perspective, such as Richard Dawkins (“I am a cultural Christian”), or the efficacy of faith such as Ayaan Hirsi Ali (“I have also turned to Christianity because I ultimately found life without any spiritual solace unendurable—indeed very nearly self-destructive.”). Recently, Larry Singer the cofounder of Wikipedia, the ultimate exercise in the pursuit of truth through a collective rationality, detailed his conversion from entrenched atheism, to agnosticism and skepticism, and now finally to theologically orthodox Christian belief.
As Hirsi Ali said: “Atheism failed to answer a simple question: what is the meaning and purpose of life.” This is the vibe shift, the question is now how the elite influencers and institutions of society will respond to it.
There are a number of efforts underway to (re)establish the role of religion in society for shared flourishing, including a series of grants from the Lilly Endowment to help churches of all denominations, doctrines and creeds tell their own stories. For decades the John Templeton Foundation has been funding research into the benefits of religion for individuals and society. I have been a cheerleader for the Faith and Media Initiative which has been working with both press and entertainment to help them reflect more accurately in their content the reality that most Americans are spiritual, most are religiously affiliated, and most want to see faith referenced in their media. Their website contains a healthy list of the benefits of religion.
How the Faith and Media Initiative seeks to promote understanding.
My own short list of the importance of religion includes:
Increasing Personal Well-Being. Research shows that religious belief and spiritual practices contribute to higher levels of happiness, life satisfaction, and overall well-being. Young people who attend religious services regularly have lower risks of substance abuse and depression. Couples who share religious beliefs tend to have stronger marriages. Patients who engage in religious or spiritual practices experience faster post-surgical recovery and better health outcomes. Finally, prayer and religious coping mechanisms are linked to lower stress and improved immune function.
Contributing to the Common Good. Research suggests that students from religious backgrounds perform better academically and are more likely to complete higher education. Studies show that inmates who participate in faith-based rehabilitation programs are significantly less likely to re-offend upon release. Religious organizations contribute significantly to social welfare by operating food banks, homeless shelters, hospitals, and educational
Samaritan's Purse staff and volunteers served in middle Tennessee, ministering to families who lost their homes and belongings to a devastating flood.
Ensuring a Well Functioning Democracy. Religious participation fosters civic engagement and democratic values and correlates with higher levels of volunteerism, charitable giving, and social cohesion. And as mentioned, Putnam argues that religious communities play a key role in building "social capital," fostering trust, cooperation, and community cohesion. Finally, the Founding Fathers, including Washington and Adams, argued that democracy requires a moral citizenry, and religion is a key source of moral formation. Washington said in his Farewell Address that “of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.” And Alexis de Tocqueville observed that religious belief was essential to American self-governance and social stability.
Washington’s farewell address, in which he commissions the future America.
Providing a Foundation for Civilizational Flourishing. Religious teachings shape ethical behavior and community values, serving as a foundation for legal and social norms, and a decline in religious adherence has been linked to increasing social fragmentation and moral relativism. The Founders understood that human rights are not determined by the majority, but are "endowed by their Creator," emphasizing that human dignity and freedom are not subject to majority rule, and without this foundation, rights become arbitrary and vulnerable to state overreach. As President John F. Kennedy affirmed in his 1961 Inaugural Address: “The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.”
The reality is, America is a uniquely religious nation, and despite predictions otherwise, religion is not wasting away. Citing recent data from the Pew Research Center, the New York Times’ Ruth Graham noted that “after years of decline, the Christian population in the United States has been stable for several years, a shift fueled in part by young adults … and the number of religiously unaffiliated Americans, which had grown steadily for years, has also leveled off.” In fact, the Wall Street Journal reported a 22% jump in Bible sales this year to rising anxiety, a search for hope, and fueled in part by first-time buyers.
If this is the vibe shift, how should elite influencers in the media, researchers in academia, public service NGOs and institutions such as foundations respond to it? From Washington's Farewell Address to Lincoln’s speeches, U.S. leaders have consistently affirmed religion’s role in public life. Perhaps elite influencers need to as well. Yes, religion has been misused and abused to justify oppression and injustice, but what it has contributed-and its potential to contribute to future flourishing- begs for a thoughtful conversation.
Religion and spirituality contribute significantly to individual well-being and the common good. Research across multiple disciplines affirms that religious belief fosters personal resilience, strengthens communities, enhances democratic participation, and upholds foundational moral principles essential for a flourishing society. For the health of our nation, we need to promote religion as a public good whether or not we individually embrace a particular faith’s truth claims.
As President John Adams wrote in his letter to the Massachusetts Militia, 1798: “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”