Observations and inanities by a second-shift assistant supervisor in the Puppy-Grinding division of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy® (our motto: "Sure it's cruel, but think of the jobs!"), your host, Brent Rasmussen.
Evangelicals Fear the Loss of Their Teenagers
From the NYT:
The board of the National Association of Evangelicals, an umbrella group representing 60 denominations and dozens of ministries, passed a resolution this year deploring “the epidemic of young people leaving the evangelical church.”
OK, I don't really buy it. I think that this is just another example of the Shaman trying to instill fear in his herd in order to get them to stay close to him. They're claiming to have statistics that only 4% of teenagers are good evangelicals, and therefore their scam is about to whither away and die in the next generation. If only it were so.
But still, when I read a quote like this one:
“I’m looking at the data,” said Ron Luce, who organized the meetings and founded Teen Mania, a 20-year-old youth ministry, “and we’ve become post-Christian America, like post-Christian Europe. We’ve been working as hard as we know how to work — everyone in youth ministry is working hard — but we’re losing.”
I gotta say I like the idea.
Jim Downey
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Haha
Pathetic. I mean, they're evangelicals. If their numbers are dropping, they're either: a) horrible at what they do; or b) wrong on substance. Good riddance.
bee's with honey and all that
So this sort of reminds me of this summer, i've got a first cousin once removed that is a priest, just got ordained oh two-three years ago i think.
I was at a family reunion and overheard him talking to one of my various younger relatives about how
"The endtimes are coming, and I'm just trying to do what i can to make people ready for that"
and later to one of my older relatives about how he just doesn't understand how to reach kids anymore.
i was put in mind of something that i believe Alon said a while back when Hillary C. called every one under thirty lazy good for nothings.
The of all the voter demographics the youth voters are the only one that get threatened into voting instead of promised rewards (well thats not the most representative simplification but it'll due for my point)
and here's my uncle telling people that the freaking apocalypse is coming and repent or be doomed to a bunch of people who get spoken down to and threatened as a significant part of their life, and he wonders why they don't respond.
Similarly it always seems that the only fire and brimstone evangelists are complaining that kids don't care any more. You'd think some one might come along and say "Hey lets try telling them god's love is wonderful instead of telling them that his wrath is terrible, see if THAT helps"
note: god doesn't exist and i fully oppose ANY evangelism but that doesn't mean i don't know a dumb marketing strategy when i see it.
Don't be so quick to gloat
Activists always underestimate their own side's power and overestimate the other side's. Reading the conservative blogosphere's take on the liberal blogosphere, you'd think it's a monolithic entity dominated by Daily Kos and using smaller blogs like Pandagon, Pharyngula, and MyLeftWing as annexes (in reality, Amanda hates Kos's guts and PZ doesn't even read Daily Kos except for DarkSyde's science posts). It's the same thing here: Ron Luce is sure that secularism is a strong force in the US, even though it isn't true.
And...
Ron Luce is such a fanatic that even just 10 people vocalizing their secular thoughts would send him into a furry.
When I met him a couple years back and I questioned something he was talking about on stage he told me "Careful, one lost on our side is a complete loss for our side." (He didnt answer my question, but I left 'our side' shortly after.)
Now, there's an image...
Thank you for the unintentional hilarious image of Ron gettin' it on with someone into animal role-playing. Heh.
No, seriously, I think the whole absolutist thinking of these people is a key insight into their personality. They are indeed fanatics about everything except perhaps critical thinking.
And congrats on escaping.
Jim Downey
"Sometimes I think we're alone. Sometimes I think we're not. In either case, the thought is staggering."
- R. Buckminster Fuller
Interestingly enough
There was something similar to this a while ago, where the Catholic church was complaining that there were too few babies born catholic and at this rate catholicism would vanish (or at least their income will).
Catholics and evangelists are pretty similar, they both subsist on handouts from their followers so I'm not too surprised they're worried about a lack of faithful young people. They want to be well taken care of into their old age after all, at this rate they might have to (gasp) work for a living!