The Biggest Stories in Religion go Mostly Unreported



Sexual abuse by clergy is a big story. The decline in young people's belief in the faith is declining.

But underneath and almost unseen is the slow movement of the culture toward something new, different and perhaps almost foreign. How about belief in crystals? Superman came from a crystal.

Almost weekly these days there is a news story about the growth on "nones", people who do not identify with any religion. There are rebuttals to these stories by those in the faith discussing other polls which show the majority believe in some super natural being. Sometimes it is referred to as a god. This, they claim, shows an underlying faith in Christianity.

I'm sure none of us can capture completely the vast variety of what people believe, but it seems to me there are trends revealed in polls that are not discussed enough. One is "new age" religious concepts.

When asked questions like "Do you think astrology governs your love life?", "Do some people possess extraordinary powers to predict the future?" or "Do some substances such as crystals emit spiritual energy?" 70% of Catholics, self identified Christians and black Christians answered yes (the questions also included other new age concepts).

To me this means that when the priest/preacher is talking of "having no other gods before me" some out there in the pews are thinking about supernatural forces other than God.

That the majority of Christians hold onto views that are very "unChristian" helps us understand society. This should be covered more in the press.

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