Introduction to Christian Theology by Bradley C. Hanson

Author:Bradley C. Hanson [Bradley C. Hanson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2008-07-15T09:43:00+00:00

The new individualism is also manifest in a looser institutional loyalty. A sign of this is a much higher rate of switching religious denominations. Whereas a 1955 Gallup poll revealed that only 4 percent of adults in America had moved out of their childhood religious faith, in 1984 about 33 percent had switched.' Even among those who have stayed in their denomination, individualism is evident in the nature of their connection; many stay on their own terms and because they feel the institution is satisfactory in meeting their personal needs. Personal choice has influenced the way many Catholics relate to their church. Following the pope's reasserted opposition to artificial means of birth control in 1968, there was a substantial decline in Catholic mass attendance. Later, when many Catholics returned to regular attendance, they slid so on their own terms by disagreeing with their church's teaching on birth control.' The facts that the Catholic birth rate in the United States is about the same as that for all Protestants and that mass attendance has leveled off since the 1970s indicate this selective Catholicism continues today. And a great many people who stay in their denomination do so not primarily out of a sense of service to that church, but because they feel the church is doing reasonably well in meeting their personal needs. So for many of those who remain in their denomination, the self is also more important than the group and the group is valued insofar as it serves the self."

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