As a Christian I have always winced whenever I heard or read polls showing the loss of faith (I viewed these losses as followers of Christ) in America. Yesterday, I remembered what Jesus said: “You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose the easy way. But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it.” (Matthew 7:13:14)
Looking at my family and their "Catholicism" (I put this in quotes because they call themselves Catholics but they have never touched a bible, been to church in years or prayed to God.) I have always thought the high numbers of people who label themselves Christians or Catholics are not what they claim to be—Christian meaning "follower of Christ." I do not pretend to know who is or is not a follower of Christ but I do know that many who claim to be such do not know why other than the fact that their parents were or they attend church every couple of years.
What I have concluded is that the polls are still wrong. The numbers are too high if you believe what Jesus said about the gate that leads to eternal life (John 10:7-9) is "narrow." This does not mean that it is difficult to become a Christian, but that there is only one road that leads to eternal life with God, and only a few decide to take it. Living his way may not be popular, but according to Jesus and his followers it is true.
In conclusion, I would like to opine on ABC's mentioning of those who regularly call themselves "spiritual but not religious." This title I hear many claiming today as if it were unique is a false kind of pastiche of self expression more than anything else. Their idea that spirituality is something you just kind of paste together to meet your own expectations are mostly about self-esteem, pride and fulfillment. "Spirituality" is American in the sense of wanting everything. It started with "new age" spirituality that took one idea from column A and one from column B or maybe just made-up new columns—see Oprah. What can usually be said of these "deep thinkers" is that very few could say that they ever picked up and read a religious text (e.g., the Bible), but their criticism of such a text is biting, passionate, condescending, matched with a certainty that could pass any polygraph test. As Dinesh D’Souza said in his debate with Christopher Hitchens: Rejection of the Judeo-Christian God is not an intellectual one—it is a moral one.
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