Off the Agenda: Conversations for Building Church Leaders

I'm afraid you are in serious denial if you believe "Atheism has suffered serious setbacks in recent years amid a global resurgence of religious belief". Every respectable survey done in the last twenty years shows that the ranks of non-believers is swelling and in fact is the only "religious" group that is growing via conversion. Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism are stagnant while Islam is growing slightly due to birth rates. Atheists, agnostics, and other non-religious persuasions are growing rapidly. They now are the second-largest group in the USA behind Christians (as a survey released just two days ago shows).

Sticking your head in the sand doesn't change facts. Atheism has a compelling narrative that is slowly but steadily convincing millions of people.

Likewise, Christians do a disservice to themselves and to the possibility of dialog by accusing atheists of being "angry" and "shrill" while ignoring the dozens of angry and shrill Christian spokesman. Being full of hate, anger, and contempt is a human trait, and Christians are every bit as guilty.

Ashley,

Thank you for your thoughtful response! I actually agree with a couple of your assertions. First, you're right that we Christians have more than our share of "shrill" voices. Though I would still contend that we're outmatched by the leading proponents of atheism (I haven't encountered any Christian academics as acerbic as Dawkins). Nonetheless, there's certainly a lot of heated rhetoric on both sides. I didn't mean to absolve Christians of their shortcomings--I was merely describing the tenor of the new atheists. And describing them as angry and militant echoes the descriptions of the movement found in articles from many secular outlets.

You're also right that, in the US, the non religious segment of the population is gaining ground. Whether Christianity will ultimately lose ground in this country is a complex question. Some believe it will become more Christian through immigration in the same way some see Europe becoming more Muslim through the same means.

Where you're absolutely wrong is in your appraisal of the trend of Christianity in general. Consider some of these statistics:

In 1900 less than 10 percent of Africans were Christians. Today the number has surged to over 47 percent.

In 1949 China had only 4 million Christians. Today the number stands at about 82 million. That's over a 20x increase, even factoring in the country's total population growth. Former Beijing bureau chief for Time magazine David Aikman projects that within a few decades 1 in 3 Chinese could be Christian.

Christian faith is also on the rise in South America. Many South American countries report a Catholic majority and a charismatic form of Protestantism is growing most quickly, sweeping whole cities.

The spread of the faith in Korea has been astounding. Seoul is now home to the world's largest church. And Korean Christians are not content with mere domestic growth. Christianity Today reports that now "Korea sends more missionaries than any country but the U.S. And it won't be long before it is number one."

In fact, the Christian faith is seeing a global resurgence not seen since the early days of the church. Islam is growing apace. Writing in The Atlantic Monthly Phillip Jenkins wrote that the 21st century could be remembered by historians as the time "when religion replaced ideology."

I don't cite all this evidence to sound triumphalistic. Atheism is still a powerful force in the world, but it retains its strength almost exclusively in 1st world countries where populations are stagnant or declining. It almost seems doomed to be eclipsed by the growing tide of faith in the global south.

I think the trend is not that atheists and non-theists are growing in numbers; but that they are losing the fear that has kept them in hiding. It is no longer frowned upon to think or to speak your mind in public. That is the truest mark of a declining christian authority in America. I have waited a lifetime to see people lose that fear and welcome it.

"The God Delusion," pretty much covers it. . . that's what you call it when people see/hear/talk to somebody who isn't there or doesn't exist. . .
It's time to let go this last vestige of Bronze Age superstition, and leap joyously into the 21st Century - I mean, how many other Bronze Age myths do we still defend so vociferously? The world was flat in those days. . . we now understand that to be false. The Sun was the embodiment of certain gods. . . we now know that the Sun is a big ball of hydrogen gas. And it used to be that if one heard voices in their head, it was god. . . we now know that hearing voices is a mental illness.
People talk about those in the Middle East still living in the 12th Century - anyone who pushes god, hasn't advanced yet to the 12th Century, they're still stuck in the 1st. . . and I pity them.

The trend seems to be.
If are from a poor nation and have limited education your are more likely to believe in the Christian god.

Officially china is a nation of atheists as their government (wrongfully!) suppresses all religious practices.

It is a shown statistic the poor and uneducated people are more likely to believe in a god.

Interesting topic though.

One need only look at human history over the last thousand years or more to see clearly that the advancement of rational descriptions of nature and mankind over the irrational descriptions, beliefs, and practices of the major religions continue to build in pace, quantity and quality. The specific numbers of the deeply religious contrasted with those who are not are less significant than the continued displacement of irrational thinking by rational thinking. One can focus on "theist vs. atheist", however, one's focus ought to instead be on the growing reach of both the pure and applied sciences into popular culture. Those who ARE deeply religious cannot help but be influenced by the difficult or impossible to refute discoveries and applications of science today and these influences will no doubt continue to grow more difficult to ignore.

Argue against science all you like. The platitudes of religion didn't give you the vehicle you drive or its fuel, it did not provide you the food you consume, the clothing you wear, the efficient house you live in or the medical technology that will someday save your life or that of someone you love. Religion will not and cannot save you from the next pandemic or environmental catastrophe or the inevitable killer asteroid.