John Sides recently wrote an article for the Washington Post titled “White Christian America is dying.” John is an Associate Professor of Political Science at George Washington University. His article is based on a survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute founded by Robert P. Jones and the book authored by Jones, “The End of White Christian America.”
There is not enough space here to address all the results of the survey, but there was an interesting trend. There was a considerable generational decline in those claiming to be Christian with a corresponding increase in those claiming to be unaffiliated with any religious tradition.
While the survey cited a number of reasons for millennials leaving the church, one reason stood out for the youngest age group surveyed. Seventy percent of millennials, 18-33, “believe that religious groups are alienating young adults by being too judgmental about gay and lesbian issues.”
Of those millennials raised in a religious home but now claim to be unaffiliated with a religious group, thirty-one percent said “that negative teaching about or treatment of gay and lesbian people by religious organizations was somewhat or a very important factor in their leaving.”
I have said this before and it bears repeating here, the kingdom of God is not a democracy. We do not get to vote on what is or is not a sin. That holds true for sexual sins including homosexuality.
The homosexual lifestyle and the LGBT community’s pursuit of what they believe is marriage equality are dividing our culture. Currently, homosexuality is riding a wave of unprecedented popularity with no sign that popularity has crested.
There is much misinformation and misunderstanding on both sides of the issue. Gay and lesbian couples believe they are being discriminated against when Christians of good conscience do not want to be a party to something the Scriptures condemn. Disagreements arise over the limits of religious freedom and because those disagreements are emotionally charged they tend to generate more heat than light.
Divine admonitions are not arbitrary; there are always practical implications to transgressing what God declares to be sin. Recent legal rulings coupled with the growing acceptance of homosexuality have created seismic shifts in our nation’s morality and laws. These shifts are relatively sudden with no long-term statistical data of the effect of these changes on our society.
The Scriptures warn, “You shall not follow after the masses in doing evil, nor…turn aside after a multitude to pervert justice,” Exodus 23:2. Popular opinion sometimes is little more than mob rule. I think millennials would be well advised to think clearly about traditional marriage and not be so impulsive about changing something that has worked for thousands of years.
There is a reason why no civilization, culture or religion in the history of mankind has flourished celebrating the homosexuality lifestyle, because it is biologically unsustainable. Christianity, whatever color or ethnicity, is biologically sustainable; millennials should rethink which one is dying.
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