Justin Taylor over at Between Two Worlds directed me to a thought provoking post. The article distills some of the numbers from the preliminary 2008 results of the General Social Survey project.
The chart is from that post.
It is disconcerting but not surprising that public trust of organized religion (read: the church) hovers near that of financial institutions that are currently in need of billions in federal bailout dollars. Unfavorable media attention and self-destructive scandalous activities have undoubtedly contributed to that unfavorable impression. What is astounding is the erosion of public trust in virtually all institutions. America has truly become a cynical society. It is ironic that the generation with seemingly unlimited access to information is increasingly becoming jaded by it.
It is ironic, but once again, it is not a surprise. As information abounds, so does the reporting of man’s sinful behavior. By our nature, we desire something to worship. Of course God created us to worship Him, but in our rebellion, we seek to find another object of adoration. But when a scrutinous eye equipped with unlimited information examines each object of our adoration, it is proven fallible. When faith is placed in a fallible institution, it fails. And when faith fails, cynicism flourishes.
The question to ask is: what comes next? What happens when public trust in everything erodes completely? Human nature dictates that won’t happen because of our innate desire to worship something outside of ourselves. We are built with the need to place faith in something or someone, so when all of our public institutions prove themselves unworthy of our trust, we will seek something else. Ideally, this would open doors of opportunity for the Gospel. By God’s grace, some will find the object of worship they were truly created to trust. Many more will not and will thus continue to pursue created things rather than the Creator.
What created things will people pursue after their trust in all public institutions have been betrayed? Throughout history, caustically cynical societies have rapidly devolved into the anarchy of civil war or revolution. As human beings cannot tolerate anarchical situations, a ruler is sought who will save them. This isn’t prophesy—it’s history. Historically, every time a society has become caustically cynical, it rapidly declined into anarchy. And anytime that society became anarchical, it almost immediately turned to a savior (e.g.: Napoleon, Lenin and Stalin, Hitler).
It would be overly alarmist to say that this survey shows that America is standing on the precipice of revolution. It doesn’t. What it does show is an increasing cynicism that will eventually lead us in that direction. In light of that, our prayer and effort should point us in the direction of leading people to the One who will never fail nor disappoint. We should always be increasing our efforts to point people to the One who only becomes more beautiful upon closer examination. The only answer to chronic, caustic cynicism is the absolute truth of Christ.
2 Timothy 3:7
The chart is from that post.
It is disconcerting but not surprising that public trust of organized religion (read: the church) hovers near that of financial institutions that are currently in need of billions in federal bailout dollars. Unfavorable media attention and self-destructive scandalous activities have undoubtedly contributed to that unfavorable impression. What is astounding is the erosion of public trust in virtually all institutions. America has truly become a cynical society. It is ironic that the generation with seemingly unlimited access to information is increasingly becoming jaded by it.
It is ironic, but once again, it is not a surprise. As information abounds, so does the reporting of man’s sinful behavior. By our nature, we desire something to worship. Of course God created us to worship Him, but in our rebellion, we seek to find another object of adoration. But when a scrutinous eye equipped with unlimited information examines each object of our adoration, it is proven fallible. When faith is placed in a fallible institution, it fails. And when faith fails, cynicism flourishes.
The question to ask is: what comes next? What happens when public trust in everything erodes completely? Human nature dictates that won’t happen because of our innate desire to worship something outside of ourselves. We are built with the need to place faith in something or someone, so when all of our public institutions prove themselves unworthy of our trust, we will seek something else. Ideally, this would open doors of opportunity for the Gospel. By God’s grace, some will find the object of worship they were truly created to trust. Many more will not and will thus continue to pursue created things rather than the Creator.
What created things will people pursue after their trust in all public institutions have been betrayed? Throughout history, caustically cynical societies have rapidly devolved into the anarchy of civil war or revolution. As human beings cannot tolerate anarchical situations, a ruler is sought who will save them. This isn’t prophesy—it’s history. Historically, every time a society has become caustically cynical, it rapidly declined into anarchy. And anytime that society became anarchical, it almost immediately turned to a savior (e.g.: Napoleon, Lenin and Stalin, Hitler).
It would be overly alarmist to say that this survey shows that America is standing on the precipice of revolution. It doesn’t. What it does show is an increasing cynicism that will eventually lead us in that direction. In light of that, our prayer and effort should point us in the direction of leading people to the One who will never fail nor disappoint. We should always be increasing our efforts to point people to the One who only becomes more beautiful upon closer examination. The only answer to chronic, caustic cynicism is the absolute truth of Christ.
2 Timothy 3:7
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