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How is Moralistic Therapeutic Deism an accurate and correct description of the default religion of America?
The default religion of America has been called Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. It can best be summed up in the following:
1. A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.
2. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.
3. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
4. God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.
5. Good people go to heaven when they die.
Even thought the above is not Christian according to any of the standard traditional creeds which define Christianity, do you think it’s fair to describe the Christian Church in America as promoting and standing for the above? In other words, is the above a fair consolidation of religion in America?
Please state your religious affiliation and your agreement with the 5 points.
1. A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.
2. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.
3. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
4. God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.
5. Good people go to heaven when they die.
Even thought the above is not Christian according to any of the standard traditional creeds which define Christianity, do you think it’s fair to describe the Christian Church in America as promoting and standing for the above? In other words, is the above a fair consolidation of religion in America?
Please state your religious affiliation and your agreement with the 5 points.
answers (6)
more or less, yes.
1. A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.
I agree
2. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.
I agree.
3. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
I believe God created man with free will. It was His hope that man would worship Him. (God has plenty of angels to worship Him, but that's not satisfying as they have no free will.) My answer here goes to God's motivation in creating man.
Man's motivation or "central goal of life" is to live and to procreate. That's the biological imperative. Interestingly, this is also what drives darwin's evolution. It works.
4. God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.
Nope. I disagree with this point on too many levels to list. Let's just say that God is not a vending machine where prayer is your 50 cents and divine intervention is a milky way bar.
5. Good people go to heaven when they die.
Nope. All humans sin and deserve punishment. Christ came to earth, committed no sins and was crucified. His death covers your sin, my sin and the other 6 billion people on earth. The people who will get in to heaven are the souls who accepted Christ's payment to cover their sins.
1. A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.
I agree
2. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.
I agree.
3. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
I believe God created man with free will. It was His hope that man would worship Him. (God has plenty of angels to worship Him, but that's not satisfying as they have no free will.) My answer here goes to God's motivation in creating man.
Man's motivation or "central goal of life" is to live and to procreate. That's the biological imperative. Interestingly, this is also what drives darwin's evolution. It works.
4. God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.
Nope. I disagree with this point on too many levels to list. Let's just say that God is not a vending machine where prayer is your 50 cents and divine intervention is a milky way bar.
5. Good people go to heaven when they die.
Nope. All humans sin and deserve punishment. Christ came to earth, committed no sins and was crucified. His death covers your sin, my sin and the other 6 billion people on earth. The people who will get in to heaven are the souls who accepted Christ's payment to cover their sins.
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PCUSA
Yeah much to my dismay I think it is very much the religion of the day.
1. Agreed
2. I think this is where we start getting bogged down. Our definitions of the words good, fair, and nice are too subjective. Why is nice on there? I think often in practice it simply means don't get people made at you. And while that makes daily life easier I fail to see how that is a virtue.
3. totally disagree. I think the purpose of life is to know god and enjoy him fully.
4. Disagree. I think that God wants to be in every part of our lives. But not in a weird hall monitor kind of way. I just figure if he was the guy who put it all together why would he decide after the fact that he would rather just be a voyeur?
5.Again, what is your definition of good? Like you help out at a bake sale every year? Or you sold everything you have and live among the poor. St. Francis used to beg in the streets of Assisi and then give what ever money he collected to the poor so that they would retain their dignity. Am I that good? Nope. Did he think that was going to get him into heaven? Nope. I think heaven is based more on favor than actions.
This is not just the spirituality of the church but the theology of the streets. we see it on Oprah and hear it from our teachers. It's more new age than christian. Ultimately I think moralistic therapeutic deism is a great way to seem spiritual with out actually having to commit to any particular doctrine or creed. It requires nothing from the individual since goodness, fairness, and niceties are considered subjective.
Yeah much to my dismay I think it is very much the religion of the day.
1. Agreed
2. I think this is where we start getting bogged down. Our definitions of the words good, fair, and nice are too subjective. Why is nice on there? I think often in practice it simply means don't get people made at you. And while that makes daily life easier I fail to see how that is a virtue.
3. totally disagree. I think the purpose of life is to know god and enjoy him fully.
4. Disagree. I think that God wants to be in every part of our lives. But not in a weird hall monitor kind of way. I just figure if he was the guy who put it all together why would he decide after the fact that he would rather just be a voyeur?
5.Again, what is your definition of good? Like you help out at a bake sale every year? Or you sold everything you have and live among the poor. St. Francis used to beg in the streets of Assisi and then give what ever money he collected to the poor so that they would retain their dignity. Am I that good? Nope. Did he think that was going to get him into heaven? Nope. I think heaven is based more on favor than actions.
This is not just the spirituality of the church but the theology of the streets. we see it on Oprah and hear it from our teachers. It's more new age than christian. Ultimately I think moralistic therapeutic deism is a great way to seem spiritual with out actually having to commit to any particular doctrine or creed. It requires nothing from the individual since goodness, fairness, and niceties are considered subjective.
I would consider myself to be "non-denominational" or nearly fundamental Christian.
1) Agree. God did create, and God does watch. He interacts too.
2) Agree. John 13:35 - By this shall all men know that ye are My Disciples, if ye have Love one for another
3) Disagree. The central goal in life is to worship and serve God. Spreading the good news about him. Acts 13:47 For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.
4) Disagree. God wants to be involved in every aspect of you life. He deserves thanks for the good, and wants to fellowship with you in the bad.
5) Disagree. The only way to heaven is through accepting the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross and his forgiveness for your sins.
Those statements made above are MY own personal beliefs and I believe that they DO NOT match up with the "default religion of America" America has had pastors that have babied them so long that many "Christians" do not stand on Jesus as the only pillar of salvation, many of them do not want or need Jesus involved in their daily lives. Many of them feel that the only reason that religion exist is to satisfy their needs to feel good about themselves.
So while I do not belive that those statements are true of the genuine meaning of the Christian faith, they are true of the default position of the majority of Americans that call themselves "Christians"
1) Agree. God did create, and God does watch. He interacts too.
2) Agree. John 13:35 - By this shall all men know that ye are My Disciples, if ye have Love one for another
3) Disagree. The central goal in life is to worship and serve God. Spreading the good news about him. Acts 13:47 For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.
4) Disagree. God wants to be involved in every aspect of you life. He deserves thanks for the good, and wants to fellowship with you in the bad.
5) Disagree. The only way to heaven is through accepting the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross and his forgiveness for your sins.
Those statements made above are MY own personal beliefs and I believe that they DO NOT match up with the "default religion of America" America has had pastors that have babied them so long that many "Christians" do not stand on Jesus as the only pillar of salvation, many of them do not want or need Jesus involved in their daily lives. Many of them feel that the only reason that religion exist is to satisfy their needs to feel good about themselves.
So while I do not belive that those statements are true of the genuine meaning of the Christian faith, they are true of the default position of the majority of Americans that call themselves "Christians"
I have no current religious affiliation, but a background in the Mennonite church and in a nondenominational evangelical Bible-church which could be described as "fundamentalist."
1. It seems to me that yes, it is fair to say that all denominations of Christianity and all accepted forms agree that there is a god who has done those things.
2. The Golden Rule is also generally accepted.
3. This is where these rules break with what most churches in America teach -- this is the default position of American's who may imagine themselves to be Christians, but is rarely if ever preached in a church. It is more a societal belief that less committed Christians happily stick with. (Those who dedicate their lives to religion are not in the business of encouraging people to consider "be happy and feel good" as the central goal of life, but those who would like the convenience of the label of Christianity often espouse such a view.)
4. Again, this is a rule that would not be supported by most religious leaders, but that many, many American congregants or non-church attending self-proclaimed Christians default to following.
5. There might be some Christian leaders who would agree with this, but most believe, sad though it may make them, that only those who accept Jesus into their hearts will go to heaven (aka, it's not enough to be "good" -- or, we can never be good, really, so the only way in is to be cleansed by the blood of Christ.) However, again, I think this is the comfortable default position of many Americans who would also claim to be Christians.
In summation, it is not fair to describe an entity known as "the Christian Church of America" as promoting and standing for rules 3-5, but it is fair to say that the majority of Americans who claim the label of "Christian" passively and complacently believe/live according to those 5 rules.
I do not think it's fair to describe "the Christian Church in America" as promoting and standing for most of the above, but I do think the above might be fairly described as the American "default religion."
1. It seems to me that yes, it is fair to say that all denominations of Christianity and all accepted forms agree that there is a god who has done those things.
2. The Golden Rule is also generally accepted.
3. This is where these rules break with what most churches in America teach -- this is the default position of American's who may imagine themselves to be Christians, but is rarely if ever preached in a church. It is more a societal belief that less committed Christians happily stick with. (Those who dedicate their lives to religion are not in the business of encouraging people to consider "be happy and feel good" as the central goal of life, but those who would like the convenience of the label of Christianity often espouse such a view.)
4. Again, this is a rule that would not be supported by most religious leaders, but that many, many American congregants or non-church attending self-proclaimed Christians default to following.
5. There might be some Christian leaders who would agree with this, but most believe, sad though it may make them, that only those who accept Jesus into their hearts will go to heaven (aka, it's not enough to be "good" -- or, we can never be good, really, so the only way in is to be cleansed by the blood of Christ.) However, again, I think this is the comfortable default position of many Americans who would also claim to be Christians.
In summation, it is not fair to describe an entity known as "the Christian Church of America" as promoting and standing for rules 3-5, but it is fair to say that the majority of Americans who claim the label of "Christian" passively and complacently believe/live according to those 5 rules.
I do not think it's fair to describe "the Christian Church in America" as promoting and standing for most of the above, but I do think the above might be fairly described as the American "default religion."
source(s):
My experience as a once active member of two very different branches of this "American Christian Church" and as an American in general.
In addition, country music and other popular culture platitudes that espouse these five rules.
My experience as a once active member of two very different branches of this "American Christian Church" and as an American in general.
In addition, country music and other popular culture platitudes that espouse these five rules.
It is fair to say that this sort of deism is the default religion of Americans. It also is the default religion world wide. However, it is not the religion promoted by the Christian Churches in America or elsewhere. They particularly oppose numbers three and four. They do not want people to be happy in life as that offers them less scope to sell promises of a better afterlife. They think that religion should be involved constantly throughout life, as that gives them more power and economic opportunity. And of course, number five is worst of all to the churches, for only their own version of religion (and plenty of donations) can get anyone into heaven. Otherwise their customers would want their money back.
Moralistic Therapeutic Deism consists of beliefs like these:---
1. "A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth."
2. "God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions."
3. "The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself."
4. "God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem."
5. "Good people go to heaven when they die."
American teenagers are incredibly inarticulate about their religious beliefs, and most are virtually unable to offer any serious theological understanding.
it is apparent that most religiously affiliated U.S. teens are not particularly interested in espousing and upholding the beliefs of their faith traditions, or that their communities of faith are failing in attempts to educate their youth, or both
For most teens, nobody has to do anything in life, including anything to do with religion. 'Whatever' is just fine, if that's what a person wants."
The casual "whatever" that marks so much of the American moral and theological landscapes--adolescent and otherwise--is a substitute for serious and responsible thinking. More importantly, it is a verbal cover for an embrace of relativism. Accordingly, "most religious teenager's opinions and views--one can hardly call them worldviews--are vague, limited, and often quite at variance with the actual teachings of their own religion."
The kind of responses found among many teenagers indicates a vast emptiness at the heart of their understanding. When a teenager says, "I believe there is a God and stuff," this hardly represents a profound theological commitment.
1. "A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth."
2. "God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions."
3. "The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself."
4. "God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem."
5. "Good people go to heaven when they die."
American teenagers are incredibly inarticulate about their religious beliefs, and most are virtually unable to offer any serious theological understanding.
it is apparent that most religiously affiliated U.S. teens are not particularly interested in espousing and upholding the beliefs of their faith traditions, or that their communities of faith are failing in attempts to educate their youth, or both
For most teens, nobody has to do anything in life, including anything to do with religion. 'Whatever' is just fine, if that's what a person wants."
The casual "whatever" that marks so much of the American moral and theological landscapes--adolescent and otherwise--is a substitute for serious and responsible thinking. More importantly, it is a verbal cover for an embrace of relativism. Accordingly, "most religious teenager's opinions and views--one can hardly call them worldviews--are vague, limited, and often quite at variance with the actual teachings of their own religion."
The kind of responses found among many teenagers indicates a vast emptiness at the heart of their understanding. When a teenager says, "I believe there is a God and stuff," this hardly represents a profound theological commitment.
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