Religion in America Today
- Ethics, Culture & Social Issues
- Publisher: Cascade Books (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2021
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Publisher's Description
Religion in American Today describes how sacred powers and secular religions have overtaken and infiltrated Christianity. Secular religion is now dominant in America: It assumes the forms of personal religion and political religion. Christianity makes its living within the confines of these secular religions. The point of the book is to identify the idolatry in what now passes for Christianity. Technology and the political state are socially constructed as sacred powers. As such they are idols. In its slumber Christianity embraces technology and the political state to the point of becoming subordinate to them. Concurrently technology and the political state give rise to the dominant secular religions. Personal religion acts as a consumer service, a psychological technique, to acquire health and happiness in this life. Political religion is a consequence of politics replacing religion in the quest for collective meaning in a technological society. Political movements become religious revivals and political parties, churches. This book is an attempt to awaken Christians to the idols that beckon.
Endorsements (4)
“Stivers and van der Laan have delivered a lean but muscular critical masterpiece. . . . Their analysis of today’s impassioned, partisan politics and its colonization of the Christian churches—and their deep understanding of our technological milieu and its uncritical embrace by pastors and churches—should be required reading by all pastors and seminary students. . . . Stivers and van der Laan speak truth to our reality, and the issues they raise must get on the agenda of any leader who cares about the church and the world.”
“Stivers and van der Laan show how deeply political our religions are and how deeply religious our politics are. However, we cannot confuse the United States’ religious fervor for Christianity in practice. Despite this unholy alliance of religion and politics in pursuit of power that leads to violence, our life in a technological system is not hopeless. . . . This important book helps make sense both of our current moment and the future we are collectively walking towards.”
“In this lucid study, Stivers and van der Laan argue persuasively that religion in America is in a precarious state, not so much for lack of numbers or zeal, but for substituting religion for politics, technology (and its product, consumption), or secular, personalist approaches to spirituality. Above all, religion has distanced itself from Scripture.”
“As the modern world surrenders itself to technological domination, modern religion predictably follows suit. Stivers and van der Laan astutely dissect the blatant idolatry embedded within today’s technological religious options. Whether you choose technology’s offerings of political or personal religion, or a combination of both, the biblical gospel of Jesus Christ remains irreconcilable to personal preference. Religion in America Today offers a much-needed prophetic warning against the religious darkness that accompanies technological ‘illumination.’”
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