Yesterday we looked at how the Chicago Sun-Times spun the ARIS data into a story about Wiccans, today we turn to Oregon where Nancy Haught at The Oregonian interviews Southern Oregon University sociology professor Mark A. Shibley about what the data means regarding the spiritual makeup of the Northwest.

“Established churches have been in decline, and evangelical Protestantism has been growing. Over time and generations, the mainline and Catholic churches are failing to hang on to young people, and some are being scooped up by mega-churches designed to appeal to the younger generation. New religious movements and spiritualities, neo-paganism, New Age folks have all experimented, explored and are proliferating here in the Northwest. At the same time, the hip California style of evangelicalism has flourished here. Some of those movements have spread up the coast, planted churches and taken hold. Our landscape has gotten a little bit more religious, but in particular ways.”

Shibley, who contributed to the book “Religion and Public Life in the Pacific Northwest: The None Zone”, also points out that many of the increasingly large “nones” demographic found within the ARIS data may very well be exploring spirituality in “unconventional” ways (ie New Age, syncretic mixes, etc). So with “nones” (around 24% in Oregon, 25% in Washington), new religious movements (including Pagans), and evangelicals all flourishing in the Pacific Northwest, does that spell  some sort of looming religious conflict? Maybe not. While evangelicals are certainly absorbing adherents from the slowly dwindling institutional churches, some are predicting a major evangelical collapse in the next ten years.

“Within two generations, evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its occupants. (Between 25 and 35 percent of Americans today are Evangelicals.) In the “Protestant” 20th century, Evangelicals flourished. But they will soon be living in a very secular and religiously antagonistic 21st century. This collapse will herald the arrival of an anti-Christian chapter of the post-Christian West … Millions of Evangelicals will quit. Thousands of ministries will end. Christian media will be reduced, if not eliminated. Many Christian schools will go into rapid decline. I’m convinced the grace and mission of God will reach to the ends of the earth. But the end of evangelicalism as we know it is close.”

Leaving the Northwest, perhaps, to the Pagans and “nones”? I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see, reports of the collapse of evangelical Christianity have come from a number of different sources and been wrong before. Still, if you squint in a certain direction, you can see how our post-Christian future could develop in the next twenty-thirty years.

As for the journalistic merits of the Oregonian piece, it’s a marked improvement over the Sun-Times’ look at Wiccans. While both only used one source in their respective articles, Haught wisely decided to find an academic who understood the ramifications of the ARIS data and then conducted the piece as a straightforward interview.  She also didn’t try to lead with a bad joke, for which I thank her. The end result is a far more nuanced, accurate, and detail-oreinted look at a developing trend.

The Church of England has been having a hard time of it recently. Attendance levels are falling precipitously, women are leaving in massive droves, and hip outreach programs don’t seem to be making much of a difference. So the Anglican bishops have decided it’s time to get back into the old-school conversions business.

Anglicans were commanded to “go forth and evangelise” yesterday in a dramatic assertion of missionary fervour that could jeopardise carefully built-up relations with Muslims, Jews and other faiths. The established Church of England put decades of liberal-inspired political correctness behind it in a move that led one bishop to condemn in anger the “evangelistic rants” … The Church’s General Synod, meeting in London, overwhelmingly backed a motion to force its bishops to report on their “understanding of the uniqueness of Christ in Britain’s multifaith society” and offer guidance in sharing “the gospel of salvation” with people of other faiths and none.

If you think this move is going to cause some internal tensions, you’d be right. While some vicars see every person they meet as “a potential convert”, others are worried that a renewed stridency will only further hinder efforts at evangelistic outreach.

However, the Bishop of Hulme, Stephen Lowe, who leads the Church’s mission in urban life, told The Times that he was “saddened” by the debate. Condemning the “evangelistic rants” of some members, he said: “There are one or two contributions that worried me because they did not seem to have any understanding of the nature of relationship that precedes good evangelism.” He added: “There’s an element of people who have not got experience of living and spreading the gospel in a multicultural, multifaith context telling those who do have that experience how to do it. That makes me very uneasy.”

Will this re-evangelization effort bear fruit? Or will it simply further alienate those already dissatisfied with the church? Whichever the case, I can’t imagine this will do wonders for relations between the CoE and an increasingly multi-religious Britain. While some vicars complain that British Anglicans need “to recover our nerve” and get back to proclaiming the “truth”, they may find that doctrinal correctness could come at the price of an ever-shrinking audience of believers. As for British Pagans, they now know who to avoid at parties and other social functions.

His name is Jeff Harshbarger, and he just wants to help you. Help you escape the evil clutches of Satan and his minions!

“Harshbarger and his wife Liz co-authored “From Darkness To Light: How to Rescue Someone You Love From the Occult,” published in 2005 by Bridge-Logos of Gainesville, Fla. The couple has founded Refuge Ministries and hopes to have Bible study groups formed by this fall … The book is partly an account of Harshbarger’s own commitment to Satanism as an older teen, the collapse of his anti-faith and his journey back to God. It also offers a primer on forms of spiritualism and practical advice on presenting a Christian alternative for young people attracted to those and similar sects.”

There is a certain sense of nostalgia in the air as I read this article, you just don’t see the ex-Satanic cult members pop up the way they used to. This local news piece is really rather tame, to get some of the “good” stuff regarding Harshbarger’s supposedly Satanic past, you have to dig a little deeper.

“We constructed a pentagram, stood within the pentagram, he [a "Satanist" he had met] prayed over me, and laid hands on me. When he laid hands on me, I was literally filled with a demon … When a demon is around you or inside of you, with the sensation of their presence, you lie to yourself. You think that is your power level … I saw each and every one of them [fellow cult members] become demon possessed, and I noticed something in my heart. My heart felt for them. It was like I was convicted. I knew it was wrong. It was like I knew this shouldn’t be happening. I fought that because I’m a satanist. I don’t care about anybody or anything but me. [But] Here I am a caring satanist. I began to ritually try to kill this part of me — this heart, this part of me that cares.”

Still, even that just doesn’t seem very…evil. No crimes, no sacrifices, just a bunch of teens who think they’re demon-possessed. Mike Warnke he isn’t. But anyway, he’s totally saved now, and wants to save kids from the occult, and has teamed up with ex-witch Annie Fintan to warn Christians about Wicca!

“We know what salvation is because our involvement in the occult nearly killed us. And, we have a passion to reach and effectively serve the youth that are being mislead into believing the lies of Wicca and Paganism. We desire to serve you, the parent, in giving you the tools to parent your child in these times. We desire to serve you, the pastor, in effectively helping the youth of your church, so that they will not need a reason to go looking for their answers anywhere else because the Answer is Jesus Christ. And, we desire to serve anyone who has been or knows someone who is considering or involved in Wicca and Paganism, because sometimes you just don’t know what to do to reach those that you love.”

Nowadays, anti-Pagan books are far more polite. Most Christians have learned their lessons regarding whipping up “Satanic Panics”, and know that such spiritual scorched-earth tactics will often backfire. Instead, Christians are taking a cue from marketers, and spreading FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) under the guise of “informing” parents who are “concerned” about their child possibly getting mixed up with the “subtle dangers” of Paganism. Just be careful to not scratch their polite surface, or the old demonizing tactics will spill right out.

Jeff Harshbarger is a relic of a time when Paganism and other new religious movements hadn’t fully emerged from the shadows and into the mainstream. When outright falsehoods could be bandied about without any real opposition or focused criticism. No doubt there will always be a segment of the Christian community who will see demons around every corner, but we can at least be thankful that the time of “Satanic” blood libel, and the merry band of un-convicted ex-Satanic criminals who profited from it, has shrunk to a petulant whisper.

John Morehead blogs about an upcoming conference taking place at Trinity International University in Illinois entitled “Trinity Consultation on Post-Christendom Spiritualities: The New Unreached People Groups”. Who are the “new unreached people groups”? We are.

“The conference will be a gathering of practitioners and scholars addressing the decline of Christianity in the West and the concomitant growth of new unreached people groups expressed in religions and spiritualities such as modern Paganism, New Age, and other alternative spiritualities. Plenary sessions and parallel workshops will address the topics of the future of religion in the West, the make up of the alternative religious marketplace and approaches in engaging adherents of alternative spiritualities.”

The talk is co-sponsored by the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization Issue Group 16 and the Western Institute for Intercultural Studies. Two groups dedicated to “culturally sensitive” evangelism of new religious movements like ours. Participants include the aforementioned John Morehead, new religious movements scholar J Gordon Melton, and Michael T. Cooper, who recently presented a paper about Druidry.

While I suppose it is flattering to receive all this attention from Christians in our increasingly multi-religious society, it does raise some questions. For example, can open and respectful dialog co-exist with attempts by the same people to evangelize and convert us? John Morehead, who is at the forefront of developing new “culturally sensitive” evangelization tactics, is also breaking new ground in opening channels of dialog between Christians and Pagans. Do these dual roles impair real communication? Can we balance dispelling misconceptions without in turn also empowering those who would see our faiths disappear?

I’m all for better dialog and understanding. I think that a basic understanding of modern Pagan theology and practice by the general populace can only help reduce intolerance, discrimination, and the diabolic fantasies that fueled the “Satanic panics” of years gone by. On the other hand, in regards to dialog with Christians, specifically evangelical Christian movements, these efforts at better understanding have in some way helped fuel a rash of anti-Pagan (though somewhat more accurate) books. Christians are talking to us, but many seem to be doing so to help “inoculate” their children and faith community from the “infection” of a post-Christian culture.

I think Christian scholars like John Morehead are doing us a service, but we must remain open-eyed as we engage them. For many Christians, particularly those actively interested in dialogging with us, their active mandate is to ultimately convert us. “Engaging the unreached” is simply a nicer way of saying “evangelizing the unsaved”. The context and attitudes may be different, but the goals remain consistent.

My semi-regular round-up of articles, essays, and opinions of note for discerning Pagans and Heathens.

A Connecticut-based animal cruelty task force is leaping into action after six beheaded chickens were found in a parking lot. Some speculate the animals were the results of a Santeria ritual.

“The eight-member Task Force on Animal Cruelty and the Circle of Violence will consider a growing number of animal abuse incidents in the state and their relationship to domestic violence, child abuse and other types of aggression, said Rep. Diane Urban, D-Stonington, who chairs the task force The group hopes to report back with possible policy changes including tougher consequences that could deter animal cruelty, by late this year, Urban said … ‘There is a lot of information that indicates those who display this kind of behavior might escalate it toward wives and children.’”

While actual animal cruelty might be a warning sign for escalating violence, there is no basis for making the same claim regarding ritualized animal sacrifice in a religious context. A point seemingly lost on Rep. Urban, who conflates sacrificing chickens with dog fighting.

“Whether it’s beheading chickens or dog fighting, it is an alarming sign of people not recognizing the sanctity of an animal’s existence.”

In reality, proper animal sacrifice pays very close attention to the sanctity of that animal’s existence, something your local KFC can’t claim. It should be interesting to see how this unfolds, and if the task force will target ritualized animal sacrifice in the interest of stopping animal cruelty.

The Chicago ABC affiliate reports on the publishing of “The Funniest One in the Room: The Lives and Legends of Del Close”, and recounts some of the exploits of this seminal improvisational comedian.

“A small-town Kansas boy, his early life included stints as a carnie and traveling horror show assistant. Close hung out with a pre-Scientology L. Ron Hubbard, and also became the embodiment of the Beat Generation. He overcame alcohol addiction using an extreme form of aversion therapy and gave up cocaine with the help of a banishing ceremony performed by a Wiccan coven.”

Considering the fact that pre-Scientology Hubbard was heavily into ritual magick, and the fact that a Wiccan coven performed a banishing ceremony for him, you have to wonder if Del Close was a practitioner himself.

It looks like the new BBC-produced television series “Merlin”, starring “Buffy” alum Anthony Head, will be appearing on American network television come the Fall/Winter season.

“While most of NBC’s new shows had been previously reported, Peacock surprised with its acquisition of “Merlin”. FremantleMedia is distributing the series, which is being produced by Elisabeth Murdoch’s Shine for the BBC. Murdoch recently acquired the Silverman-founded Reveille. BBC will air the show this fall, with NBC running it in the winter. It’s a reversal of the usual Blighty-U.S. programming pipeline.”

NBC will also be pulling in the supernatural Canadian drama “The Listener” and the Biblically inspired “Kings” (about a modern-day King David). Kudos to the network for pulling in some talent from Canada and the UK, lets hope it’s a trend that continues.

George Phillies, a candidate for the Libertarian nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 presidential race, is courting the Pagan vote.

“Bigotry is a key theme of right-wing Republicanism, going back to the KKK and Concerned Citizens Councils,” Phillies said. “Like all other patriotic Americans, Libertarians believe that Freedom of Religion is for everyone. No real Libertarian will ever ask that a religion’s harmless practices be banned. This Fall, please take a stand against Republican bigotry. Please vote Libertarian.”

If Phillies actually clinches the Libertarian nomination, which seems a bit unlikely at this point, he could be the first openly Pagan-friendly presidential candidate to appear on a nationwide ballot. You can head over to Phillies web site to learn more about his campaign.

In a final note, an interesting exchange is taking place on the Christianity Today web site. Rabbi Yehiel E. Poupko, Judaic Scholar at the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, calls out Stan Guthrie, an editor at CT, for his endorsement of the “The Gospel and the Jewish People – An Evangelical Statement”. A document signed by several prominent evangelical leaders that advocates a “loving” and “respectful” re-dedication to converting the Jews. Poupko’s response is forthright, blunt, and gets right to the heart of the cultural and spiritual dilution and eradication at the heart of most monotheistic missionary efforts.

“The basis of interfaith conversation must be mutual sacred rejection, a clear understanding of the irreconcilable differences between the faith communities … I reject what is most sacred to the Christian. I am prepared to die for it, as have my ancestors before me. The Christian rejects what is most sacred to me, and is likewise prepared to die for it. Only after respectful mutual sacred rejection, can we identify those beliefs that we share in common … I don’t want Christians to instruct me on what to believe.”

At the end of the exchange, Rabbi Yehiel E. Poupko exclaims that Guthrie, as a Christian, is “capable of understanding me only in your terms.” A common evangelical attitude that can deeply damage healthy dialog and relations between faiths. Poupko’s refusal to acknowledge Jewish conversion attempts as “loving”, while coming from a very different perspective than the Pagan one, is nonetheless an attitude shared by many who wish to grow their faiths in peace without worrying over ever-evolving evangelistic tactics to thwart that growth.

That is all I have for now, have a great day!

There has been some buzz in evangelical Christian circles lately about a new book by David Kinnaman of The Barna Group, a Christian polling and media organization, entitled “unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity… and Why it Matters”. The book paints a rather grim portrait (from a Christian point of view) of attitudes about Christianity held by young people.

“The study shows that 16- to 29-year-olds exhibit a greater degree of criticism toward Christianity than did previous generations when they were at the same stage of life. In fact, in just a decade, many of the Barna measures of the Christian image have shifted substantially downward, fueled in part by a growing sense of disengagement and disillusionment among young people. For instance, a decade ago the vast majority of Americans outside the Christian faith, including young people, felt favorably toward Christianity’s role in society. Currently, however, just 16% of non-Christians in their late teens and twenties said they have a “good impression” of Christianity. One of the groups hit hardest by the criticism is evangelicals. Such believers have always been viewed with skepticism in the broader culture. However, those negative views are crystallizing and intensifying among young non-Christians. The new study shows that only 3% of 16 – to 29-year-old non-Christians express favorable views of evangelicals.”

Source: The Barna Group, Ltd. 2007

Like an evangelical Cassandra, The Barna Group has been warning the forces of (mainly conservative) Christianity that a huge shift in attitudes and ideals will emerge in the next twenty years. Last year, Barna said that more young people were engaging in metaphysical/occult activities than ever before, and that the nature of religious practice itself was experiencing a major sea-change.

“There will be new forms of spiritual leadership, different expressions of faith, and greater variety in when and where people meet together to be communities of faith. Ecumenism will expand, as the emerging generations pay less attention to doctrine and more attention to relationships and experiences. Barna predicted that there will be a broader network of micro-faith communities built around lifestyle affinities, such as gay communities of faith, marketplace professionals who gather for faith experiences, and so forth.”

Can evangelical organizations pull out of the socially conservative death-spiral they have locked themselves into before they lose the youth completely? Some “progressive” evangelicals are trying to change the message, but there are some substantial barriers (and behaviors) to overcome.

“…he talked about how today most young people know openly gay people, and they are having a hard time reconciling what their church says and their valued relationships … Shane and Rick gently danced around a different-more loving-way of relating to gays. But they weren’t arguing that homosexuality was Biblical. Looking around the audience, some people looked thrilled and enthusiastic about what Shane and Rick were saying. Others looked troubled … Maybe 1/5 or 2/5 of the audience applauded enthusiastically. The rest sat still. I saw one head shaking.”

But even if a large percentage of 16 – to 29-year-olds remain immune to Christianity’s charms, we won’t be living in an “unChristian” world. Christian denominations in America hold a powerfully large majority, and it would take generations of shifts like this to eliminate such cultural dominance. What we can hope for is an America where minority faiths grow in prominence and create a situation in which no single theology holds complete dominance on religious matters.

Many of the conflicts on issues like gay marriage, school prayer, evolution, euthanasia, and reproductive rights would look very different in a society where Christianity was simply one religious voice among several voices. Perhaps that is what truly worries Christian organizations like The Barna Group, not an “unChristian” world, but a “post-Christian” world in which politicians don’t have to curry favor with conservative Christians, or pass hateful laws in order to win their votes. So while I sympathize with Christians who realize that issues like gay marriage are “poisoning the well” for future generations, I also hold hope that these trends continue, and a new religious diversity will bloom to ever-greater levels.

Evangelical, Orthodox, Catholic, and mainline Protestant Christian leaders are all now at the table discussing a new mutual code of conduct for religious conversions.

“Evangelical groups have joined efforts spearheaded by Roman Catholic, Orthodox and mainstream Protestant churches to create a common code of conduct for religious conversions that would preserve the right of Christians to spread their religion while avoiding conflict among different faiths. The World Council of Churches, which joined the Vatican last year in launching talks on a code, said Wednesday that the process was formally joined by the World Evangelical Alliance at a meeting earlier this month in France. The code aims to ease tensions with Muslims, Hindus and other religious groups that fear losing adherents and resort to punishments as extreme as imprisonment and even death for converts from their faith and foreign missionaries.”

This groundbreaking show of unity comes in the face of increasing hostility and tensions in the remaining non-Christian areas of the world (the Middle East, China, India, and parts of Africa) where missionaries not only have to deal with anti-conversion laws and lingering distrust, but increasing competition between Christian sects in areas that have already been “converted”.

“It is no secret that the church in Latin America is losing followers and influence, partly because of inroads made by Pentecostal sects and secularization. Brazil remains the most populous Catholic country in the world, with an estimated 140 million baptized Catholics. At the same time, Brazil now claims the largest number of Pentecostals in the world (around 24 million), outstripping even the United States. While noting the “aggressive proselytizing of the sects,” the pope also acknowledged the church’s own evangelical and catechetical failures.”

The groups will meet in 2008 to draft language for the new guidelines, this will include discussion as to which behaviors will be banned. But some worry that this will be a toothless document since no Church will be forced to accede to these rules.

“The council noted, however, that “none of the partners involved intend – nor have the means – to impose the code of conduct on their constituencies, but they all trust that it will be able to ‘impact hearts and minds’ and allow for ‘moral and peer pressure.’”

That lack of authority could pose a problem since the guidelines (once approved by the 2010 deadline) are to be used to calm skeptical governments considering anti-conversion laws, and to “inspire” other faiths to draw up similar codes of conduct. One also wonders if the guideline will acknowledge that much of the current hostility towards conversion efforts stem from the Christian conversions during the colonial period (and to a certain extent, the cold war era), in which missionaries willingly exploited their economic, militaristic, and social privileges in order to gain converts.

“…when one religion creates an agenda of conversion and mobilizes massive resources to that end, targeting unsuspecting, poor or disorganized groups, it is no longer a free discussion. It is an ideological assault. It is a form of religious violence and intolerance.”

One should also consider the fact that a growing number of Christian groups are discussing (and implementing) a “re-evangelization” of Europe and America. This isn’t merely a struggle against secularism, but against modern Paganism and other new religious movements. Will these guidelines apply to those in the West as well as the East?

Personally, I consider acts to eliminate another faith, a spiritual and cultural violence. This isn’t to say I don’t appreciate and applaud the efforts of some Christians to enter into a mutual and respectful dialog with other faiths, but I will always decry the compulsive need to ensure we are all worshiping the same God and bowing to the same savior. The polytheist ethic is one where the multiplicity of belief is not only respected, but acknowledged as the natural state of things. One could hope that these in-progress guidelines are a step towards a realization that other faiths not only have the right to exist, but the right to thrive and grow, but then I have always been something of an optimist.