WHO'S WINNING?

A Religious Culture?

This week we look at Evangelicals from the perspective of sociology. The interview segment from the Life of Meaning is with Alan Wolfe, of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life at Boston College. The title of the chapter is "Who Is Winning - Evangelicals or American Culture?" The chapter has two segments. First, Wolfe speaks to some of the characteristics of Evangelicals. Because of research and survey his point of view is more descriptive than prescriptive of what an Evangelical is. Then it is on to the perception of discrimination toward evangelicals as they themselves perceive it. Below are Wolfe's comments for your response.

"evangelicals are neither as discriminated against as they think, nor as evangelistic as they claim."

"There is a kind of emotionality to our culture that I think owes a great deal to evangelical forms of worship."

(Culture)"will change religion, just as religion will change culture." But (Evangelicals) "are far more shaped by the culture than they are capable of shaping the culture to their own needs."

Regarding America's religious traditions today:
"The individual just plays a much larger role."

Mutual perspectives:
"If you're a religious believer, you think that the whole world is organized by secular humanists and atheists who hate you. But if you're an atheist, you believe that the US is dominated by Christian fundamentalists who hate you."

"Evangelicals really aren't that marginalized." They often reply like all groups: "We haven't been accepted by the media yet." But "Evangelicals think they play fewer video games and watch less violent TV than they actually do."

"I don't see that explicitly proselytizing, witnessing, heavy-duty evangelization has much of an impact. This is America. You've got to let people find their own way."