Some good news for a change

I'm still working my way through God Is Back. This time I wanted to share some good news, always nice to hear in this troubled time.

For one thing, America today is a strong refutation of the idea that modernity was bound to destroy religious faith. The United States today is still very religious. For example, 9 in 10 Americans believe in the existence of God or universal spirit. A majority of American adults say they pray at least once a day. Around 75% believe in life after death. Nearly 80% believe that miracles still occur today as they did in ancient times. Over 60% report they or members of their family belong to their local church or house of worship. One statistic I found interesting was that 21% of atheists say they believe in God or universal spirit. How does that happen? Oh well...

Europe seems to be waking up to religious faith too. Over 2 million Britons have taken the Alpha course, which focuses on spiritual growth. Pilgrimages are booming. The number of adult confirmations in the Church of England has risen sharply. Religious people in Europe reproduce more enthusiastically than secular people, which may give religion an important long-term advantage.

The authors report a mountain of evidence that religion is good for you, according to social scientists. For example, one doctor has discovered that weekly church attendance can add 2 to 3 years to your life. Another study found that religious observance might enhance immune systems and lower blood pressure. Religion also seems to be correlated with happiness. Attending religious services weekly has the same effect on people's reported happiness as moving into a higher income distribution. Religion can also combat bad behavior. One study found, for example, that religious participation is associated with lower rates of crime and drug use.

Religions in America provide much good for their communities. The authors use Philadelphia as an example. More than 90% of the city's congregations provide a social service of one sort or another. They provide medical care, they work to alleviate poverty, they help prisoners, they try to improve the lot of single-parent families. One person calculated that it would cost Philadelphia $250,000,000 a year to replace all the work done by the churches.

In a later chapter, the authors talk about an interesting change in Christian intellectualism. At one time evangelicals were not considered intellectual heavies. But today, the authors report, evangelicals are rediscovering the life of the mind. They credit Billy Graham and C. S. Lewis as major influences. Over the past 30 years the proportion of evangelicals earning at least a college degree has increased more than any other religious tradition. Several universities have set up Veritas forums that bring students and professors together to discuss the relevance of Jesus Christ with intellectual issues.

Yes, there are terrible things happening in the world today. But it's nice to know that religion, and especially evangelical Christianity, is on the rebound. We are part of a movement that is helping the world today.