Gene Poole
2006-06-13 01:35:53 UTC
Christianity in Canada
Sightings 6/12/06
Editor's Note:
Last Monday's column by Martin E. Marty treating "Pro-Life Progressivism"
cited the Spring 2005 issue of the University of St. Thomas Law Journal.
It has since come to our attention that the full contents of that issue
may be accessed for free in PDF format at:
http://www.stthomas.edu/law/studentlife/journal/vol_2_number_2.asp.
Christianity in Canada
-- Martin E. Marty
The DEW (Distant Early Warning) signal of Cold War days may have a
religious successor, which we in the U.S. will notice as the Canadian
border becomes newly relevant. For context: I call the global area west of
Poland, across western Europe and through Canada, and the northern U.S.
through Japan, the "Spiritual Ice Belt." It remains chilly or grows
chillier while the southern world (Africa, Central and South America,
southern Asia) and eastern world (Islam, the rim of Asia) heat up
religiously. Most of the U.S. is between chill and heat. And as for
Canada? Mark Noll, a superior historian who just moved from Wheaton
College to the University of Notre Dame, knows Canadian religion as few
U.S. scholars do, and made it the subject of his presidential address to
the American Society of Church History, whose journal Church History (June
2006) published it. I hope my mention of it will prompt a visit to the
library or the study of your friendly neighborhood church historian. Line
one: "What happened to Christian Canada?" Line two: Noll and most others
in the know assume it once was (more) Christian. Now Christian language
and "public theism" are waning or disappearing from public scenes, oaths
of office, holidays, and all that. Christian education in public schools
moves almost to zero from a once secure place. Same-sex marriage support?
Almost a breeze. (We may want to argue about whether that means
de-christianization, but ....)
Catholic church attendance? Down from the former 80 to 90 percents --
especially in Quebec, where attendance is down to 23 percent. Church
attendance overall is about half as large a percentage as in U.S. polls.
Catholic clergy and religious orders? In drastic decline -- and Protestant
clergy ranks are also in decline. There are empty pews in Catholic, United
Church of Canada, and most other kinds of churches, while evangelicalism,
showing some signs of life, still tends to appear sectarian. Noll asks
what has replaced Christianity as the soul of the body of social cohesion
in Canada.
He spends some time contrasting Canadian religion -- which had been more
established, communitarian, and in a "stable nation-state" -- with the
U.S. and its religion, expressed in "more voluntary and individualistic
terms." I care enough about Canada to be content to dwell on what Noll
surveys and surmises, but I also cannot resist thinking of the U.S. as I
read on, since many of the signs he sees could serve as DEW alerts here.
Just as Catholicism and the United Church no longer contribute to social
cohesion and interpretation of life there, Catholicism and mainstream
Protestantism do less so here than they once did. Of course, what in
Canada was "sectarian" is "mainstream
evangelical-pentecostal-fundamentalist-conservative" and prospering here,
especially in the Sun Belt, formerly known as the Bible Belt. But its
one-fourth of America is often so antagonistic to everybody else that it
is polarizing, not providing social cohesion -- and it won't, unless in a
winner-take-all situation, which is called a "theocracy." Noll ends with
some wise comments from British sociologist David Martin, who has a few
words to say about the churches often not having much to say to the
culture. "The decline of preaching has something to do [with it]." Noll's
favored word for describing Canadian de-christianization is "puzzling."
But he throws enough light on the matter that readers may be less puzzled
than before.
Martin E. Marty's biography, current projects, upcoming events,
publications, and contact information can be found at www.illuminos.com.
----------
The Religion and Culture Web Forum for June features "Religious Identities
of Latin American Immigrants in Chicago: Preliminary Findings from Field
Research" by Andrea Althoff. To read this article, please visit:
http://marty-center.uchicago.edu/webforum/index.shtml,
----------
Sightings comes from the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago
Divinity School.
Submissions policy
Sightings welcomes submissions of 500 to 750 words in length that seek to
illuminate and interpret the forces of faith in a pluralist society.
Previous columns give a good indication of the topical range and tone for
acceptable essays. The editor also encourages new approaches to issues
related to religion and public life.
Attribution
Columns may be quoted or republished in full, with attribution to the
author of the column, Sightings, and the Martin Marty Center at the
University of Chicago Divinity School. Contact information
Please send all inquiries, comments, and submissions to Jeremy Biles,
managing editor of Sightings, at sightings-***@listhost.uchicago.edu.
Subscribe, unsubscribe, or manage your subscription at the Sightings
subscription page.
----------
--
Faithfully,
Gene Poole
http://grace.break.at
God is still speaking
http://www.stillspeaking.com
=============
Remove your hat to e-mail me.
Sightings 6/12/06
Editor's Note:
Last Monday's column by Martin E. Marty treating "Pro-Life Progressivism"
cited the Spring 2005 issue of the University of St. Thomas Law Journal.
It has since come to our attention that the full contents of that issue
may be accessed for free in PDF format at:
http://www.stthomas.edu/law/studentlife/journal/vol_2_number_2.asp.
Christianity in Canada
-- Martin E. Marty
The DEW (Distant Early Warning) signal of Cold War days may have a
religious successor, which we in the U.S. will notice as the Canadian
border becomes newly relevant. For context: I call the global area west of
Poland, across western Europe and through Canada, and the northern U.S.
through Japan, the "Spiritual Ice Belt." It remains chilly or grows
chillier while the southern world (Africa, Central and South America,
southern Asia) and eastern world (Islam, the rim of Asia) heat up
religiously. Most of the U.S. is between chill and heat. And as for
Canada? Mark Noll, a superior historian who just moved from Wheaton
College to the University of Notre Dame, knows Canadian religion as few
U.S. scholars do, and made it the subject of his presidential address to
the American Society of Church History, whose journal Church History (June
2006) published it. I hope my mention of it will prompt a visit to the
library or the study of your friendly neighborhood church historian. Line
one: "What happened to Christian Canada?" Line two: Noll and most others
in the know assume it once was (more) Christian. Now Christian language
and "public theism" are waning or disappearing from public scenes, oaths
of office, holidays, and all that. Christian education in public schools
moves almost to zero from a once secure place. Same-sex marriage support?
Almost a breeze. (We may want to argue about whether that means
de-christianization, but ....)
Catholic church attendance? Down from the former 80 to 90 percents --
especially in Quebec, where attendance is down to 23 percent. Church
attendance overall is about half as large a percentage as in U.S. polls.
Catholic clergy and religious orders? In drastic decline -- and Protestant
clergy ranks are also in decline. There are empty pews in Catholic, United
Church of Canada, and most other kinds of churches, while evangelicalism,
showing some signs of life, still tends to appear sectarian. Noll asks
what has replaced Christianity as the soul of the body of social cohesion
in Canada.
He spends some time contrasting Canadian religion -- which had been more
established, communitarian, and in a "stable nation-state" -- with the
U.S. and its religion, expressed in "more voluntary and individualistic
terms." I care enough about Canada to be content to dwell on what Noll
surveys and surmises, but I also cannot resist thinking of the U.S. as I
read on, since many of the signs he sees could serve as DEW alerts here.
Just as Catholicism and the United Church no longer contribute to social
cohesion and interpretation of life there, Catholicism and mainstream
Protestantism do less so here than they once did. Of course, what in
Canada was "sectarian" is "mainstream
evangelical-pentecostal-fundamentalist-conservative" and prospering here,
especially in the Sun Belt, formerly known as the Bible Belt. But its
one-fourth of America is often so antagonistic to everybody else that it
is polarizing, not providing social cohesion -- and it won't, unless in a
winner-take-all situation, which is called a "theocracy." Noll ends with
some wise comments from British sociologist David Martin, who has a few
words to say about the churches often not having much to say to the
culture. "The decline of preaching has something to do [with it]." Noll's
favored word for describing Canadian de-christianization is "puzzling."
But he throws enough light on the matter that readers may be less puzzled
than before.
Martin E. Marty's biography, current projects, upcoming events,
publications, and contact information can be found at www.illuminos.com.
----------
The Religion and Culture Web Forum for June features "Religious Identities
of Latin American Immigrants in Chicago: Preliminary Findings from Field
Research" by Andrea Althoff. To read this article, please visit:
http://marty-center.uchicago.edu/webforum/index.shtml,
----------
Sightings comes from the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago
Divinity School.
Submissions policy
Sightings welcomes submissions of 500 to 750 words in length that seek to
illuminate and interpret the forces of faith in a pluralist society.
Previous columns give a good indication of the topical range and tone for
acceptable essays. The editor also encourages new approaches to issues
related to religion and public life.
Attribution
Columns may be quoted or republished in full, with attribution to the
author of the column, Sightings, and the Martin Marty Center at the
University of Chicago Divinity School. Contact information
Please send all inquiries, comments, and submissions to Jeremy Biles,
managing editor of Sightings, at sightings-***@listhost.uchicago.edu.
Subscribe, unsubscribe, or manage your subscription at the Sightings
subscription page.
----------
--
Faithfully,
Gene Poole
http://grace.break.at
God is still speaking
http://www.stillspeaking.com
=============
Remove your hat to e-mail me.