The Oprahfication of Religion  by  Chuck Colson

In the weeks following September 11, church attendance rose dramatically. Americans who hadn't stepped inside a church in years suddenly felt the need to turn to God.   This religious surge caught the notice of many cultural commentators. "God is back," announced columnist Peggy Noonan.
But then a new poll came out-one that painted a dramatically different picture. Released by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, the poll found that the percentage of Americans who believe that religion's influence on American life is increasing has dropped back to pre-September 11 levels. Ironically, one religion to continue to enjoy favor is the one you'd least expect. Thirty-eight percent of all Americans now hold a favorable impression of Islam. This, notwithstanding the fact that the current wave of terrorists in Israel are all fervent Islamists.
What's behind this finding? My guess is Americans have bought into mushy religious ecumenism, endlessly preached by leaders in both government and   (Continued on page 2) the media. Islam is a religion of peace, we're told. All religions are seeking the same god, we're told. And the Islamic terrorists who murdered 3,000 of our citizens? Our new preachers have an answer for this: These men hijacked Islam itself.

Equally problematic is what the poll exposes about Americans' beliefs about the relationship between religion, morality, and truth. For instance, 60 percent of Americans believe that growing up in a religious home makes it more likely that a child will become a moral adult. Yet less than one-half of those polled think a belief in God is necessary to be a moral person. Clearly, morality in the minds of most Americans has been divorced from religion-unthinkable a generation ago.

Most startling is the finding that more than three-fourths of all Americans believe "many religions can lead to eternal life." Shockingly, nearly half of those who identified themselves as "highly committed" evangelicals agreed with this statement! Haven't they read Jesus' warning that "no man comes to the Father but through me"? How can the contrary proposition, that men come to the Father through Buddha or Mohammed, also be true? Even in this postmodern age, we haven't entirely suspended the law of non-contradiction.

I can only conclude that Americans have succumbed to what has been dubbed the "Oprahfication" of religion, a term that takes its name from the famous talk-show hostess who treats her program like a public therapy session. Everything is emotions and feelings- which is why columnist Terry Mattingly defines "Oprahfication" as the assumption that "all truth is based on human experiences, feelings, and emotions as opposed to the claims of religious doctrine, transcendent faith, or cultural traditions." In "Oprahfication", a religion's importance is in how it makes us feel, not whether it's true. In fact, questions about truth claims are considered impolite-even intolerant. If a particular belief system makes people happy, and if its adherents behave themselves, who are we to judge what others believe?

Mattingly believes this is the direction American religion-even evangelicalism-is headed. The poll numbers bear him out. An Oprah-ized worldview causes people to see all religions, even those with diametrically opposed doctrines, as equally valid.
         
Clearly, Christians have their work cut out for them. In our Oprah-ized religious culture, we must help people understand that religion is not a matter of sentiment but of truth; that there is such a thing as truth, and it is knowable.

I'll be the first to admit that this is no easy task. I recently urged a large gathering of Christians to evangelize Muslims, lovingly and gently. You'd have thought I was the anti-Christ. One newspaper said I'd uttered the most dangerous statement anyone could make in the world today. Others claimed it was contrary to biblical teaching to question other people's faith. But insisting that the truth claims of Christianity, or any other faith, be taken seriously isn't intolerant. Quite the contrary: It accords them the respect they deserve and accepts them for what they claim to be.
We'd be mistaken to live and die by the latest polls. But this Pew poll, on its face, at least, is deeply troubling. Unless Christians get a better grip on what we believe and how to make the case for truth, the polls will one day tell a sobering new story: the demise of truth-based Christianity.