Not content with permitting itself to be swamped by Muslim immigration (Quick: man the Viennese barricades!) it seems that poor old Europe is also committing cultural suicide by forgetting to worship god. In fairness, Rod, being smart, doesn’t quite share the apocalyptic vision of Europe’s future that has become oddly popular amongst American conservatives. Nor, also being smart, does James Poulos who weighs in here.
In any case, the extent of European “godlessness” is exaggerated. For instance, though only 12% of Scots remain official members of the Kirk, the proportion of church going Scots rises to somewhere between one in five and one in four once all other religions and sects are added. Though these things depend upon how one defines “church attendance” other countries have rather/still higher participation rates.
Now, sure, this isn’t the universal – or near universal – observance of days gone by. But in an increasingly fragmented society in which (happily) there’s space for everyone to do their own thing, religion still does pretty well, even if its customer profile is aging more rapidly than the ecclesiastical authorities might like.
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