New York Times columnist Ross Gregory Douthat was interviewed in the May 2012 edition of Christianity Today on the occasion of the release of his latest book: Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics (2012). He suggests that the United States has always been a “nation of heretics,” but that this tendency was, until recently, always countered and overwhelmed by institutional Christianity. In response to the question “How can we begin to address a nation of heretics” Douthat proposes, “Christianity’s failure in the United States is an institutional failure, and the answer to institutional failure is stronger institutions” (p.39).
So What?
I read, re-read, and read yet again Douthat’s words: “the answer to institutional failure is stronger institutions.” The future he imagines is very different than the one I believe likely (for more on my vision, read “The Future of the Church: 10 Shifts“). While his conclusion cannot be dismissed by his tradition, understanding his own religious journey certainly colors his shaping of this assertion. Douthat grew up as a Protestant before converting to Catholicism at age 17. Admittedly, it is hard to imagine reform within Catholicism that would result in a less institutionally driven and less hierarchical tradition. It is not, however hard to imagine such for Protestantism.
Do you believe the future of American Christianity will be more or less institutional? Why? How does your experience in one or more Christian traditions help shape your perspective?