Stayin’ Alive?

A Review of Why Religion Went Obsolete: The Demise of Traditional Faith in America by Christian Smith

Perhaps you’ve noticed the vibe shift over the past few years surrounding Christianity. Some well-known intellectuals and celebrities have joined the historic Christian faith. And the steady trickle of public conversions is mirrored in a growing undercurrent of young people searching for meaning in the traditional religions their parents eschewed. Some have called it a quiet revival, others, a surprising rebirth of belief in God.

But how do these welcome trends relate to the larger and longer trends of religious decline? Enter Christian Smith, a legend in the world of religious studies and social science, to clear the fog. Smith is best known for coining the term “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” to describe the religious beliefs of many Americans in the early 2000s. Why Religion Went Obsolete offers similar depths of insight and turns of phrase.

Religion Obsolete?

Smith provides clear definitions of both terms. By religion, he is referring to “religious groups that have existed for multiple generations; that have established practices, doctrines, organizational structures, and cultures that are solidified in authoritative texts; and that would not be considered fringe, or ‘alternative’ by the mainstream population.” And when something is obsolete, it’s not necessarily that it no longer works; it’s that it no longer serves the role it once did because of innovations and cultural changes. For example, vinyl records and movie genres like Westerns still “work,” but there is a subjective feel of obsolescence in both.

Religion faces a similar fate. Family structures, economic conditions, moral intuitions, and technological structures have changed in such a way as to make religion seem a quaint relic that no longer serves the central purpose it once did in many people’s lives:

Religion became a species struggling mostly unsuccessfully to reproduce itself in a profoundly altered ecosystem featuring scarce resources and fierce competitors. Young people were coming of age in the face of new outlooks and opportunities for meeting their functional and existential needs. Religion’s title to whatever piece of life’s goods that it has once “owned” was disappearing. That spelled its obsolescence.

Smith puts this change in the late 20th century, noting how the cultural patterns were already in place—and once they start, they are hard to reverse.

He goes on to present meticulous studies and expert commentary. There are gems throughout. I found “Religious Self-Destructions” especially helpful because it is tempting to point at cultural forces outside the church and avoid self-reflection. To be sure, self-reflection can go too far, but there are demonstrable areas where the church didn’t help its own cause and further contributed to religion’s decline through “a series of self-inflicted wounds”: scandals, mission drift, and the weaknesses of “me and God” spirituality, to cite a few examples.

Stick to the Permanent Things

Anyone who tackles this book will end up with a much deeper understanding of the nuanced and complicated—even paradoxical—role of religion today and will find help regarding how better to meet our moment with what will never be obsolete: truth that challenges cultural conceptions, goodness that is intriguing and stable, and beauty that awakens the soul. For religion to survive and thrive it must stick to the permanent things and transcendental mysteries.

Because when we try to make it palatable or trendy, when we try to dress it up to fit the culture or please people, we are ensuring our own obsolescence.