I thought it interesting that Thirumeni was not concerened about youths leaving since they ultimately return to have their children raised in the MTC?
Interestingly I came across an article regarding the "religious nones" in the Toronto Star by religion writer Thomas Harpur:
Jul. 13, 2003. 09:43 AM
Positive spin on religion stats unwarranted
TOM HARPUR
I have waited to be
able to take an objective as possible look at the recently released
results of the 2001 census. My special interest was in the part focused
upon religion. The concern was to allow the major media responses to
come in before attempting analysis.
Most of the figures are now well-known and there's little point in repeating them. Some stood out, though. The fact that Muslims now for the first time outnumber Jews, with a rate of increase making Islam the country's fastest-growing religion, is significant.
It underlines the importance of getting to know one's Muslim neighbours
and their faith better. At the same time it affords a much greater
opportunity for doing so.
Since there are about one billion Muslims worldwide, part of our
children's education should include visiting a mosque and learning
about the chief tenets of Islamic belief. (A handsomely illustrated
book for children, What You Will See Inside A Mosque, has just been published by Skylight Paths, Woodstock, Vt., 800-962-4544.)
The number of Roman Catholics was up by 4.8 per cent ? due to
immigration from Catholic countries during the past decade ? to a
whopping 12.8 million, thus reinforcing the reality that Canada is a
predominantly Catholic land. The number of Protestants declined by
about three-quarters of a million (772,830) and there was a big
increase of 121 per cent of people who identify themselves simply as
Christians without any particular denomination ( 780,450). They have
dropped out of organized religion but retain vestiges of belief.
The main headline-catcher in the census/religion story, however, was
the large increase in the number of Canadians who marked down "no
religion" on the forms. Nearly 5 million, or 16 per cent of the
population ? a growth of 43.9 per cent over the 1991 census ? say they
have no religion at all. When the question was first asked in 1971,
only 4 per cent of Canadians registered as "religious nones," to use
the sociological jargon.
What struck me most reading the clippings of the past two months is not
so much this particular statistic itself, but the extremely positive
"spin" put out on this aspect of the story by almost every commentator.
The census said there was a huge decline in all the major non-Roman
Catholic Churches ? Presbyterians being particularly hard hit ? and a
nearly 50 per cent increase in the number of those saying "no religion
at all" in the past decade and yet the major message seemed to be that
of: "Be of good cheer. They're staying away by the thousands, but never
mind they'll all come back one day."
The key source for this upbeat reception of what seemed to me to be bad
news for religion in general ? particularly if anybody dared draw a
graph and project some figures for the next ten years ? was the lone
figure of sociologist Reginald Bibby. Apart from his own op-ed article
in The Globe and Mail, May 14, his name kept cropping up in editorials
and features as the basic authority for downplaying any
negative-seeming aspects of the story.
I did a front page story on Bibby's work as a tracker of religion in
Canada in 1975. A teacher at the University of Lethbridge, he has
issued a regular series of trend reports over the past 25 years.
He has long been at pains to reassure the churches that most people who
say they have no religion really don't mean it. This time, he says he's
not bothered by the sharp rise in the ranks of the no-religioners.
They're just taking a breather, a pause for the moment. The first time
they need a wedding, a baptism, or a funeral, they'll rediscover their
true identity.
In the case of teens, he says that his research shows that two out of
three who say they're "nothing" as teenagers call themselves
"something," Anglican, Baptist, or whatever, within ten years.
However, Bibby is a better pollster than he is an interpreter of the
results. He chides the media for not understanding religious matters.
He, however, lacks theological breadth and often ventures beyond his depth.
The fact that people suddenly remember the church of their childhood or
parents when they need to have the baby "done" is far from the same
thing as remaining in or rediscovering their religious roots. Yes, many
people still find it convenient to use the institution. This use,
however, implies no commitment and certainly no core beliefs of any
kind.
I am in touch with large numbers of articulate, spiritually minded
Canadians and they are increasingly finding church boring, irrelevant,
even "dead." The current decline is a drop in the bucket compared with
what's coming. The Catholic Church will not be excepted.
I take no pleasure in it, but, all is far from well in Canada's
churches. It's the role of false prophecy to cry otherwise just now.
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Theologian and author Tom Harpur's books focus on spiritual growth. Contact him at harpur@ rogers.com.
Additional articles by Tom Harpur
Of all people Tom Harpur should know about the loss of faith and religious decline. He is an ordained priest in the Anglican Church of Canada, while also professing that Jesus never existed as a real person and that Christianity is rooted in paganism, he is the author of
The Pagan Christ.