Over on Beliefnet, Rod Dreher of the Morning News, delivers a thoughtful post that asks whether watered-down religion is any better than no religion at all:
We’re all super-Jesus-y in the Dallas area, but the impression one is left with is that despite the megachurch religiosity regnant in the ‘burbs, there’s a deep hole people keep trying to fill with stuff, and with the manic pursuit of success …
Is it better to live in a society where Christianity is virtually dead, replaced by secular materialism, or in a society where Christianity has been hollowed out by an emotionally satisfying but largely counterfeit version of the faith?
The question comes in response to the argument that America has a claim to stronger morals based on our higher church attendance and belief-in-God statistics. There’s no simple answer, and I’m glad that Dreher doesn’t pretend to have one.
