I speak from the christian perspective, but i think the critiques I present are universal.
Christianity in the United States is dying, the elements that maintain, for the most part, are those of the fundamentalist bend, that grow because they attract a particular personality type and have gotten good at attracting those personalities. This element of religion will always have a small element of growth. We would mostly likely overlook this aspect of church growth if the whole of the church was healthy.
Yet the whole of the church is not healthy, we see shrinking numbers in the mainline churches and to a certain degree in Roman Catholicism. So many today are turning away from Christian churches because they are perceived as judgmental or like a social club or full of hypocrites. People just don't see reasons to go to church. Those that attend church can't figure out why no one new is coming through the doors and more and more people are exiting.
We have allowed our church to be co-opted, not by the fundamentalist factions, but by the exact opposite. We have allowed Christianity to become a brand name, devoid of meaning. It has become more of a social marker than anything else. We witness corrupt politicians mention Jesus and watch their numbers go up. We see business leaders mention their commitment to biblical laws and lines running out their doors. We no longer actually look for christ like behavior, we listen for the code word, the code to a particular lifestyle, something that these days is akin to middle-class middle america. Going to church has become a social event instead of a spiritual event, and those that are looking for real spiritual food are not getting it within the walls of so many of our churches. There is no mystery, everything has become concrete, being a christian is defined as a set of political viewpoints instead of the saving grace it is in heaven. In our current climate it feels more important to point out that you are a Christian than it does to actually walk the walk. Think of someone who follows the teachings of christ, living in poverty and humility, spreading love. But what if that person never said the word Jesus? What if when that person prayed, they simply acknowledged a greater being, remaining neutral on the specifics of what that being should be called. There some in our country who would consider that person a "non-christian" and an outsider, no matter how much love they were to spread.
That is not to say that all churches and that all Christians have lost there way, but far too many have.
A classic understanding of theology is faith seeking understanding. Our faith is no longer even involved, it is so often more about being seen, and if not about being seen, spending time with a particular group of friends.
There is nothing particularly wrong about wanting to spend time with friends or being seen in certain social circles, but it is not church, and as long as we parade it as such, churches will continue to die, some slower than others, but they will die.
For those that find ourselves on the left handed path, we can remind churches of their true meaning. We can spend time, telling our stories of personal spiritual journey and ask where the spiritual health of a particular church is. One of the reasons so many churches go down the road of becoming more institution than spiritual center is that it is easy to do from the inside. The more insulated a church becomes, the easier it is to propagate this sort of false religion that leads to ultimate death.
In our journeys we have the joy of encountering engaging communities of faith that will deepen our own spiritual health. In our journeys we have the opportunity to strengthen other faith communities, pulling them from the road of becoming nothing more than an "-ism". In other places, the wisest path may be to start new communities of faith, for the old one may just be too far gone.
We have to inspire folks to place more importance on doing than just saying. We need to find the places where this is already happening and lift them up. While on the left handed path, we have responsibilities.
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