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The observer | FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 2023 | ndsmcobserver.com
Inside Column
The golden light
Religion’s death will be at the hands of politics
Liam Kelly
Blake Ziegler
New Writer Editor
News with Zig
My favorite ending to a novel has to be the ending of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece, “The Great Gatsby.” In the final scene of the book, Nick Carraway sits on Gatsby’s beach, looking forth across the bay towards the flashing green light at Daisy’s house. Nick reflects on how Gatsby “had come a long way, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it.” To Gatsby, the green light that he looked longingly toward represented all of his hopes and dreams, all seemingly within reach. Night after night, he gazed across the bay, imagining a future that might someday become real. I first visited Notre Dame with my family five years ago. Up to that point, I had heard bits and pieces about this supposedly magical place from friends and family, but nothing more. We pulled up to the drive, and I set my sights upon the Golden Dome for the first time. It stood proud and majestic against the gray Indiana sky, the image of Our Lady looking lovingly down upon all that went on below. A place only in my imagination had now become real. As I walked around the campus on that cold April afternoon, I was infatuated. I saw a place dedicated to a common mission where I could study, work and live in accordance with my beliefs and with the full vigor of my soul. I saw my future here and liked what I saw. I had found my own green light. Three years later, when I was starting to apply to colleges, I visited Notre Dame once more. The Dome called to me again and I knew that I had to do everything in my power to come here. Before, Notre Dame had been a far away goal in the back of my mind; now it was my obsession. The Golden Dome was on my mind day and night. After a year and a half of tests and readings and applications, I finally cracked open my laptop to view the decision letter to see I had been deferred. The Golden Dome seemed to grow dimmer, its light fading farther and farther away. I spent the next month carefully crafting my letter of continued interest, scrutinizing over every word and every piece of punctuation. Three more months of waiting followed. March came and with it one more shot at reaching that seemingly unreachable Golden Dome. Expecting defeat, I opened the decision letter which revealed that I had been accepted into Notre Dame via the Gateway program. Relief washed over me. My dream was now so close that I “could hardly fail to grasp it.” After a year in the Gateway program, the Golden Dome stays shining. I see it every day, standing in all its grandeur above the quiet lake. Ever present, ever beckoning. The Dome calls, pushing me to work just a bit harder for just a bit longer. And now, with only two weeks left in the semester, I am finally on the verge of officially reaching the Golden Dome, officially reaching everything I have ever worked for. And what then? What happens when I do what Gatsby never could and reach that green light, grasp that ever elusive golden dream? The truth is, I never will. Working to get into Notre Dame changed my life. It strengthened my faith, sharpened my work ethic and honed my sense of purpose. And while being at Notre Dame has been everything I hoped it would be and more, the process of working towards my dream was in fact as meaningful as reaching the dream itself. Although the Golden Dome may have originally represented my aspiration to get into Notre Dame, it now means so much more than that to me. It represents all that I can aspire to become only if I work hard and do it with God’s help. I may not always reach my goals, but trying for them will drive me forward, push me to be better, bring me places I never would have gone and lead me towards what matters. Like Gatsby’s dream, “it eluded us then, but that’s no matter — tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther … And one fine morning … ”
Religion is dying in the United States. When Gallup first began surveying religious membership in 1937, 73% of Americans identified as members of a church, synagogue or mosque. That figure remained roughly the same for the next six decades until the new century saw a steady decline. As of 2020, less than half of Americans belong to a monotheistic tradition. Analysis from Pew Research Center suggests that by 2070, Christians may comprise as low as 35% of the American population. As expected, a steady decrease in worship attendance, belief in G-d and trust in holy scriptures joins the decline in religious membership. COVID-19 exacerbated trends that had been ongoing for decades. The decline in religious affiliation coincides with a rise in religious “nones” — those with no religious affiliation. Researchers discovered a significant number of these individuals in the 1990s and tracked their rise since. A 2021 survey by Pew Research Center found that nearly 30% Americans identify as religious nones. This group isn’t necessarily a monolith, as some secular Americans endorse humanist beliefs as if they were religious, while others are genuinely non-religious. There are nuances to this group, but the main takeaway is that the rate of religious disaffiliation is rising significantly. One may wonder about the cause of religious disaffiliation. While there are many factors, ranging from college education to clerical sex abuse, a significant contributor is the politicization of religion. Beginning in the 1980s, the rise of the religious right featured a marriage between religion and political conservatism. Although religiosity had been associated with conservative political beliefs in decades prior, explicit coordination between pulpits and politicians’ lecterns was an innovation. Operatives in the Republican Party worked closely with evangelical Christian leaders to spur their lay members to vote Republican. In exchange for their support, Republican leaders assured their church counterparts of the reversal of Roe v. Wade and other social policies aligned with their religious teachings. As time passed, other faiths joined the religious right, signifying that the religious divide in America is not by one’s faith, but how much one participates in the faith. One should note that while religious groups like Black Protestants and Muslims feature high levels of religiosity, they tend to vote Democratic. One only needs to look at today’s Republican Party to recognize its close ties with religion. Republican candidates regularly employ Christianity and religious rhetoric in their campaigns. For instance, one can find praise music, prayer and other religious worship practices at their rallies and fundraisers. This behavior isn’t superfluous. Republicans regularly call for the end of separation between church and state, the declaration that America is a Christian nation and other policies to integrate religion more into governmental affairs. Scholars can point to the rise of the religious right and the perceptions that religion has become politicized as a driving factor for religious disaffiliation. In the early 2000s, sociologists Michael Hout and Claude S. Fischer introduced the backlash hypothesis, which suggests that “politics shapes religious views” and “politics
You can contact Liam at lkelly8@nd.edu. The views expressed in this Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
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takes priority over religion.” They found that many of the religiously disaffiliated were moderates and liberals who disavowed the social agenda of the religious right. Rather than religion defining one’s political beliefs, politics precedes religion. Hout and Fischer’s results have been affirmed again and again, as researchers find a Newtonian reaction between the rise of the religious right and the departure of nonconservative religious folk. The evidence is clear: mixing religion and politics is a leading cause of the death of American religion. In addition to religious disaffiliation, politicized religion also threatens the integrity of religion itself. Religion is meant to be a spiritual experience that supersedes the concerns of the material world. It’s a commitment to justice and human dignity for all people, recognizing the call to combat persecution and advocate for the least fortunate. Every religion, no matter its particular tenants, shares the role of moral compass for individuals, leading a path through an increasingly chaotic world. We might rely on religious teachings when we’re unsure and need guidance, especially when facing tough moral issues. Religion can often help us address injustice. We should be able to trust religious leaders in their commitment to truth and justice, not self-serving policies. Martin Luther King Jr. exemplified this phenomenon, as his commitment to racial justice was grounded in sincere religious beliefs. Politicized religion threatens the prophetic nature of religion. When religious leaders are increasingly associated with politics and not justice, their prophetic power is lost. We find a distorted version of religion no longer grounded in faith but instead in self-interest and discriminatory policies. Instead of the pursuit for justice, we find the reinforcement of injustice. The moral compass of our nation becomes broken. That is the issue we face with politicized religion. Luckily, not all hope is lost. Parts of religious America retain a commitment to justice. Amidst the expulsion of two Black Tennessee state representatives, many clergy members have spoken against the gun violence crisis in the United States. We’ve also seen faithful work to combat poverty and other noble causes. This is the kind of prophetic witness that we need in today’s America. This is the kind of religiosity we should endorse, not the perverted sense of religion found in the religious right. Some may perceive this column as antagonistic towards religion or Christianity, but that can’t be further from the truth. I am a proud, devout Jew who is the product of 11 years of Catholic education. I have sincere respect for Christianity and religion in general, and it’s for that reason my heart breaks at the perverted sense of religion presented in the religious right. Politicized religion is driving people away from faith and undermining the role of religion itself. We must do better. Blake Ziegler is a senior at Notre Dame studying political science, philosophy and constitutional studies. He enjoys writing about Judaism, the good life, pressing political issues and more. Outside of The Observer, Blake serves as president of the Jewish Club and a teaching assistant for God and the Good Life. He can be reached at @ NewsWithZig on Twitter or bziegler@nd.edu. The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.