The End of White Christian America

“Times, they are a changing.”

This in a nutshell is the central topic of Robert P. Jones’s new book, The End of White Christian America (WCA).

Unfortunately the title alone may dissuade many from reading this timely book, especially those like me: White and Mainline Protestant. I would strongly recommend, however, that you push through any reluctance you might have about tackling this important book and embrace it for what it is: A developing demographical snapshot of America today.

For me at least, The End of White Christian America helped me understand a troubling reality and helped explain why we are such a troubled nation today. In the words of Jones:

 “After a long life spanning nearly two hundred and forty years, White Christian America—a prominent cultural force in the nation’s history—has died.”

That’s a warning shot across the bow: The America in which most of us were born and raised no longer exists. The great shift in the demographic arrangement of our nation has already taken place.

The bottom line is simple: White Protestant Christians no longer are the dominant voice of our nation. We no longer maintain the position of majority privilege we so enjoyed since our nation’s birth.

According to Jones WCA began to show signs of eroding as the primary cultural force in American life in the 1960s (the decade that helped shape me as a young adult).

So when did WCA die? It died sometime during the first decade of the 21st century.

The ramifications of this death are still being felt and studied. It will take years before social scientists and historians sort out the consequences of the death of such a major cultural voice in our country.

Now please understand that neither Jones nor I suggest that the WCA voice no longer exists, but rather that it no longer exists as the dominant majority voice shaping the continuing American narrative.

“Times, they are a changing!”

So allow me to offer two of my personal conclusions from reading this excellent book:

One, the political landscape in America has been irrevocably changed. The face of the American political scene is going to progressively look different in the years ahead and sooner than many expect. My grandchildren will definitely live in a different America from the one I was born.

This alone will necessitate new political strategies for the near and distant future. Tired old political axioms and partisan strategies will need to die along with WCA.

We are now living on the exciting cutting edge of a new America. It’s unfolding before our very eyes!

Both existing political parties are going to have to account for this massive shift in American demographics. The current Presidential election cycle may very well represent the last gasp attempt of a dead WCA trying to hold onto its place of privilege in the American political landscape. Time will indeed tell.

Two, the religious landscape in America has been irrevocably changed. I’ve known for many years now that the religious landscape in America was shifting in ways that confused and confounded many Mainline and Evangelical leaders. Most experts agree that the Mainline Church is near death. It currently is on life support and should be under Hospice palliative care.

Evangelical Protestantism is not long for this world either. It has a way to go before finally succumbing, but it will happen. The forces of cultural demographic change are too strong to resist at this point. Denial and anger seems to be the Evangelical response to date, but sooner or later it will need to move healthily towards acceptance.

I cannot predict what is to come in terms of WCA accepting its own demise. There no doubt will be anger and confusion as folks experience the disintegration of a assumed homogeneous white culture that has characterized our nation for the past couple hundred of years—at least in the minds of WCAmericans.

Personally I do not find the end of WCA a threat. Times change. They always do. I find tremendous hope in the possibility of realizing a political and theological vision that is large enough and expansive enough to include folks of all different stripes. I do not see the death of WCA as a threat to my personal white American way of life. I see it as a healthy challenge for the future of us all.

Diversity is a gift. America is the land of diversity. There should never be one dominant cultural voice in charge, white or otherwise. There should never be one dominant political party ruling the roost. There should never be one dominant religious tradition making the rules for us all. We need diversity in politics and we need diversity in religious experience as well. A diverse culture is a healthy culture.

Thank God for The End of White Christian America, both as a book and as a social reality. I would hope that you would find the courage to read this wonderful book and draw your own conclusions.