By Amie Jo Schaenzer
Organized religion throughout the nation, as well as locally, is on the decline, with nearly 16 percent of all men and women today not belonging to any particular affiliation.
"Hell doesn't seem to scare Americans as much anymore," Smith said.
The extensive survey released in February shows more than one-quarter of American adults, 28 percent, have either left the church they were raised in or have chosen no religion at all, according to the PewUnited States Religious Landscape Survey.
Smith said the sharp increase locally in contemporary, non-denominational Christian churches shows residents are opting for the more "upbeat services" over the traditional types of worship offered by mainstay Catholic and Protestant churches.
Ken Nabi heads one of the largest evangelical churches in Fond du Lac, Community Church, and says his congregation has seen steady growth over the past 28 years, with a current weekend attendance of 850 to 900 members.
He said many choose Community Church, N6717 Streblow Drive, because the message offered is more in-tune as to what people today want to hear.
"Fundamentally, people have honest questions about faith and the evangelical church approaches those questions by looking in the Bible. Not by looking at what history has said or what the church says," Nabi said. "And if they can have their life questions answered by looking in the Bible, that's attractive to many."
Why?
Today, more than in years past, people are looking inward to find peace and longstanding types of worship do not offer the type of spiritual escape they want, Smith said.
"Today, people want an emphasis on the goodness of a person and not so much that they've sinned and they're bad," Smith said. "Traditional services do not nourish their spirit."
Likewise, the Pew research shows the makeup of some of the more traditional types of religion is changing: While 51.3 percent of Americans today claim to be Protestants, the group is fading, according to the survey.
Meanwhile, the Catholic Church experienced one of the greatest net losses because of affiliation changes, according to the survey, with one in three Americans being raised Catholic and only 1 in four sticking with Catholicism today.
Despite the changes, the vast majority is still affiliated to a Christian religion. According to Pew research, 78.4 percent of Americans are Christians, while 4.7 percent belong to other religions, including 1.7 percent who are Jewish and 0.7 percent who are Muslim.
In Fond du Lac, changes in religious affiliation have proven gradual, said Michael Ketterhagen, associate professor of theology at Marian University.
"The family structure is not as tight as it used to be," Ketterhagen said. "Also, people have found they have other things that give them life and zest and enthusiasm instead of going to church on Sunday."
Traditions among young people
One in four Americans ages 18 to 29 say they are not affiliated with a religion, according to the survey. Many in this age group —whom Smith teaches at Ripon College — he refers to as "nightstand Buddhists." They keep a Buddhist statue on their nightstand, he said, read Buddhist text because they like the message, but do not practice the religion.
"They are focused on the individual experience," Smith said. "They are independent thinkers and are taught to think critically."
This translates into cherry-picking highly individualized ways to be spiritual and seek faith, Ketterhagen said.
"They pray at night and they get involved in organized religion less," he said. "They still have a strong commitment to connect with God or their own personal spirituality that they call all different types of names. It's more personal and they will pray at night, meditate or go out in the woods to be closer to nature."
In the past, young people have left the church during their high school and college years only to return when they got married and settled down. The Pew survey suggests that is less likely to happen with today's youth.
Smith thinks this demographic niche will continue to mix and match religions to fit their needs, instead of returning to their childhood church. He envisions a type of spiritual smorgasbord — drawing upon Buddhism, for meditation; Judaism, for ethics; and the Lutheran religion for its Christmas and Easter services.
A "me-centered" society today is contributing to the shift, Smith said.
"In the past, there was more rigid discipline, and traditional religion fit well with that," Smith said. "Now, people are more confident at an earlier age; they are taught that they are good and they can make it on their own."
There's a downside to the increased selfishness, or egoism, in contemporary society.
"People may not take sin or failure as seriously. There is a fine line between a healthy sense of ego and egoism — and there is a danger when they're all out for No. 1," Smith said.
The switching from church to church — or choosing to step away from religion altogether — makes sense in today's society, Smith said.
"We live in a consumer society," he said. "If a product doesn't please us, we will look for a better product."
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