In Theory:

Having delved further, I realize that the question is really asking about something worse that has developed as a result of the aforementioned. Today, people aren’t just shirking god-ordained affiliation, they’re rejecting traditional religious affiliation altogether for substitutes of man-made ethics and politically correct morality. They do affiliate, just not with anything related to their Creator. They’re trying to fill their internal, god-shaped vacuums with church-like accouterments (e.g. hymns, creeds, sermons, offerings, doctrine, etc) while deliberately excluding the divine Savior. Hello, Anti-church!

Church isn’t just for the “unaffiliated,” it’s also for those with whom they fail to affiliate. God says that we must “not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but . . .encourage one another” (Hebrews 10:25 New International Version). So, if people don’t start seeing themselves as indispensable contributors rather than persnickety consumers, the un-affiliation will grow until there will be nothing left from which to un-affiliate, and God help us, but then I don’t think He will. Now is the time to invest in eternity, by aggressively reaching these unbelievers in our midst before it’s Babel all over again.

THE REV. BRYAN GRIEM

Montrose Community Church

The fact that so many Americans are now moving away from traditional religious beliefs represents a very distressing trend. I feel this development is largely the result of the failing policies of religious organizations and the outdated attitudes held by many in the clergy and religious leadership. In today’s fast-paced, Internet-inspired, “on demand” world, we need to bring our spiritual message to the people since we cannot expect them to come to our doors anymore. And we need to work harder to demonstrate the contemporary appeal and lasting relevance of religion’s age-old truths.

What worries me most about this shift toward the “unaffiliated” is the apparent rejection of a supreme deity. The Talmud mentions that regardless of whether God had given us the Torah (Old Testament), humanity would have realized that there must be rule of law for people to coexist. The Torah strengthens our fundamental laws by revealing them as commandments of God that are not up to interpretation by human beings.