Religious Faith in the U.S.: Doubts?

Image via WikipediaFaking the Faith? There's an interesting discussion going on in the blog known as "The Frame Problem" (here); a question was raised about data indicating that in the United States, there are very high levels of participation in organized religions, and high levels of expressed religious beliefs (much higher than in Europe, certainly). One commenter wondered how this could be true within such a highly educated population (this questioner clearly believes that religious faith is at least somewhat incompatible with education); she suggested that significant numbers of people who claim religious affiliation/belief might actually be faking or exaggerating their levels of belief in the creeds of their faith. Of course, she's right, that there would be many possible reasons that a person might be reluctant to openly discuss disbelief or serious doubts as to the important dogmas and doctrines of his/her religion, and also good reasons why people might find it easier, in many ways, to conform to family and social expectations, and at least go through the motions of participation in a religious faith.

I was really intrigued by this discussion, because I have often entertained similar suspicions about whether it might be that a lot of people don't really believe what they claim to believe. At the risk of causing serious offense to someone, somewhere, I will say that my own observations of many of those who identify as Episcopalians have especially provided fodder for these questions, in my own mind... After all, there are many advantages to being seen as a member of a church or synagogue, mosque, or temple (etc.). People who are in business, and in politics (!), are well aware of this factor. There is also the very significant matter of social support; it has been reported that people who are active members of their churches are, overall, healthier than those who are not. Human beings need community and affiliation, and they will put up with a lot of aggravation, and discomfort of various kinds, in order to get and keep it. They also need meaning, and they need hope; and an ideology and community that will serve as a container, or placekeeper, for those qualities can provide psychic support, even in the face of (acknowledged or unacknowledged) cognitive dissonance and doubt.

Here is an excerpt from what the "Frame Problem" blogger had to say about all this:

"Given the social pressures of religious communities and the fear of ostracism, I figure that there is probably a significant minority of fakers among the faithful. That they are all so afraid to 'come out'—and quite understandably so—they generally do not know about each other. Since most members of religious communities and of North American society are genuinely faithful (and the doubtful ones generally keep their lips buttoned), social pressures at the level of the religious community and society as a whole make it socially risky to openly criticize religion.

"I think that an important step toward making people more willing to question their faith is the provision of other options for community and the pursuit of happiness and meaning. I would like to eventually help build a community which embraces many of the positive aspects of religion (e.g. supportive community, teaching love and kindness, providing a social forum for the development of wisdom and wellbeing) but which does away with the dogmatism and replaces it with open-minded skepticism and curiosity and intellectual honesty. I would like to see many of the wise developments in buddhist philosophy and practice... such as mindfulness meditation, teachings [about] the danger of investing oneself in externals (e.g., beliefs, possessions, status, others)... And of course, there would be community building activities such as social events, charity work, group projects, support groups and so on."

I happen to be a long-term doubter, and a generally skeptical person, myself (for one thing, I am doubtful about how much I might want to affiliate with a group that includes some of the truly obnoxious atheists who are now so very prominent). And I can report that my own attempts to openly talk about questions and doubts have seldom been received comfortably by other members of churches I have belonged to. I have long admired my many dear friends who are religious, especially within the Catholic Church. I know (and have known) so many smart, well-educated, thoughtful Catholic people, ordained or otherwise, and I have tried to figure out how they manage to hold on to what appears to be strong faith/belief in a creed and set of dogmatic (required) beliefs that are amazingly difficult to really believe... In many cases, I know that their actual believing involves a series of re-workings of the literal and superficial meanings of language and stories that are better understood as metaphoric, and as representing (at best) expressions and examples of how things really are, aimed at understanding the ultimate nature of reality. But I know, from personal experience, that this re-working requires a lot of mental energy, and, really (I have to ask): To what end?

Could it be that, for many, it simply is easier to stick with the community, and friends, and family that you have been part of, for many years, maybe for all your life... than to break rank?