Choice Religion
Interesting piece today in the Washington Times about the rise of technology and its possible effect on religious habits. It has a McLuhanesque air to it, so we enjoyed it, but we disagree with its speculation. Link. Excerpt:
"Generation Y," born between 1980 and 2000, is "bringing [media] industries to their knees" by embracing IPod, TiVo and other technologies that allow unprecedented consumer choice, said Roger Bennett, co-founder of Reboot, a Jewish group that is examining generational issues.
The big question is how traditional religions will respond to a new generation of Americans who value choice, informality and personal expression, he said.
It may mean the rise of "orthodoxy a la carte," where, as with IPods and music, young Americans take a "mix and match" approach to religion, said Bill Galston, a domestic policy adviser in the Clinton administration.
We don't really follow this line of reasoning. If you consider the argument by Christine Rosen about ipod and the other devices (LINK), such technology could result in even more orthodoxy. As people can read and listen to just the stuff that immediately interests them, there's a good chance that their views will anneal around what they're reading/hearing.
Consider how many more "die hard" Catholics exist today than back in the 1980s. There are now apologetic magazines, Catholic radio, EWTN, Catholic blogs. The result of people being allowed to choose doesn't mean they become more eclectic in their core beliefs. In fact, the opposite might be true.
Choice also never entails unlimited choice. Choice will always be restricted by something. Here, logic. A person cannot choose to be eclectic and orthodox. He might paste together some sort of odd "creed" for himself: "I believe in salvation through Jesus, the four-fold path of the Buddha, and the practical ethics of that Jim Jones guy." But he cannot then also choose orthodoxy. Eclectism and orthodoxy are exclusive.
We also don't know why the ability to choose means that someone will choose everything. We sit in bars all the time, where the assortment of beer, wine, and liquor is astounding. But we normally pick one thing and stick with it for the entire evening. If we tried everything, we'd get sick and have to stop drinking altogether for the night. Paradoxically, our unlimited choice would eliminate all choice. We suspect the same holds true for religion. The person who dabbles in a little bit of everything ends up holding onto nothing, becoming an airy and insufferable "spiritual" person with no substance.
