Mr. Mattila informed us that we are on the path to destruction because we have turned away from God (“Chaos because we are ungodly,” Our Readers’ Views, Feb. 2). However, there are a few things for us to consider.
The Pew Report demonstrates that the U.S. is currently experiencing historically low and continuously shrinking numbers of people connected to religion, especially mainstream and conservative churches. This phenomenon comes after four-plus decades of assaults on our intellectual and spiritual being by a lethal combination of conservative religious and political leaders. These luminaries include Jimmy Swaggart, Franklin Graham, Paul Weyrich, Mike Huckabee, Jerry Falwell, Newt Gingrich, Robert Jeffress, Bob Jones and others, all representing their version of their small God who operates by fear, guilt, intimidation and threats. To understand how they have helped us out, consider that many people who attended church as children report that they stopped attending due to abuse by clergy and hazy or nonexistent stances on current social issues by their church.
Author John Pavlovitz and I believe that when Jesus returns, before his feet touch the ground, he’ll say for all of us to hear, “I gave you ONE job, and that was to love. Explain to me what happened.”
