How do Americans treat those who go to church only at Christmas?

Well-known journalist, political observer at The Washington Post and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution justifies and protects people who attend church only twice a year - at Christmas and Easter, which constant parishioners do not like and do not respect, calling them “congregants”. He reflects on why they still continue to come to church again and again these days.

Фото: Depositphotos

Christmas remains a wonderful holiday, but now it comes at a time when the United States is experiencing a difficult time for Christianity, writes Eugene Dion Jr. in the article "Churchgoers, cut the 'Chreasters' some slack", which the publication provides Inosmi.

We still see Christmas trees being carried on the roofs of cars; neighbors decorating their homes with garlands; and children who worry more than ever. And churches will be unusually filled with parishioners. This last point is significant: the relative decline in the popularity of the performance of religious rites led to the emergence of the so-called “chreasters”, Christians who attend services only at Christmas (Christmas) and Easter.

Permanent parishioners may treat “zaodzhana” with contempt. The second prevent the first to find their places on the benches and, in a sense, ride on the backs of those who support institutions every week. Participation of the “walkers” in worship services on special days is often attributed only to a rush of feelings, inspired by the warm memories of childhood or by affection for the Christmas story and related songs and ceremonies.

The problems of organized Christianity are obvious. Note that the most widely discussed and rapidly growing religious group in the country is, strictly speaking, not a religious group at all. “Nones” are people who tell sociologists that they are not formally associated with any religious tradition. They now make up more than a quarter of the population, and about 40% of Americans are under the age of 30.

Religious disunity has many causes, including the belief among progressive youth that Christianity is a fundamentally conservative force (especially in LGBTQ matters - approx. the author), and widespread distrust of organizations of all kinds. For those of us who are Catholic, suspicion of religious authorities is exacerbated by scandal over child abuse cases, which, it seems, will never end. Despite the call made on Friday by Pope Francis for the guilty clerics to surrender to civilian authorities, the leadership of the church has not yet taken full responsibility for its failures.

The scholar Dan Cox, who writes a book about “nonahs,” among other things, points to changes in family life, the prevalence of divorces, and the growing number of religiously mixed families, which violates traditional communications characteristic of organized religion.

All this is crowned by the growing popularity of the view that it is quite possible to live a rich spiritual life, without becoming entangled in the complex and compromised structures of churches and denominations.

Observations that the theologian Gabriel Vahanian several decades ago shared in his authoritative book The Death of God clarify a broader context: “Christianity has long ceased to coexist with our culture,” he wrote, adding : “Our century is post-Christian both theologically and culturally.”

"Zahozhan", given their weak attachment to religious tradition, could rightly be regarded as a product of this transformation. But if they simply rejected all this, then why do they continue to come to church again and again?

The great religious scholar Peter Berger (Peter Berger) offers a clue in his book A Rumor of Angels, 1969, which talks about the steadfastness of faith in the face of rapid secularization. In the behavior of "Christers" reflects the stubborn unwillingness of a person to abandon the transcendent. As Christian writer Joseph Bottum said last week last (unfortunately - approx. the author) Weekly Standard, Christmas draws a “picture of the cosmos that can love.” Even doubtful and unlikely people will not deny that this statement sounds very promising.

Theologian and former Anglican Bishop N.T. Wright views “the pursuit of justice, the search for spirituality, the thirst for relationships and the enjoyment of beauty” as human aspirations beyond the material, which can be viewed as “echoes of voice” pointing to God.

Of course, non-believers also honor justice, relationships, and beauty. But it seems to me that the “congregation” comes to church twice a year, because some of them resist a society determined solely by personal interest and calculation, that is, visible, measurable and material. They feel an indication that the world, as the Nicene Creed tells us, consists of "visible and invisible."

I may be risking falling into sin, common among those who write columns, because I overestimate the “passers-by.” Perhaps most of them come to church mainly because of music and memories. But regulars of worship would do well to give them relief. The Gospel of John, often read in the Christmas services, tells us that "the light shines in darkness and the darkness has not overtaken him." In striving for this light and celebrating its appearance, we must show solidarity.

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