WHY are more Americans hostile toward Christianity?

Three articles in the LA Times connected serendipitously for me today. I began with a post on Broadsheet, where Carol Lloyd discussed an article about a homemaking major offered at Southwestern Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Only women are allowed to take these homemaking classes which are preparing women, according to seminary president Paige Patterson, to become home schoolers. Then, while perusing the online newspaper, I came across an article about Ann Coulter, who said in a recent interview on television that her ideal of a country would be one in which everyone is Christian. Her host, who is Jewish, protested. Coulter added that she believed that Jews could be"'perfected through conversion to Christianity," implying, of course, that Judaism is inferior to Christianity.

Finally, I noted an article on a poll that indicates changing attitudes toward American Christianity. The pollsters noted that while a decade ago "an overwhelming majority" of non-Christians, including those aged 16-29, had favorable perceptions of Christianity's role in society, those perceptions are today much more negative in this age group. Just 16% of the people in that age group felt favorably toward Christianity's role in society. Evangelical Christianity is in particular disfavor, with only 3% of young non-Christians being favorably disposed toward this group that has become increasingly high profiled during the Bush administration.

And why do these young people have a more negative attitude toward American Christianity? Well, they perceive it to be "judgmental (87%), hypocritical (85%), old-fashioned (78%) and too involved in politics (75%)." The pollsters also discovered that "even among Christians, half of young believers said they too view Christianity to be judgmental, hypocritical and too political. One-third said it was old-fashioned and out of touch with reality."

Here in the LA Times, American Christian evangelicals can discover how their embrace of the Bush administration has turned non-Christians against them. Their foray into national politics has diminished their religious message. Their rise to power, accompanied by the likes of Ann Coulter and James Dobson, has hurt their cause--if that cause is to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

One of the students taking the homemaking courses at the Southern Baptist Southwestern Theological Seminary says it really doesn't matter what she thinks in terms of a woman's role in society. As a woman, she is supposed to learn how to take care of the home so that her husband will not have to be responsible for any household duties. Is it any wonder that non-Christians have a negative perception of American Christianity?