Omnipotent -- The Slowly Dwindling Power of Religion

Forgive me for being a bit tardy on this news item, as well as for straying -- initially at least -- from my professed subject matter.

But I've been thinking a lot lately about Bristol Palin, who is, as you know, the Republican VP candidate's poor knocked-up teenage daughter.

Religious conservatives have rallied around the girl and said that her condition is nobody's business, or that it is actually good news because it verifies Palin's pro-life credentials. So as a thought experiment, let's reverse the situation:

Say that Obama or Biden had a 17-year-old daughter who got pregnant and is keeping the baby. Would we hear from social conservatives how it's irrelevant, or proof of the candidate's humanity, or even inspiring?

More likely, we would hear how liberals don't instill proper values in their children, or that they don't respect traditional family values, or that their lax parenting proves their inability to lead the country, or that it all sets a poor example for young people.

My point isn't that religious conservatives can be hypocrites, or that abstinence-only sex ed doesn't work, or that this girl's condition has become a campaign issue (although to be honest, all of that is true). Rather, this is my long-winded way of addressing the powerful and detrimental nature of religion in American culture.

So what has this, specifically, got to do with Hispanics?

Well, as you may or may not know, Latinos are the alpha and omega of Catholicism in the United States, and perhaps the world. Consider that in America, almost 70% of Hispanics are Catholic, compared to just 20% of the general population. Some countries in Latin America are as Catholic as Middle Eastern countries are Islamic.

Has all this religion helped the Hispanic community? I would argue that it has not.

The stranglehold that the Catholic Church has over Hispanic culture has bred a unique form of interdependence. Faith in God's master plan has superseded faith in one's abilities and talents. This latter type of perseverance - call it secular if you want - is more needed than ever in communities where deep-seeded problems demand creative answers. Instead, with all the issues facing the Latinos, prayer is the answer most often given as a viable solution.

For a more specific example, let's look at the horrific graduation rate of Latino adolescents. It's no surprise that Hispanic teens lag so far behind white, black, and Asian American students in actually getting through high school. The priority that Latino culture places on religion dwarfs the attention given to education (I will post more on this discrepancy later). Especially among immigrant parents, making sure that a kid does all his homework is not nearly as vital as ensuring his attendance at Mass (I will add that my mother was an exception to this mindset, which was to my great benefit).

Social conservatives love to proclaim that issues in barrios and hoods exist because the people who live there have grown too dependent on government largesse to fend for themselves. They may have a point.

However, their alternative has often been to push for more dependence on Christianity, a cultural force that, unlike government, isn't accountable to voters. How else do we explain the dreaded faith-based initiative?

A natural objection to all my negativity is to point out the good that religion does. Indeed, many people have turned their lives around because of a newfound faith, and some of our greatest leaders (eg, Martin Luther King Jr.) were driven by religion. And in Latin America, numerous priests in Central America - to say nothing of the great Archbishop Oscar Romero - have sacrificed their lives for a greater good.

Still, at this point in history, is the net effect of religion in general (and Catholicism on Latino culture specifically) a positive? My belief is that it ultimately does more harm than good.

So I'm pleased to see that young Latinos, like the younger generation overall, are at least pausing to consider if all this praying is really worth it.

A report by the University of Notre Dame's Institute for Latino Studies shows that Hispanics become less Catholic with each U.S.-born generation. This lines up with surveys showing that the number of nonreligious young people (those from 18-25 years old) has nearly doubled over the last generation (from 11 percent in 1986 to 20 percent today).

This should not be construed as a clamoring for atheism or a call to burn down all the churches. Rather, it is quite possibly Latino culture's gradual realization of the need for balance.

And perhaps it is the recognition that going to church and worshipping really hard is not sufficient to raise our standard of living. Maybe Hispanics are learning that, you know, God helps those who help themselves.

Comments

[Pacific231]

IIRC, virtually all of Latin America has crminalized abortion and offers women virtually no access to birth control. If U.S. fundmentalists want to see what their wildest dreams would lead to, they should look at Latin America.

And here is a little gem of wisdom from one Wilfredo Navarro, a national assemblyman for Nicaragua who supported the total abortion ban in 2006: When asked in a 2006 interview this month about the case of an 8-year-old Nicaraguan who was raped in 2002 and whose family fought successfully to get her a legal abortion the following year, Navarro replied, "If a 9-year-old is raped, she should have the baby, because that child has rights."

Hey, thanks Catholics. Yeah, well done, Wilfredo. Jesus is sure to give you an atta-boy for that one.

[Pacific231]

Thank you Daniel for an excellent article. The main point of your article, "Faith in God's master plan has superseded faith in one's abilities and talents," is echoed quite compellingly in a seemingly unrelated article I just read in National Geographic Adventure magazine: from Laurence Gonzales' article "How to Survive (Almost) Anything":

Control Your Destiny

Julian Rotter, a professor of psychology at the University of Connecticut, developed the concept of what he calls "locus of control." Some people, he says, view themselves as essentially in control of the good and bad things they experience—i.e., they have an internal locus of control. Others believe that things are done to them by outside forces or happen by chance: an external locus ... research shows that those with a strong internal locus are better off. In general, they’re less likely to find everyday activities distressing. They don’t often complain, whine, or blame. And they take compliments and criticism in stride. The importance of this mentality is evidenced by tornado statistics. In the past two decades Illinois has had about 50 percent more twisters than Alabama but far fewer fatalities. The discrepancy can be explained, in part, by a study in the journal Science, which found that Alabama residents believed their fate was controlled by God, not by them. The people of Illinois, meanwhile, were more inclined to have confidence in their own abilities and to take action.

Link:
http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/2008/08/everyday-survival/laurence-gonzales-text/3

[rjmiller]

The birth of Christianity sparked the Dark Ages, and Catholicism has been clinging to the values of that era for 500 years. Let it go fellas.

Its time to lose the addiction and go on the religion patch, which can be found at your local book store.

[janvier28]

If only I could believe you. Alas, my sister has become born again and I don't even recognize her anymore. My boyfriend's longtime friend has been brainwashed by the Scientologists and has cut off contact with all his friends and family.

Unfortunately, most religious people subscribe to the "Do as I say not as I do" principle and want to legislate in the same manner.

I remember hearing on a news program that muslims in some country (forgot which one, It may have been Palestine) blame themselves for not being religious enough when things don't go well for them. We can all see how well their getting even more fanatical has worked out for them.

Islamic studies are what most students study at College in Saudi Arabia and we all know how backwards their country is (No dogs allowed, Women have no rights, Anyone up for a public stoning?). Too bad the American Christians can't see the parallel in trying to teach Creationism in our schools and their desire to intertwine church and state. Remember, to them Fanaticism is only wrong it f it isn't the same as their own.

I think Obama was right about people clinging to their religion. I don't agree they cling to their guns. Maybe he meant their right to own guns without any background check?

[Dianartemis]

Finally! I have never before posted a comment on The Huffington Post but your article simply compelled me to do so. I speak as an agnostic and as a first-generation Hispanic-American brought up Catholic. You state so clearly what I have known to be true for most of my life. Thank you for touching on a rarely discussed subject. I was starting to think I was alone!

Not mentioned in the article is the terrible toll Catholicism can have on the lives of young Hispanic women. To think a religion that bans all forms of contraception and that roughly 1 out of every 4 young Hispanic girls ends up a teenage mother is not a coincidence is easy when you believe in the virgin birth. For the rest of us, it's like watching a train-wreck in slow-motion. This outrage doesn't even include how I feel towards the gender discrimination many young Hispanic women accept as a part of being a good Christian because they're brought up in such a patriarchal religion.

It's hard not to feel depressed sometimes, at the sheer tenacity with which most Hispanics in the U.S., including many in my family, cling to something that hurts them more than helps them. Thankfully, my mother was more like yours. Let's hope that younger generations continue to follow the trends you cite, and perhaps we won't feel so alone.

[dctackett]

my mother-in-law is a nurse practitioner, working in mostly latino neighborhoods... she's mentioned that the latinas just keep having children, they'll even tell her that they don't want more, but refuse contraception. How can they make a better life for themselves, if most of their time is birthing and caring for babies...

[davism97]

Well said. We could probably turn this argument on fundamentalism in general. Fundamentalists think they have a direct line of communication with God, and they think that praying is a reliable solution to real life (NATIONAL) problems. Anyone who values truth and critical thinking doesn't want a fundamentalist to start calling the shots for them. History shows that's ALWAYS a disaster (and let's start with the dark ages and the crusades as a couple of easy example).