In the Wall Street Journal, W. Bradford Wilcox updates and extends his earlier argument (discussed here and here at The Immanent Frame) concerning a link between the welfare state and the advance of secularism in the United States:
Now, President Barack Obama seems poised to give secularism in America another boost, however inadvertently. This may come as a surprise to some, given Mr. Obama’s outreach to religious voters last fall, his strong showing among them in the election and his eagerness to cultivate the faithful since. The White House has even been opening many of Mr. Obama’s public appearances with a prayer, sometimes surpassing presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton in displays of public piety.
Nevertheless, the president’s audacious plans for the expansion of the government—from the stimulus to health-care reform to a larger role in education—are likely to spell trouble for the vitality of American religion. His $3.6 trillion budget for fiscal 2010 would bring federal, state and local spending to about 40% of the gross domestic product—within hailing distance of Europe, where state spending runs about 46% of GDP. The European experience suggests that the growth of the welfare state goes hand in hand with declines in personal religiosity.
Read the full article here.
Wilcox ignores the fact that the surge in religious “nones” (the non-affiliated) occurred during the time that the welfare state was contracting. Between 1995 and 2000, the number of American families on welfare plummeted from 4.9 million to 2.2 million. During roughly the same period, the percentage of nones rose from 8.2% (in 1990) to 14.2% (2001).
Obama is not proposing an end to the Clinton policies of welfare-to-work.
Rather, he is increasing aid to higher education through Pell Grants and other programs. Research by sociologists Mark Regnerus and Jeremy Uecker shows that Americans are *less likely* to lose their religion if they go to college. So, the expansion of Pell Grants under Obama may actually strengthen religious commitment. Campus ministries take note: Obama may provide you with more potential recruits.
Of course the implicit presumption in the writings of Wilcox and other “conservatives” is that their world-view is “god”-centered.
Just like that of the Wall Street Journal!!
It is a completely false presumption.
Jesus is reported to have thrown the money lenders out of the temple.
Now we have someone arguing the case for God in the temple of the money lenders—Wall Street.
Which by the way is THE temple which now “governs” the world.
Capitalism is of course the ultimate expression of the secular world-view too.