Proselytize to Fit Current Culture

Almost 80% of American adults identify with some religious faith, and most Americans without religious affiliation still say they believe in God. However, a growing percentage of Americans question the value of adhering to a particular religion. Rates of membership in a church, synagogue, or mosque have fallen to about 50% overall—the lowest ever recorded by the Gallup organization.
     A professor from City University of New York and one from Italy’s Libera Università di Bolzano viewed this as a marketing challenge and so analyzed what benefits an organized religion has offered to target audiences. Their comprehensive review of research findings identified four:

• Control over the world by adhering to a moral code. Organized religion includes petitionary prayer, in which we can achieve results via appeal to God if we adhere to God’s requirements. By behaving properly according to a well-articulated set of standards, we can largely influence whatever happens in our lives. 
• Protection against eternal death. Through the concept of heaven or reincarnation, an organized religion relieves us from many of the anxieties about dying. 
• Certainty in understanding the world. An organized religion includes a set of explanations for phenomena that can seem puzzling. Consumers are uncomfortable with long periods of ambiguity. Religious doctrine curbs ambiguity by advancing a master plan intended to cover even phenomena, such as human suffering, otherwise difficult to understand. 
• Social identity. Those who are accepted by an organized religion achieve self-fulfillment and emotional comfort by labeling themselves as members of a distinctive tribe. The acceptance can come through a brief baptism, completion of a long indoctrination, or something in-between. 

     I’ve listed these in what the research review suggests is from the most to least influential value propositions for current Western cultures. So people who want to proselytize should emphasize the mastery over one’s future, including death, achieved by deep dedication to the particular organized religion.
     Because scientific explanations of previously puzzling phenomena abound in contemporary society, certainty in understanding the world depends less on organized religion than in the past. Still, there is much left to be understood, and the concept of “God’s master plan” can appeal to the human need for uncomplicated explanations.
     There are currently many ways to achieve a distinctive social identity and feel accepted by others in a group. Consequently, the professors make a case that this is a relatively weak appeal when an organized religion chooses to proselytize.

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