The New Binary: Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

The Rev. Dr. Matthew Richard is the pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Minot, North Dakota.

The Cold War Binary

After World War II, America entered a standoff with the Soviet Union. And so, what emerged was a political binary between democratic America and the communist Soviet Union. Alongside this binary between America and the Soviet Union, a religious binary also developed: “Christian America” versus the “atheistic Soviet Union.”

As a result of this Cold War binary with the atheistic Soviet Union, America fortified itself as Christian. In 1956, approximately 96% of Americans identified as Protestant or Catholic—essentially Christian, as Gallup classified the population at the time. Church attendance reached its historic Gallup peak of 49% in both 1955 and 1958. In fact, the phrase “under God” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954, in part to reinforce this binary against the godless Soviet Union. The contrast was clear: America was understood as a nation under God, while the Soviet Union represented atheistic materialism.

Things Have Changed

Today, the Soviet Union no longer exists. And now, Russia can point to surveys showing that roughly 70% or more of its population identifies as Orthodox Christian, compared with America at 62% identifying as Christian. Indeed, one could make the provocative argument that, at least by certain outward measures of religious identity and public morality, Russia now appears more Christian than America—something that would have been almost unimaginable during the Cold War.

For example, Russia has constitutionally protected marriage as between a man and a woman, making same-sex marriage illegal. Furthermore, Russia has adopted policies that deliberately support the traditional nuclear family and encourage larger families. Families with a third or subsequent child may receive 450,000 rubles toward paying down an existing mortgage. And while Russia tragically allows abortion on request through twelve weeks, it is much more restricted after twelve weeks than in the United States. 

Thus, the old Christian America versus atheistic Soviet Union binary is no longer present. Russia can no longer simply function as the godless opposite against which America defines itself as Christian.

Atheism Is Not the Greatest Threat

America’s old religious threat is also no longer straightforward atheism because the old binary is gone. In fact, atheists constitute only about 5% of America’s population. And even if the old binary were still valid, one would expect that as American Christianity declined by roughly 30 percentage points from the 1950s to today, atheism would have picked up much of that loss. But it hasn’t, showing that it is no longer the great threat against Christianity. What, then, is the greatest threat to Christianity?

The New Religion

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD) is found to a significant degree among approximately 38% of Americans. That means it has made major inroads into Christianity itself. That is to say, even though 62% of Americans consider themselves Christians, many of those same Americans also hold beliefs associated with MTD. In fact, a large majority of those substantially influenced by MTD still identify themselves as Christian.

Now, we cannot simply subtract one percentage from another and determine with certainty how many Americans actually hold to historic Christianity. The surveys measure different things. But it is entirely possible that the percentage of Americans who actually hold to recognizably historic Christian doctrine is far lower than 62%—perhaps even below 25%—depending on how historic Christianity is defined and measured.

Thinking Biblically

In the Old Testament, two things happened repeatedly with the nation of Israel: apostasy and syncretism.  

As is seen in 2 Kings 21, there was outright apostasy—a rejection of the Lord God. And when the people of Israel rejected the Lord God, they did not flee to nothingness or atheism. No, they exchanged the Lord God for the gods of their pagan neighbors: Baal, Asherah, and so forth.

Apostasy is more of an “either/or” mentality: reject the Lord God and replace Him with Baal.

In other cases, such as in 2 Kings 17, the people of Israel did not reject the Lord God outright, but they also shared the gods of their pagan neighbors. They went the way of syncretism.

Syncretism is more of a “both/and” mentality: keep the Lord God and embrace Baal at the same time.

To the point: MTD tends to be much more syncretistic. That is, MTD borrows the language of Christianity. It speaks about God, prayer, heaven, love, being good, and sometimes even Jesus. It borrows much of Christianity's language and outward framework but then blends it with the spirit of the age. More specifically, in MTD, God becomes someone who mainly wants people to be nice, happy, and successful. Sin becomes little more than making mistakes or failing to be kind. Salvation becomes the assumption that good people go to heaven. Prayer becomes calling upon God when life becomes difficult. Jesus may still be mentioned, but His atoning death and resurrection are no longer central.

With MTD, Christianity becomes less about sinners being justified by grace through faith on account of Christ and more about being a decent person, feeling good about oneself, and receiving divine assistance when needed. Consequently, MTD does not usually say, “I reject God.” Instead, it says, “Of course I believe in God.” And that is precisely the problem. If one upholds the old Christian America versus atheistic Soviet Union binary, he may assume that the majority of America is still Christian and that things are essentially okay. However, the grave mistake is assuming that if a person uses the language of God, he is therefore a Christian.

Conclusion

The church today must know what Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is and recognize that the old Christianity-versus-atheism binary is no longer sufficient or applicable for understanding the religious landscape in America. The Christian Church can no longer assume that if a person says, “I believe in God,” he means that he believes in historic Christianity. He may be saying the exact same words while believing as a Moralistic Therapeutic Deist. This is why Christian doctrine matters now more than ever.

Atheism still exists. But one of the greatest challenges facing Christianity today is not necessarily a worldview that openly rejects God. It is a worldview that uses Christian language, retains the word “God,” and yet quietly replaces historic Christianity with something else. Alas, if the church fails to recognize MTD and continues to think only according to the old Christian-versus-atheist binary, it may deceive itself into believing that the times are much better than they really are.

The goal is no longer simply to get a person to believe in God over atheism, but to ask: Exactly who is this God you believe in? Furthermore, the danger is no longer merely that people will say, “There is no God.” The greater danger may be that they will say, “Of course I believe in God,” while this god they believe in requires no repentance, provides no atonement, justifies no sins, and denies the need and deity of Jesus Christ. That is not historic Christianity. It is something else entirely—something masquerading as Christianity and syncretizing itself with the Christian faith.  It is Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.