Christine Wicker was recently interviewed by Michael Spencer, aka InternetMonk. Here’s the beginning of the interview:
Thank you, Christine, for doing this interview. You made it clear in your book that you grew up among evangelicals, but are no longer an evangelical or part of the Christian community. Can you tell us a little bit about your own faith journey and what were the significant contributing experiences to where you are now?
I wrote a book called “God Knows My Heart” in which I tried to figure all that out while covering religion for The Dallas Morning News. I was pretty devout as a kid and even in college.
Why did I leave? I once replied off the cuff that I wanted a world bigger than the Baptist Student Union. That might sum it up.
But leaving church and leaving Jesus are quite different. The first is easier. I sometimes suspect Jesus is not all that impressed with my belief or lack of belief, which fluctuates.
I say that because he continues to be a daily influence in how I conduct my life, the most important guide for how to behave. Sometimes he is also a presence. He shows up in all of my books, no matter the subject and whether or not I’m looking for him.
02-05-2009 |
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Are 25% of Americans Evangelical Christians? I saw that statistic twice in news articles last week. Yet in her latest book The Fall of the Evangelical Nation: The Surprising Crisis Inside the Church Christine Wicker says it’s way too high. investigated the sources and discovered the number should be 7%, not 25%.
Evangelicals believe themselves the bearers of Good News for the rest of America. Ironically, the rest of America sees Christine’s discovery as better news than any message Evangelicals bring. Why? Because people are scared of what Evangelicals do when they have enough clout to do anything. The less Evangelicals there are, the less they can influence the political process. Read the rest of this entry »
06-09-2008 |
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An interview with Christine Wicker
Christine Wicker’s provocative new book, The Fall of the Evangelical Nation: The Surprising Crisis Inside the Church, was released last week.
I asked Christine a few questions about her book and her own beliefs.
I’ve posted a sampling of the statistics from the first part of my book on my website. More come in every day and I’m adding them to my site as I hear about them.
In the second part of the book I look at attitudes and behavior and why it’s all happening.
That part of the book is not getting much attention from critics, but evangelicals who really care about the faith, and not merely the institution and their image of power, are reading those pages more closely than the first part of the book. They already know the faith is in trouble.
Mainstream evangelicals are so busy attacking me for even suggesting that they aren’t the robust winners they think themselves to be that they’re ignoring all the reasons the country is rebuffing them.
05-04-2008 |
18 Comments »Christine Wicker’s new book The Fall of the Evangelical Nation will be out in less than two weeks.
Christianity Today just posted a less than favorable review of it.
Christine’s response to the editor begins
Dear Editor,
Bravo!
Your April 15 editorial on my book, “The Fall of the Evangelical Nation,” was a virtuoso evangelical performance.
Trivialize. Distort. Dismiss. End with a flourish of sanctimony.
And all is well in the Kingdom.
Except the facts still say otherwise.
Read Christine’s complete response on her brand new blog.
04-17-2008 |
Comments OffI’m reading Not in Kansas Anymore: A Curious Tale of How Magic Is Transforming America by Christine Wicker.
Here’s a quote from the book about sports players and magic:
Baseball players spit into their hands before picking up a bat. Bowlers wear the same clothes for as long as a winning streak lasts. Rodeo riders put the right foot in thr stirrup first. Tennis players avoid holding two balls when serving. Michael Jordan wore shorts from his alma mater, the University of North Carolina, under his uniform. Halll of Famer Wade Boggs would eat only chicken the day of a game. If these things seem silly, forbid the players their magic and see how seriously they take it. Little leaguers learn such thinking from coaches and parents, who might be expected to oppose such gross superstition but in fact go right along with it.
06-15-2006 |
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