Mallory Christensen

220: Gammage
Annotated Bibliography
April 22, 2014

Final Research Essay: Declining Church Membership as a Result of Nihilism

1. Borg, Meerten B. "The Problem of Nihilism: A Sociological Approach." Sociological
Analysis 49.1 (1988): 1-16. JSTOR. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/3711099>.

This essay analyzes the decline of nihilism in modern society. His thesis is that
the critique of nihilism has disappeared and he examines the reasons why. The first half
of the essay looks at the use and development of nihilism from its beginning with
Nietzsche and moves through various other scholars and philosophers. The author spends
a lot of time analyzing nihilism as a response to modernization and touches a little bit on
nihilism as a secular term. The second half of the essay goes on to look at nihilism as a
label. Again we see nihilism being used in conversations about modernity and come to
the conclusion that nihilism has died because the battle between modernity and tradition
has ended. However, the author notes that nihilism comes back from time to time,
especially in the case of adolescents.

To use this source in my essay I will be analyzing his argument that nihilism is a
concept that we no longer care about and arguing that instead of not caring it has
become an attitude so ingrained in us that we no longer recognize or label it as nihilism.
Instead of being a set of beliefs, nihilism is a way of life. I will also analyze his historical
points that show nihilism as a response to social confusion and the failures of the
Enlightenment. The quote that will be most useful for me is A certain degree of
secularization is necessary for the use of the label nihilism (13).

2. "Summary of Key Findings." Statistics on Religion in America Report. The Pews
Research Center, 2007. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.

This site gives a brief summary of a survey conducted among adults in the United
States from May-August 2007. The survey reflects data about religion among Americans.
Out of the 35,000 adults surveyed, 78.4% are Christian, 4.7% are other religions, 16.1%
are unaffiliated or not religious, and 0.8% did not respond. 44% of adults left the faith
they were raised with during their childhood to find another faith or to become
unaffiliated with religion. The number of people that are unaffiliated is double the
number of people who claimed to be non affiliated as children. Unaffiliated has received
the greatest growth in addition of numbers. Between 18-29 year olds, 1 in 4 are not
religious.

Although this survey is almost outdated, I believe that the growth in unaffiliated
has continued. I find it interesting that people who are not religious are growing the most
compared to any other religion, and they arent doing anything to recruit people to be non
religious. On the other hand, churches spend so much money marketing and advertising
to get people to their building on Sunday mornings and they arent growing in
comparison to the non affiliated group. Although Christianity is still the largest religious
group in the United States, the statistics about the young adults who are non affiliated
shows that non affiliation with religion is growing.

3. Shook, John, PhD. "Church-Goers Now a Minority in America." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 24 May 2012. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.

John Shook analyzes findings from a 2012 Gallup Poll in the US. He makes broad
claims that church membership and attendance are a reflection of the churchs strength
and authority in society. His wording for people not attending church is that they are
avoiding church. Although 68% of Americans claim to attend church, 85% of people
that claim to be religious are actually detached. His conclusion is that although church
membership doesnt completely reflect religious values, church goers are becoming the
minority. This indicates a rise in secularity.

The part about church membership/attendance reflecting the churchs authority
and strength can be tied to the idea that nihilism reflects societies values. Here it will be
important to define nihilism in the secular age. Furthermore, this article will be useful in
providing data for declining church membership to complement the data about declining
religious values. The two go hand in hand.

4. Rees, Tomas. "Epiphenom: Americans: Not as Religious as They Think They Are."
Epiphenom: Americans: Not as Religious as They Think They Are. N.p., 7 Jan. 2007.
Web. 22 Apr. 2014.

I found this source in a link from the Huffington Post article. Rees argues that
there is a gap between what Americans are claiming to be in terms of religion and what
they actually do. He shows data from a study by Phillip Brenner that examined this gap
through time use studies. Brenner asked people what they did on a daily basis and
found that people claim to attend church services twice as much as they actually do. His
explanation for this is that part of identity is linked to being religious, and we want
people to think we are a certain kind of person.

This study was so interesting to me and I am going to use the idea of the gap
between what we say and what we actually do. If the church associated with having a
certain type of identity, then does it really contribute to providing meaning? We can be
nihilistic and still attend church. The church has been reduced to an identity label and a
way to boost personal esteem.

5. Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Will To Power. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
This article provides the causes and definitions for nihilism. The most important
is his claim that Christian morals and faith caused nihilism. The definitions of nihilism
that Nietzsche proposes are that everything lacks meaning, we have no purpose, our
existence is punishment, and nothing lasts. These are all in opposition to what Christian
values say. Furthermore, his definition of ultimate nihilism claims complete
valuelessness, meaningless, and devalues life. Finally, Nietzsches Christian moral
hypothesis is presented which says Christian morals provide absolute value, freedom
from evil, knowledge of God, and preservation after death.

The definitions and causes of nihilism will be important to show why nihilism is a
contributing factor to the decline in religion. If Christian morals cause nihilism it can be
argued that nihilism turns people away from Christian morals. I will also further examine
the Christian moral hypothesis.

6. Nietzsche, Friedrich. "The Gay Science." The Gay Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr.
2014.

This chapter or section is also known as the Madman Passage. Nietzsche sets
the scene in a marketplace, which is important because during this time period that was
the center of social life, after the church. The man is asking where is God and goes on
to say that we the society have killed him. His solution is that we become Gods, and
create our own meaning.

I want to use the idea that God is dead to provide evidence for the birth of
nihilism. I will use historical information like the failures of the Enlightenment to prove
my point. This passage will be important in showing the line between religion and
nihilism you cant have both at the same time.

7. Dreyfus, Hubert L., and Sean Kelly. All Things Shining: Reading the Western Classics
to Find Meaning in a Secular Age. New York: Free, 2011. Print.

I will be using segments from two sections that we read from this book, the
Homeric Polytheism chapter and the Conclusion: Lives Worth Living in the Secular Age/
The first section looks at nihilism in the secular age resulting in the burden of choice, and
how we choose to deal with that when nothing matters. The conclusion provides
alternatives for religion in the modern age, but argues that we can still find meaning even
with this concept of nihilism. It supports what another article said, when they claimed
that nihilism is no longer relevant for our society.

This book is useful because they are critiquing Nietzsche. Dreyfus and Kelley
offer alternatives to religion, which could also explain the decrease in church
membership. They define nihilism in the secular age which will add to the working
definition of nihilism that will be used for this paper.