There is a very pervasive impression, given weight by a number of learned authorities, that American religion was by the eighteenth century already in a state of decline. My own impressions point in a distinctly different direction. To me the same era presents itself as one of rising vitality in religious life, an era not of decline but the reverse – of proliferation and growth.

I think the difference in religious participation between America and Western Europe can, for example, be explained to a great extent by the different markets in place. As Adam Smith put it the Wealth of Nations long ago:

“The teachers of [religion]…, in the same manner as other teachers, may either depend altogether for their subsistence upon the voluntary contributions of their hearers; or they may derive it from some other fund to which the law of their country many entitle them…. Their exertion, their zeal and industry, are likely to be much greater in the former situation than the latter. In this respect the teachers of new religions have always had a considerable advantage in attacking those ancient and established systems of which the clergy, reposing themselves upon their benefices, had neglected to keep up the fervour of the faith and devotion in the great body of the people….”

An economist named Larry Iannaccone has done some fascinating work on this subject. He points out, inter alia, that religious participation in the US was quite low before the Constitution was ratified (and abolished state support for churches), and that the religions which then thrived were not the old subsidized strains but new denominations like the Baptists and Wesleyans.

Great podcast with him here:

http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2006/10/the_economics_o_7.html

Recently, I found two references to the loose cultural parallel many see between the church’s role and Starbuck’s. The film “What if Starbucks Marketed Like a Church?” parabolically explores the antithetical, marketing parallel between these two sources of satisfaction. Ironic in its juxtaposition, an NPR essay delves into the comlimentary, if discomforting, roles these two entities represent to a skeptical observer. Needless to say, approach each with wide-eyed discernment.

But I’m bothered by the fact that my decision-making is often unconsciously influenced. I’d like to think that I carefully weigh the evidence and my options before deciding to do something, whether that action is to choose a graduate school or pick a brand of coffee. Of course intellectually I know that this ideal is unrealistic, but I’m idealistic enough that I’m somewhat perturbed when I find out how little concious choice I really exercise.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_McIntire

This may be stretching the verse too far out of context, but I do wonder how our often unthinking submission to marketing fits with the Biblical command to be both in the world but not of it.