According to a recent Fox News poll, over 27% of the American population read no books in 2006. Nothing. Zip. Nada. Not even a comic book.Look at these other statistics:
* Less than 5% of the readers read a classical work.
* Of the readers, the average woman read 9 books.
* Of the readers, the average man read 5 books.
* Democrats read more than Republicans (I'll let you draw your own conclusions).
* Those who never attend religious services read nearly twice as much as those who say they attend regularly.
* Southerners have a lower reading percentage, but those who do read tend to read more books than those in other regions--mostly religious books and romance novels (wow, so much for discernment).
* Less than 5% of those surveyed read poetry.
Josh's Comments: On this issue, Evangelical and Fundamental versions of Christianity are on equal footing. The former dumbs down the gospel to make it more appealing to its audience. It willingly sacrificed the gospel on the altar of cultural relevance. The later dumbs down the gospel because it never acquired an intelligent grasp on the gospel in the first place. At least on this issue, Evangelicalism has committed the greater evil.
An entire culture is sinking in the muck of stupidity. The church must rise above this and call its people to the glorious task of the "renewal of the mind". On this score, those church's standing in the Reformed tradition have done more for the church than any other Christian movement.
You are not leaving yourself much leave way for credibility, if you rely on fox news for any facts.
ReplyDeleteThe Rev.
Point well taken. Over a year ago I had lunch with 3 news media agents (1 from CBS, 1 from NBC, and 1 from ABC). When I mentioned I was surprised no one from Fox News came, the look on their faces was priceless. It was almost as if I had uttered a curse word or something.
ReplyDeleteAmericans' reading habits are just more evidence of our laziness, which seems to grow boundlessly. I blogged on this one, too.
ReplyDeleteThey way we take in information is changing. I wonder how many of those surveyed read news online, and instead of reading books for pleasure now do this and read blogs.
ReplyDeleteIt's actually changing the book publishing market drastically. When you're trying to sell a book to either an agent or a publisher; if you have a website with a significant following, you're MUCH more likely to get a sale. Many times authors must market their books themselves as well, because sales are so difficult.
I must admit, as someone writing a book, this concerns me greatly. So visit my site, that way I can use your web traffic to sell my book to an agent. :)
Also, the article is really an Associated Press article, just reprinted by Fox News. I actually stumbled across it at a literary blog.
ReplyDeleteStrong words, but timely. Many churches, at least the ones I attend have also dumbed down the worship experience for me. I used to sneak into a Cathoic Church accross from Bible School in Johnson City,NY just to hear incredible music and that music no longer exist for me except for my CD collection and the Net.
ReplyDeleteIt is very sad. We are no more likely to exercise our brains than we are our bodies. People would rather sit and "zone out" to the TV and video games.
ReplyDelete