The Future of Faith?
by Jim Hinch
Much of my recent reporting has focused on the uncertain future of religion in America. Most recently, at Zocalo Public Square, I wrote about an immigrant Catholic resurgence in Orange County displacing the county’s once dominant evangelical Christians. In the Orange County Register, I’ve written about Asian-American Christians demanding greater respect from America’s evangelical establishment (here and here); a rapid change in evangelicals’ attitudes about sexuality; and growing resistance in the developing world to American-led Christian aid initiatives. The common thread in these stories is demographic change overturning established patterns of belief. The future of faith in America is increasingly hard to predict.
Jim Hinch 
I am pleased to note the increasing number of Americans who are secular in their orientation and the increased number of atheists. I am disgusted with the special tax benefits that clergy are entitled to. They receive tax-exempt housing allowances under section 107 of the tax code. No other worker or employee can receive a tax-exempt housing allowance. For several years Rev. Rick Warren received his entire salary from the Saddleback Church as a tax-exempt housing allowance. I am pleased that a federal district court in Wisconsin recently struck down this tax preference for clergy as an unconstitutional establishment of religion in violation of the First Amendment. Americans are more cynical when it comes to religion, but unfortunately too many continue to be attracted to the Prosperity Gospel and other delusions. There are worse things than Christianity of course, such as the Heaven’s Gate cult, resulting in mass suicide. The real culprit is the willingness of people to believe religious dogmas on faith (no evidence required) and to take actions on the basis of such beliefs. Consider the Harold Camping cult. His followers were convinced that the world was going to end in 2011 and they would ascend to Heaven (the Rapture), so they did not get married, or seek employment, or buy homes, or apply for college admission.