Do you belong to a religion? Are you a member of a religious group?

Those two questions are really two ways of asking the same thing. So, they make up question one.

And here is question two: Why?

I’m not trying to start a religious argument, but I believe that we should all examine ourselves and ask, “How did I become this person?” This can be a healthy exercise. For example, do you have strong personal convictions, or do you simply follow your family’s traditions?

Our modern culture is experiencing a huge movement, and it is changing the whole world. Old family traditions are weakening and modern ideas are taking their place.

Brace yourself: this is a cultural revolution.

Here is one example: Have you heard of the best selling book Bad Mormon?

Let me explain. I am writing as a Christian, and I disagree with the Mormons on several issues. However, I am not trying to criticize or argue with them.

They provide a good example of a wider trend in modern thinking.

Apparently, there is a lawsuit in the United States over the use of the name ‘Mormon’ and other symbols associated with that religion. One group claims ownership of those things:

There is another name for at least one side in this argument, and it appears in the Bible: “The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4).

Some religions hold ideas that I can’t agree with, but there is another force in this world — the “god of this world” — and I equate that with modern secular culture.

A few years ago, I was walking through a shopping mall, probably on my way to a bookstore. One shop in the mall had large pictures of pretty young women with happy smiles, jumping and cavorting on a sandy beach, wearing only skimpy bathing suits.

No, I did not stare, I looked away, like most other shoppers, but I had to step carefully around a young girl — a young Muslim girl in very modest and conservative clothes, including a head covering. She was staring intently at those pictures.

I continued to my destination, and after I finished my business, I walked back to my car. When I passed the shop again, the girl was still there, still staring. I don’t know how long she stayed there, but something had probably been imprinted in her memory, probably for life.

History is full of inherited community religions that remained strong for a few generations, but eventually declined. In the end, little remains except old books and objects in museums, and chapters in history books.

Speaking of the Mormons, I know a man who visited some friends in Salt Lake City, the center of the LDS (Latter Day Saints) religion. The people that he visited are Evangelical Christians, and my friend visited the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City with an acquaintance who lived there. When I talked to him, he told me how surprised he was by the number of dropouts and secular nonbelievers in that religious city.

Modern secular culture seems to be pulling younger generations in many religions away from the old family beliefs and towards the attractions of the world — the god of this world. I know from experience that Christian churches, like the one that I attend every Sunday, are experiencing this same pressure.

Many people in the younger generations are losing interest and falling away. My friend, who visited Salt Lake City, considers himself as one of the dropouts. I hope that God will use his recent experiences to teach him something about the truth and his own decisions.

This dropout experience is not new for Christians. About two thousand years ago, the missionary Paul was in prison, and we know that he was eventually executed. While in prison, he continued his work for God, but some of his helpers began losing interest and moved away to places they found more interesting in the Roman world.

We have these words:

Do your best to come to me soon. For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me. (2 Timothy 4: 9 to 11)

These drop-outs were more interested in the god of this world—the modern secular culture the their time. An old preacher, locked in prison did not make them happy; he was not what they were looking for.

There is an old proverb among Christians ‘There is no second generation.’ Many people, who call themselves Christians believe there is an endless supply of new generations who will follow Jesus with sincere faith. Yet, when we look at the religions of the world, we can see that that human nature drifts in many directions.

Any religious community will eventually grow old, and the descendants of sincere believers may drift away, at least in their hearts and minds. The old ways become boring, and young people may lose interest.

That is human nature, influenced by the ‘god of this world’.

When I say that I am a Christian, I mean that I have made a sincere decision; I did not just inherit the faith of my ancestors. I am a part of the first generation.

So where are you?