For some reason, intellectually insecure elites have difficulty understanding that catering to new groups often alienate traditionalists. So much so that traditionalists will take their business elsewhere.
Mainline protestant churches lost members and then influence after pastor pleasers began embracing (sometimes literally) more and more outré interpretations of Scripture. As recently as 1972 mainline protestant denominations (Methodists, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopal, United Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ) made up almost 30 percent of the believers in the USA. Now in 2017 that percentage has collapsed to a mere 10 percent.
Before the scripture revolution the mainline churches may have been the “frozen chosen” as the wags had it, but at least there was someone in the pews, regardless of whether or not they were happenin’ parishioners.
Today the mainline churches are as empty as their theology.
This lesson completely escaped another formerly religious organization and it too paid the price last year. The 108-year-old Boy Scouts of America might file for bankruptcy in a fiscal sense years after the leadership succumbed to moral and intellectual bankruptcy.
The Scouts' collapse reflects the culture’s decline. At the root of the problem is that three-letter-word that has undermined many individuals and organizations in this modern age: sex.
As the Daily Caller points out the BSA’s problems began when the organization’s leadership decided to protect the organization’s reputation in the short term by destroying it in the long term. Charges of sexual abuse of boys were allegedly covered up by BSA leadership for decades.
The cover-up just made the crisis that much worse when the public was finally made aware of the problem. Then in what can only be viewed as doubling down on sexual perceptions, Scouts’ leadership decided to welcome openly homosexual scout leaders and members into the ranks.
Membership rolls began collapsing as churches discontinued their Scouting programs in favor of Trail Life, which is not ashamed of being a Christian organization.
BSA membership rolls went from 4 million at the peak to a “claimed” membership of 2.3 million today.
As a last gasp that represented a total abandonment of the organization’s original mission the wizards at headquarters changed the name to Scouts BSA and welcomed girls into the declining ranks.
That was it for the Mormon Church, which said it is discontinuing its affiliation with the organization and will start its own program in 2020. That decision will cut another third from the total membership. As RedState summed it up, “the Scouts seems to have rotted from the inside.”
That’s what happens to organizations that no longer have confidence in their original mission. We have a suggestion though. Instead of changing the name to Scouts BSA, why not just shorten it to ‘Scouts BS’ which is more in keeping with the current spirit of the organization?
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Michael is an in-demand speaker with Premiere speaker’s bureau. Read more reports from Michael Reagan — Go Here Now.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian’s Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with added humor!)." Read more of Michael Shannon's reports — Go Here Now.