If a church on nearly every corner means anything, Christianity has an influence in St. Joseph.
        But the influence of religion in general may be declining in the United States, at least according to a Gallup poll released late last year that reported two-thirds of Americans perceive it to have a lesser influence. This is a sharp decline in the image of religion’s impact compared to just a few years ago, the report says. Given this potential trend — not to mention, last month, the first-ever acknowledgement of “non-believers” in a presidential inauguration — the question of whether non-belief is becoming more common is a timely one.
        “There’s no question that Christianity is on the decline in America,” the Rev. David Mason, pastor of Green Valley Baptist Church in St. Joseph, says. “The numbers show it. The question is: Why is it on the decline?”
        An answer, he adds, is that people too often have turned Christianity into something self-serving — something that allows for believing and obeying when it’s convenient but discarding aspects of it that just don’t appeal to them. What’s left is something that’s not Christianity at all, he says — not to mention something that does not have any real Christian influence on culture.
        Although the influence may be less now, Michael Mathews says he hasn’t seen a lot of evidence that society has become more accepting of atheist or agnostic viewpoints, at least not around here. Until recently, the St. Joseph man’s only option for gathering with like-minded individuals has been to travel to All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church in Kansas City — but now, a group for atheists and agnostics has formed in St. Joseph .
        “It’s nice to be able to walk into a place and say what you think,” Mr. Mathews says, “and they don’t think you’re an evil monster.”
        The group, St. Joseph Skeptics, meets at 2 p.m. Sundays in the basement conference room of East Hills Public Library. Missouri Western State University student David Carr began the group with about five friends and family members, but since its initial meeting in December, weekly attendance has grown to about 20.
        “We’re social animals, so it’s healthy to be around other people,” he says. “And especially when you’re discussing something as emotionally charged as religion, it’s good to be able to talk to people who are like-minded.”
        He adds that he’s found people who don’t believe in God are becoming more open about their beliefs, perhaps because there are more resources now, such as Internet articles and podcasts, that reinforce them. But this doesn’t mean members of his group always agree on everything, he adds: A discussion last week about abortion created some controversy, as did an earlier discussion about same-sex marriage.
        But the debate is civil, he says. As for whether he and other group members will ever feel more comfortable expressing their viewpoints outside their group, perhaps only time will tell.
        The same, of course, is true of Christianity and whether it will regain the influence it may be losing.
        “We have to get back to the Bible and back to basics,” the Rev. Mason says. “And we have to remember that if something is believable only to the point of being pleasant, it probably isn’t true.”

This article can be found on this page of the stjoenews.net which offers a blog area for comments. Lifestyles reporter Erin Wisdom can be emailed at ewisdom@npgco.com