Ouch.
But nothing we didn't already know. Nearly half of Americans have switched religious affiliation/denomination. Oh, and that's not good news for the UMC.
With respect to my earlier thoughts about Easter, I read this in Borg and Crossan's The Last Week, which, about three pages from the end now, I highly recommend:
"Both parts of the pattern [of Good Friday and Easter] are essential: death and resurrection, crucifixion and vindication. When one is emphasized over the other, distortion is the result... Without God's reversal at Easter, Good Friday leads to cynical politics. This is the way the world is, the powers are ad always will be in control, and those who think it can be otherwise are utopian dreamers... [but] Easter without Good Friday risks sentimentality and vacuity."
The question, of course, is how to balance death and resurrection, crucifixion and vindication in fifty five minutes once a year. Good luck with that.
With respect to my earlier thoughts about Easter, I read this in Borg and Crossan's The Last Week, which, about three pages from the end now, I highly recommend:
"Both parts of the pattern [of Good Friday and Easter] are essential: death and resurrection, crucifixion and vindication. When one is emphasized over the other, distortion is the result... Without God's reversal at Easter, Good Friday leads to cynical politics. This is the way the world is, the powers are ad always will be in control, and those who think it can be otherwise are utopian dreamers... [but] Easter without Good Friday risks sentimentality and vacuity."
The question, of course, is how to balance death and resurrection, crucifixion and vindication in fifty five minutes once a year. Good luck with that.