Network Affiliation

In the broadcasting business, most radio and television stations are affiliated with major networks.
CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, AP, just to name a few.
At the radio station where I work, we're proud affiliates of CBS and MSNBC.
People can also be affiliated as well.
You may often hear this associated with religion.
According to The Pew Research Center, the number of people in this country who call themselves 'non-religious' has been estimated at 20 percent.
That statistic is alarming.
Religious is classified as a belief in a Supreme being and attending church on a regular basis, though not a "Bible-beater" per se.
Pew took the time to break this 20 percent figure down into subgroups, with only a third of them identifying as 'atheist' or 'agnostic' with the remaining holding some kind of belief in God, yet don't identify as being part of any organized religion in particular, and don't attend church regularly, if at all.
Even more alarming is the survey revealed that that statistic was only at 15 percent five years ago.  At that rate, the number could climb even higher.
I self-identify as a Christian when asked, but don't wear it on my sleeve.  I like to keep my relationship with God an intimate one.  We as a family belong to Glade Run Presbyterian Church, but I myself have been a Roman Catholic since baptism.
For a time, I renounced my Catholic faith, but came back to it as I got older.
It's not something you can easily walk away from, as I've found out.
I never became a confirmed Catholic in my early teens because my parents were going through a divorce at the time, and my Catechism studies were interrupted.
Over the years, I always regretted not getting confirmed.  So at the age of 38, I finally asked the religious education director at my church what I would have to do in order to make it happen.  There was a problem, though...I couldn't attend Sunday morning classes due to my work obligations.
They gave me a book and told me to study it.
I did.  A few months later, I took the name 'Michael' in honor of my paternal grandfather as I received the blessing from the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.
Don't get me wrong.  I have friends who are atheist and agnostic who are fine people.  A couple even send their kids to Sunday school.
Yes, they're aware of the irony.
They say it's because they want their child to learn the value system often found in Christian teaching, and then once their child comes of age, they can decide whether or not they want to believe.
If you don't think it can happen, don't forget about Kirk Cameron.
The 80's teen heartthrob from ABC's "Growing Pains" was raised in a non-Christian household, even claiming to be an atheist in his early teens, but underwent a spiritual conversion that eventually affected his relationships with his fellow cast members on the show, as well as the show's writers.
While Kirk was a bit overzealous in his beliefs, I still find it impressive for someone to find faith where there had once been none.
But I am concerned that our country will one day be led by the faithless, and it will have an negative impact on our society in a bigger way than we're experiencing now.
My former boss, Stuart W. Epperson of Salem Communications (licensee of WORD-FM and WPIT-AM in the Pittsburgh area, plus many other stations) said it best in an interview with Mother Jones magazine:
"When you secularize a culture, you lose your moral compass."
Secularizing an individual or group is one thing.  An entire culture is another.
Atheism has been around forever.  However, groups and individuals advocating it have been becoming more and more vocal about it.
The point of this is, whether you are a Christian or non-Christian, teach your children the values you would want them to learn, regardless of your belief structure.  Because they still hold true today.
It doesn't have to be about going to Heaven.  But it can be about contributing something positive to the world all of us will one day leave behind.


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