Nashua Telegraph Drops Proverbial Ball on Local Religious Poll Article

I’m writing this in response to a Nashua Telegraph article on 4-3-13, titled, “Poll: Nashua-Manchester has fewer ‘very religious’ people than almost any region in the country”.

In what was apparently a national wire services item regarding a Gallup poll, which indicated that Nashua and Manchester had just about the lowest percentage of “very religious” residents in the United States, the Telegraph’s reporter David Brooks interviewed Planning Board chairman Ken Dufour in January for the only local perspective of the story.

What about some of the respective church leaders of Nashua? Do you think they could’ve added some “expert” opinions as to why Nashua seemed to be veering away from organized religion?

As a point of disclosure, I’ve never personally met Mr. Dufour but him being the chairman on the Nashua Planning Board, I would assume he’s very brilliant on gauging proposed establishments and how their operation would affect traffic concerns in certain community intersections – but that’s not what this article was about.

The “why” element was totally missing from this article, and it’s beyond me as to why Mr. Brooks didn’t interview at least a handful of priests, rabbis, and ministers from Nashua to try to get to the bottom of this situation -- or even visit a local coffee shop or laundromat on a Sunday morning and ask a few of the customers, why they dislike attending and participating in church? In addition, the aforementioned article stated that Maryalice Gill contributed to this report (I'm not quite sure, how), and it published a file photo of a longtime Catholic church in Nashua yet no priests or members from that parish were actually interviewed for this piece. Go figure on that one.

Also, if Brooks interviewed Planning Board chair Dufour in January – as was stated in the article – did either he or The Telegraph hold off on publishing this piece till three days after Easter? It’s almost as if the Telegraph was deliberately squelching this article to prevent any religious controversy so that most Nashua residents could proceed to just go through the motions and “pretend” to be zealous for the recent Easter holiday.

Furthermore, I’ve got to seriously take issue with how the Gallup organization posed this question in this particular poll. Personally, I consider myself to be a faithful born-again Christian and very active with my church, however, I definitely do not view myself as being “very religious”. I’ll share Biblical scripture and encourage others to attend a good Bible-based church when the opportunity arises, but I’m not planning to quit my job and become an Evangelist. I may pray every day in the privacy of my own home but I rarely pray in public when I’m at a restaurant or dining over somebody else’s home.

Come to think of it, didn’t Jesus Christ himself have some very heated public and personal confrontations with the religious leaders of his time? I believe he did.

But being identified as the 78 percent of Nashua residents who are, “not very religious” by the criteria of this Gallup poll sort of makes me feel like I’m in the category of an Agnostic or an Atheist – and I can assure you, that’s definitely not the case with me. I think the Gallup organization would’ve gotten a more accurate reading to separate the heathens from the believers, so to speak, had it asked the question:

“If you were to die tomorrow, do you think you’d spend all eternity in Heaven or Hell, and why?”

Personally, I think it’s a zillion times more effective to find out where a person stands on their own Salvation (saved, born-again, eternity in Heaven) versus if they consider themselves, “very religious” when trying to gauge the intensity of their relationship with God. Or, if the Gallup organization were willing to ask each individual five simple questions surrounding their faith, that could also serve as a great measuring stick. For example: 1) Do you financially tithe at least 10 percent of your gross income to your church? 2) Do you pray at least once a day? 3)  Do you attend a regular weekly church service at least three times a month? 4)  Do you share your knowledge about your religious faith or encourage others to attend you church’s service at least five times a week? 5) Do you read and study your Bible at least two hours a week?

I’d call the previous five questions “the absolute bare minimum” on being a faithful Christian, never mind putting yourself in a category of “very religious”. Again, what a person is willing to reveal in those five questions — assuming, of course, they’re telling the truth — will speak volumes on where they stand with God.

But despite how Gallup posed its question to residents, I definitely believe there’s been an obvious decline in the Nashua area concerning church membership, and just the interest of learning about God or the Bible. I happen to be a member of a Nashua church which is actively involved in outreach for new people, and just the apathy of trying to talk with people on the city sidewalks about God or the Bible is a rather challenging adventure. Had Gallup polled Nashua residents with that same question 30 or more years earlier, I think the results would’ve been 180 degrees opposite.

One interesting tidbit that should be noted here: 1-2 months after the 9/11 tragedy, church membership in America dramatically increased and went through the proverbial roof. Unfortunately, several months afterwards, church memberships reverted back to its numbers prior to September 11, 2001. I guess if someone’s desperate enough, they’ll definitely seek out God, Jesus Christ, the Bible to get some straight, no-nonsense answers for their life. As the old cliché goes, “There are no Atheists in the foxholes.”