Booger McLovin

Every generation faces its own trial of faith. Ours is not a crisis of ignorance, but of abundance. We have the tools to read the words of life and the means to share them instantly across the world, yet we also have more distractions, more comforts, and more reasons to believe we can live without God. The struggle is not simply for truth, but for attention; not merely for facts, but for hearts. This is the story of how literacy once sparked faith and justice, how pride and comfort dimmed it, and how the war for souls has moved from the pulpits and printed page to the glowing screens in our hands.

The spread of literacy transformed society more than by imparting knowledge. As people learned to read, Scripture came alive in the hands of farmers, artisans, and homemakers. What had once been confined to pulpit authority became a personal encounter with divine truth. Literacy gave birth to conviction. It enabled movements to oppose slavery, defend the vulnerable, and argue for the dignity of women. Bible-literate believers did not craft justice. They rediscovered it in the pages of God’s Word.

This same pattern is unfolding today in unexpected places. In several Arab states, and especially in Iran, there is a sudden and significant rise in Christianity. Despite severe persecution, underground churches are multiplying. These gatherings, often led in secret and sustained at great risk, reflect the same truth that history has shown repeatedly: the Word of God cannot be chained. Those who wish to help can support ministries that provide Bibles, training, and aid to these believers who meet in hidden rooms and risk their lives for the Gospel.

In the Arab world during the Arab Spring, literacy among youth created the soil for democratic stirrings. Educated young people, aware of injustice and eager for change, became the engine of protest. Tools such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and mobile communication enabled them to form networks that challenged authoritarian silence. In Egypt and Tunisia, nine out of ten citizens reported using Facebook to organize or spread awareness. These tools helped transform private discontent into public action. In both the Arab Spring and the rise of underground churches, literacy did more than spread ideas. It gave oppressed people the means to challenge lies and discover truth for themselves.

Yet the same power that once unlocked hearts to God can lead them into folly when pride sets in. Atheism is seldom born from humble doubt. It often rises from hearts that place human reasoning above divine revelation. In affluent Western societies, material comfort and self-assured autonomy mute awareness of spiritual poverty. Wealth tempts the soul with illusions of self-sufficiency, and many are listening.

Global patterns reinforce this striking truth. Between 2005 and 2024, the share of people identifying as religious slipped from 68 percent to 56 percent. In contrast, those declaring no affiliation rose from 21 percent to 28 percent, and convinced atheists doubled from 6 percent to 10 percent. These shifts correspond closely with rising prosperity, not rising reason.

In Communist and formerly Communist nations, atheism was forced upon the masses. Churches were shuttered, clergy were jailed, and faithful voices were silenced under the banner of ideology. The state promoted “scientific atheism” as the enlightened alternative, replacing sacred traditions with political ritual. It sought not only to control actions but to reprogram thought, making loyalty to the party a surrogate for loyalty to God.

In much of the modern West, the suppression of faith has been softer but no less deliberate. As nations embraced the welfare state model, many shifted charitable responsibilities from churches to government agencies. Food programs that once brought the needy into the care of local congregations were replaced with state-run systems, severing one of the natural bridges between physical help and spiritual hope. Likewise, the resistance to school vouchers has often kept children in secular institutions rather than allowing them access to schools that would teach them both academics and the love of God. By monopolizing both aid and education, the state gradually removed spaces where the Gospel once met the needs of the poor.

Yet in both authoritarian regimes and welfare states, faith proves resilient. In places like Poland, Romania, and Russia, the lifting of political oppression was followed by a surge in church attendance and public faith. History shows that while the channels of faith may be obstructed, the living water continues to flow beneath the surface.

In the Western world, secularism seeps in more subtly through entertainment. Television and film are less about narrative or morality than about selling fantasy, desire, and distraction. The stories and imagery are crafted not primarily to inspire or uplift, but to hold attention long enough to sell a product or an idea. The result is a media culture that not only dulls the conscience to sin but actively pushes separation from God. The more time spent immersed in narratives that ignore Him or portray His ways as outdated, the more normalized unbelief becomes.

The damage to traditional media is already done. Mainstream networks are now a shell of what they once were, their moral authority eroded and their audience fragmented. The cultural battle has moved online. Platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and other digital spaces now host a growing number of Christian voices, including apologists and teachers reaching young audiences directly. These voices, creative and unapologetic in their faith, are using the very tools of distraction to call people to devotion. There is a slow but noticeable return of young adults to church attendance. It is still small and recent, but it hints at the possibility of a digital reformation for a generation that lives online.

Non-belief flourishes in cultures that no longer feel the weight of their dependence on God. When daily bread comes through government food programs instead of church food ministries, when crises are managed with insurance instead of intercession, the soul’s awareness of its need for God fades. The modern West is a land where comfort is abundant and distraction is endless, making it fertile soil for apathy toward faith.

Education alone does not explain this trend. Some of the most educated nations remain deeply religious, while some of the most secular nations show no unique intellectual advantage over religious ones. The difference is that wealth and media together create a self-contained world that feels sufficient without God. When the mind is constantly occupied and the body constantly comforted, there is little space left to hear the quiet voice of conviction. The soul grows accustomed to noise and novelty, forgetting how to be still and know that He is God.

Let us listen to Proverbs 16:18 that warns, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Let us heed Micah 6:8 in calling upon each of us to “act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.” If literacy once opened hearts to justice, let the same literacy now open hearts to worship. If the internet can spread lies, it can also spread truth, but only if those who know the truth will speak. Let each of us use our voice, our resources, and our time to lift the name of Christ in whatever place God has set us. The future of faith in our generation will not be decided by governments or networks, but by the faithfulness of God’s people to share His Word with a world that has forgotten Him.