Charmin or Cottonelle? Methodist or Baptist?

    Headline from an article from Religion News Service today:

    Americans more loyal to Charmin or Colgate than church. 

     The news comes from Phoenix-based Ellison Research, which reports: "16 percent of Protestants say they would consider only one denomination, while 22 percent of them would use only one brand of toothpaste and 19 percent would use just one brand of bathroom tissue."

    Before we start the wailing and gnashing of teeth, let's take a deep breath and hear what Robert Thompson, professor of popular culture at Syracuse University, has to say.

"When you actually think about it for more than 10 seconds, none of this is all that surprising and I don't think it's actually bad," Prof. Thompson said.  He sees the survey as a sign that some of he old rivalries between various Protestant denominations have disappeared.  "Those distinctions, which seemed so important as the various Protestant churches were identifying and evolving ... are really not that important to the average churchgoer in the United States," Prof. Thompson said, adding that he's been a member of three different denominations himself, so far. 

I would add that most Americans - including some average churchgoers - aren't terribly well-versed on what it is that makes each denomination distinctive.  You don't see "predestination" or "Wesleyan quadrilateral" tossed about in the popular culture. And denominational distinctions aren't nearly as important as the experience that people have at one church, compared to another. (Did someone greet you? Did you like the sermon? And how was the coffee?) 

Read more about the survey here.