Does it work?

Does it work? Do the words or images presented persuade the given audience? It's the most basic critique of any rhetoric.

Yes and no. According to the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), the number of American's who self-identified as Christian decreased from 86% to 76% from 1990 to 2008. Immigration from Latin America paid a large role in stabilizing these numbers for the period, providing an infusion of 9 million Catholics. The survey concludes that "[t]he challenge to Christianity in the U.S. does not come from other religions, but rather from a rejection of all forms of organized religion" with 15% of the population now identifying as "no stated religious preference, atheist, or agnostic."

The cultural dominance of Christianity may be somewhat diminished, but the ARIS report also notes a change in the character of spirituality in the United States:

"Much of this decline in Mainline identification is due to the growing public preference for the generic “Christian” response and the recent growth in the popularity of the “non-denominational Christian” response. Fewer than 200,000 people favored this term in 1990 but in 2008 it accounts for over eight million Americans. Another notable finding is the rise in the preference to self-identify as “Born Again” or “Evangelical” rather than with any Christian tradition, church or denomination. "

The percentage that identified as "Born Again or Evangelical Christians" increased to 34% across all Christian denominations. So, within their own base, the street preachers aren't doing too badly.

We are living in a world that is growing both more and less rational simultaneously. The statistics support what we see every week in the headlines: for every school district pushing Creationism somewhere, there's another rolling out a comprehensive sex-ed program. For every Bill O'Reilly, there's a Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Here's a selection of the more amusing and disturbing items being passed out by the Jesus dealers:

Where did they go? - This is a particularly nasty piece of business. Manages to oversimplify christian doctrine, demonize U.S. domestic and foreign policy and depict followers of Islam as bloodthirsty murders in thirteen short pages.

Heart Trouble? - the heart that beats in your chest is a cesspool of evil. But Christianity is a religion of love and life affirmation, right?

Jesus! - More guilt and threats of eternal damnation in cartoon form.