Millennials Losing Their Religion
by Mike James
In my last blog I discussed the decrease in the number of people of all ages in the United States claiming to be Christian. In this blog I’d like to address the specific demographic of 23-38 year olds. Most people in this age range are known as “millennials.” Economist Michelle Freeman of the Bureau of Labor Statistics has found our younger generation in early adulthood has dramatically stepped back from religious activities. She bases her assessment on information from two studies released in October 2019 which analyzes data from the American Time Use Survey.
Millennials Losing Their Religion
According to Pew Research Center data from 2019, about 75 percent of millennials attend religious services “a few times a year” or less, and 40 percent say they seldom or never go. In 2009, 50 percent in this age range attended a few times a year and 30 percent said they seldom or never go.
Some surmise our young people move away from religion, but as they grow older they will return. Christine Emba, writing in an editorial in the Washington Post (10/29/19), says millennials are leaving religion—especially Christianity—and are not coming back. Emba warns that some millennials are now in their late 30s with children and they are not coming back to faith or worship. The Post editorial goes on to say some of these millennials are turning to low-commitment substitutes like astrology, yoga, self-care, and social media. This group is also spending twice as much time playing computer games than any other demographic.
So why should this matter? Well I look at this as a domino effect. As the millennial generation begins to have more and more children these children will be less likely to grow up believing in God or faith practices. What will that lead to? Well take a look back over the last 50 years just in the United States. Court rulings and changes in our laws have altered what is considered normal in this country. Isaiah 5:20 says, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil…” I foresee a continued downward trend in our country’s laws and norms as the children of millennials grow up and begin to govern and rule this land. Proverbs 22:6 reads, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” We can’t argue with this statement. It is difficult enough for people to change. If our future generation has no knowledge of God when they are young what will they turn to?
Toward the end of her editorial, Emba raises a concern. She is worried about millennials losing their religion because our religious traditions help build deep relationships and communal support. By leaving religion, she states, we are “shrugging off the ties that bind.” She mentions “we’ll have to find somewhere else to tend to our spirits—and our hearts.” For me, that is the greater concern. As more and more people shrug off religion they will need to fill that vacuum with something else. No matter how busy and distracted our modern world makes us we all wonder and contemplate what it’s all about from time to time.
What might fill this vacuum? Well how about a new world culture. As society relies less and less on God, man or humanism might take His place. We are beginning to see more and more signs in the world of people wanting to come together and move past the old systems and traditions of the nation-state world. This won’t happen all at once and there are likely to be ebbs and flows as we move toward more of a one-world culture. But that might be where future generations move toward in trying to fulfill their spiritual needs.
One present example of this goes by the name of transculturalism. Transculturalism is a new form of humanism based on the idea of getting rid of traditional identities and cultures based on imperialism and dogmatic religious traditions. It’s rooted in the pursuit of shared interests and common values across cultural and national borders. Take the climate change debate as one example. Most of the world is in agreement on the idea that changes need to occur in protecting our world environment. How radical that change needs to be is up for debate, but many young people in the world today are involved with religious fervor in trying to influence the world toward radical climate change. What will future generations fill their spiritual vacuum with? That remains to be seen, but with a great deceiver (Revelation 12:9) in the world the implications are not positive.