America's Youth Are a Bunch of Godless Apostates
Two of my closest friends in college were converts to Christianity. Neither had grown up in a religious household, but as adolescents each read the Bible cover to cover, began attending church weekly, and adopted the Christian faith. In college, the two attended the same church as I and participated in Bible studies and prayer groups. But one day as we neared the end of our days as undergraduates, in a move that surprised everyone who knew them, both renounced Christianity and declared themselves "faithless."
And yet, as shocking and heartbreaking as it was to witness my friends rationalize their loss of faith, apostasy -- leaving or renouncing one's faith -- apparently isn’t too unusual among young Americans. A fascinating article in Christianity Today documents the phenomenon of young Americans' increasing abandonment of religion.
Among the findings released in 2009 from the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), one stood out. The percentage of Americans claiming "no religion" almost doubled in about two decades, climbing from 8.1 percent in 1990 to 15 percent in 2008. The trend wasn't confined to one region. Those marking "no religion," called the "Nones," ... were most numerous among the young: a whopping 22 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds claimed no religion, up from 11 percent in 1990. The study also found that 73 percent of Nones came from religious homes; 66 percent were described by the study as "de-converts."
Other survey results have been grimmer. At the May 2009 Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, top political scientists Robert Putnam and David Campbell...reported that "young Americans are dropping out of religion at an alarming rate of five to six times the historic rate (30 to 40 percent have no religion today, versus 5 to 10 percent a generation ago)."
The figures certainly suggest that young Americans are an increasingly godless demographic. Surely many in this group will discover or rediscover faith as they age and start their own families. Nevertheless, the undeniable trend toward godlessness may be a precursor of further disintegration of American society. As John Adams' oft-quoted observation warns,
We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
So where do we go from here?
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Aug '10
Re: America's Youth Are a Bunch of Godless Apostates
I think that this trend may reflect the ways that the various churches present doctrine and how that conflicts with the young people's conception of the good. Add to this the "squishyness" of some churches, and you can explain some of the other faithless. How many churches are really just houses of "liberalism" rather than houses of faith? Are those included in the calculation? I think that both overly dogmatic churches and overly relativistic churches lead to abandonment of faith.
One of the reasons that I became a practicing Catholic was how much I enjoyed engaging with the philosophic traditions of the faith. It was the faith's Fathers, and their use of philosophy, that appealed to me. The combination of moral reason with faith has great appeal to me. The attempt to remove moral reasoning (via relativism) or attempts to be a substitute for scientific reasoning are not proper applications of religion.
There is a lot to ponder in the growth of the faithless. But I came from a faithless home and came to faith in adulthood.
Feb '10
Re: America's Youth Are a Bunch of Godless Apostates
First, we need to check our own lives, because the biggest reason for people to leave or reject Christianity is the perceived or real hypocrisy of its adherents.
Second, we need to stop being lazy, and work just as hard at convincing others as the opponents of Christianity do.
I myself am becoming more convinced of the truth of John Adams' quote. We have so many fronts on which to fight, but unless we get to root causes, we're fighting a losing battle. The best thing that could happen to America is a Fourth Great Awakening.
I'm sure some libertarians will question the need for this. But don't worry, we're not talking about cramming religion down your throats, but about trying to convince more people, by our words and our deeds, that religion (more specifically, true Christianity) is a critical part of a good, self-governing society.
Edited on Nov 29, 2010 at 12:41pmJul '10
Re: America's Youth Are a Bunch of Godless Apostates
It is sad, but understandable, that most young people are taking the path of least resistance. The culture is hostile to most religions, Christianity above all. As you point out, at the age between leaving home and starting a family, bucking the culture may seem to be a low-return proposition.
As a "precursor of further disintegration of American society", that may be a chicken-and-egg situation. Did we start to disintegrate when we became godless, or vice versa?
As it has ever been, religious faith in a culture is based on the "one person at a time" principle. Wholesale repentance is God's baliwick. "Compassionate conservatism", "faith-based initiatives" and "social safety nets" have not served us well in this struggle. All we can do is live, love, raise, teach, forgive and pray.
God will have to handle the rest.
Jul '10
Re: America's Youth Are a Bunch of Godless Apostates
My son is a graduate student. During a wild youth that included playing in a punk-rock band, he became addicted to drugs and alcohol. Only AA and a Higher Power got him sober and keeps him there. He says the hostility to religion in college is phenomenal, rivaled only by that toward conservatives. And this is in Texas. The sad fact is atheism is hip and getting hipper.
Aug '10
Re: America's Youth Are a Bunch of Godless Apostates
Well said.
Also well said.
I may never become Catholic myself, but my awareness of what my ancestors lost by choosing to abandon their Catholicism in favor of something more "rational" is only increasing over time. In my ancestors' case, it may have re-primitivized their moral reasoning a good bit: they are not nearly as advanced moral reasoners as they think they are (though they consider being Catholic a sign of moral primitivism).
Nov '10
Re: America's Youth Are a Bunch of Godless Apostates
this is a quote by Brennan Manning, but I've heard it attributed to others as well. Doesn't matter who said it first, it answers the question:
"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."
Can't add much to that...
Re: America's Youth Are a Bunch of Godless Apostates
Busy System Admin: ...the biggest reason for people to leave or reject Christianity is the perceived or real hypocrisy of its adherents.
Ken Owsley: this is a quote by Brennan Manning...
"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."
Surely this is the case for some, but I think this excuse is an overblown cliche and I really doubt this is why so many young Americans reject Christianity. I think it has more to do with how difficult it is to lay down one's own will and desires to serve God. Not to mention how hard it can be to buck the trend of sola scientia in favor of belief in a Creator, belief in a God who can rise and raise others from the dead, etc.
Jul '10
Re: America's Youth Are a Bunch of Godless Apostates
I'll say this as someone who was very serious about the Christian faith at one point. The problem that I had with Catholicism is not so much with the doctrine, but the establishment of the organization itself, and the accoutrements that have little to do with the tenets of the faith as revealed in the Bible. It is very difficult to examine the foundation of the Catholic Church as the evangelicalization of a lone man (Paul) whose views were very different than Jeshua (Yehoshua) of Nazareth. The severe and undeniable break from Judaism (the religion Jeshua practiced Himself) seems to me to be unfounded by the earliest practitioners as they sought themselves to be separate, and certainly the Jews themselves responded in kind. For example, no one in His time called him Jesus. The inclusion of certain texts or the exclusion of others (which certainly was the response of the Jews to this new religion) is strange, but supposedly "Divinely Inspired," as one sect of Christianity fought with another. Another issue is the veneration of Saints, which are ostensibly an extension of Tzadikkim or the veneration of Mary and directly praying to them for intercession for G-d.
Nov '10
Re: America's Youth Are a Bunch of Godless Apostates
Diane, I so disagree, I think it is the primary issue. People either see Christ through us, or they don't. And if they don't, they don't have much hope outside direct revelation. I'm not saying God doesn't reveal himself to people directly, he certainly does. But I would say that his primary plan is for those of who are Christians to reveal Him to them through the way we behave, particularly how we treat them. You are right that it is very difficult in our world of science and fact to believe something we can't see, we all struggle with that. But what strengthens our faith is a community of authentic believers. If those believers are just luke-warm Christians, it has the opposite effect, I think. And to be clear, I'm not talking about what Lewis called the "sins of the physical self". I'm talking about what he called "sins of the diabolical self". My opinion...
Jul '10
Re: America's Youth Are a Bunch of Godless Apostates
One of the first items to go is the Christian definition of marriage: ie, one man, one woman. No other religion maintains this as basic to human relationships: one man, ONE woman.
OK: easy, "no fault" divorce. gay marriage. and soon, in Canada, polygamy.
Ideas have consequences. And Christianity has all sorts of unexpected advantages, which we are thoughtlessly throwing away.
Aug '10
Re: America's Youth Are a Bunch of Godless Apostates
Doubly troubling is the weakness of many community churches at a time when you can predict their future necessity.As the financial reckoning will mean alot of welfare services, entitlements program, and other social services will be trimmed back in order to fix the deficits, the churches should return to their prior status as providers to the community.
The government deliberately regulated them out of the equation in order to create large pools of employees and the funding growth that followed.
In the absence of government "safety nets" the lowest level of societal organizations will step in to help. Historically that meant the church, the county level "old folks homes", and other bygone institutions. We took care of everyone before when work was pride and debt was shame. If those values can be inculcated , then it should work out. Otherwise ??
Jul '10
Re: America's Youth Are a Bunch of Godless Apostates
Another byproduct of secularization: the Bible is a complex wonderful work, filled with amazing concepts and great words. Now that few children even attend Sunday school, let alone read (or listen to) the Bible, the literacy rate is gliding towards the basement.
At one time, the poems of Robert Service were best sellers, read by people at every level of society. I have discovered that my nieces (now 30ish) could not understand most of the words in those poems. BUT they can read the local newspaper. Oh well.
Jun '10
Re: America's Youth Are a Bunch of Godless Apostates
Just as I'm not sure there is a single or even primary "cause" for the apparent luke-warm response to matters of faith and belief, neither am I sure there is any single proper response save for this: praying for a spiritual awakening or transformation, at individual levels and beyond. From a Christian perspective, the growth of the Church is happening not here, but in Asia and Africa. Why? I don't know, but one could argue that in those places where freedom abounds less, there is a more acute awareness of the individual's need for salvation. The Western Church is now far more institutional, and much less organic than it should be. That is to its detriment.
So often, we treat matters of faith as mere intellectual exercise. That's important, but it is not all. As one who came to faith, walked away from it, and later returned, I can only speak to my experience: I didn't embrace, discard and reconcile with an idea or a philosophy or a doctrine. I needed a Savior, and He was still there waiting when I returned from my own apostasy. Faith, hope, love and prayer. These still matter.
Nov '10
Re: America's Youth Are a Bunch of Godless Apostates
I think this is probably one of the biggest things here, just from personal observation. It's hard to have what I'll call here a religious experience from just passively being dragged to church by your parents once a week for an hour, if even that. Any real faith requires action, and one of the biggest is reading your scriptures. But they tend to be long and complicated, and not terribly entertaining, so kids don't read them. Any active, willing participation is good, of course, but if a kid doesn't read their scriptures, their religion is often the social aspects that they are participating in.
I think this may have something also to do with the rise of radical Islam - it seems to require a good bit of active participation and reading on the part of the adherents, so it "keeps," unlike the Christianity of a lot of America's youth.
Re: America's Youth Are a Bunch of Godless Apostates
Two positive things have happened recently that will lead to the formation of better, if not more, Catholics. First was Benedict XVI's appointment of Opus Dei formed Jose Gomez as the new Arch Bishop of Los Angeles replacing the problematic Cardinal Mahoney.
Second is the miraculous election of conservative theologian Timothy Dolan to head the problematic United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The Catholic Church does not need more members, it actually could get by fantastically on less, as long as they all practice their faith.
Nov '10
Re: America's Youth Are a Bunch of Godless Apostates
Edited on Nov 29, 2010 at 3:47pmMay '10
Re: America's Youth Are a Bunch of Godless Apostates
TheRoyalFamily
Any real faith requires action, and one of the biggest is reading your scriptures.
As someone who majored in Biblical Studies in college and has 3 small children, I often think about how to share my love and passion for the Bible and God and Jesus to my kids. It's a constant challenge, and one I'm not always confident of succeeding at.
I want my children to inherit my faith. However, when they are grown-ups, I also want them to come to a point where they own their own faith like I did. I remember very distinctly when I came that point in my spiritual journey. It was exciting, scary and also quite rewarding. I agree with Jim Chase that the best answer is: "praying for a spiritual awakening or transformation, at individual levels and beyond." If I really do believe that God answers prayer, surely this is completely in keeping with my faith.
May '10
Re: America's Youth Are a Bunch of Godless Apostates
I think that youthful agnosticism is similar to youthful leftism- in the end, it is essentially worship of self. Sometimes people such as Diane's friends (and BJ Thomas) are caught up in a peer group that is built on the same kind of emotional core as any other fad- Jesus described this in the Parable of the Sower. Essentially, stillborn.
Michael's laundry list seems to me to be a bit of a hodge-podge. There is more to Christianity than Catholicism; I am not qualified to comment on that the Catholic church a whole lot, since I am not Catholic, though I reject Ian Paisley's hyperbolic characterizations. Luke-Acts is also pretty consistent in showing the flow of events from the life of Christ through the rise of His followers, and the clarifications of doctrine are concurrent with the epistles (all of them- Peter's and James' are not at all inconsistent with Paul's).
Nov '10
Re: America's Youth Are a Bunch of Godless Apostates
"Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried" — G. K. Chesterton
Aug '10
Re: America's Youth Are a Bunch of Godless Apostates
Diane Ellis, Ed.
Busy System Admin: ...the biggest reason for people to leave or reject Christianity is the perceived or real hypocrisy of its adherents.
Ken Owsley: this is a quote by Brennan Manning...
"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."
Surely this is the case for some, but I think this excuse is an overblown cliche and I really doubt this is why so many young Americans reject Christianity.
It may be an overblown cliche, and not the reason why most young Americans who have been raised at least nominally Christian reject Christianity. But it is a reason why many young Americans reject Christianity -- heck, even why many old Americans reject it.
I know because they've talked to me about it.