Why do teenagers and young adults hate Christianity ?

[tturt]

Also, asking for God's help to remove the blinders from their minds as He did with us.

"...for their minds have been blinded by the god of this age, leaving them in unbelief. Their blindness keeps them from seeing the dayspring light of the wonderful news of the glory of Jesus Christ, who is the divine image of God." (II Cor 4:4).

 

[Rescued One]

Is Christianity out of touch or are these people simply evil and expressing there Hatred Of Christ ?

They probably have unloving parents or parents who don't like religion. Some older people who don't read or Bibles just go to church out of habit.

 

[Rescued One]

Ghandi is reported to have said: “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

Maybe the problem is with the Christians they know.

The people who only think they are Christians aren't. As Christians, we should desire and strive to be Christlike.

 

[Hans Blaster]

[dupe]

 

[Bradskii]

As Christians, we should desire and strive to be Christlike.

As should we all.

 

[keith99]

By their fruit you shall know them!

Does this not also apply to any god out there? The hyprocracy of the Church is good reason to quetion the character or existence of the god it worships.

This thread is a step in the right direction. I was expecting it to be in the Christians only area, which is almost always the case for similar threads. Ask those who have left a group or never joined it why they did so, not those who joined and stayed.

Ask yourself what programs your Church has for teens and young adults. Most Churches are like a book club that never reads any book that is less then 80 years old or has an important character under 30. The vast majority of teens and young adults would find nothing for them in such a book club or such a Church.

I know things can be done. Over 50 years ago Hollywood Presbyterian had a Christian night club called The Salt Factory. It was a soft sell. No preaching. Instead like a typical night club minus the booze and a step more wholesome in general. But not so straightlaced as to lose the fun.

Look at what your Church is teaching in Sunday School. The kids will remember and they will measure you based on what is taught. That includes applying the things that are taught to show other faiths are false to Christianity. The only Sunday School class session I rememebr is one where they told a story about Christian priests destroying a grove of trees sacred to Thor and that nothing happening to them proved that Thor was a false god. Teaching that to 12 year olf boys in an era when Marvel Comics (which included Thor) were widely read by 12 year old boys and when almost all 12 year old boys enjoyed tree forts is not shooting yourself in the foot. It is blowing off your leg above the knee. And by the logic involved the next time a Church is vandalized, and the vandals escape unharmed it proves Christianity false.

Right afer 911 I was listining to the radio while driving and they spoke with a Imam. You clold figuratively hear the beard. He was obviously a devout Muslim. The thing I remember him saying was "The men who did this were not true believers. If they were they could not have done what they did."

When did you last hear a Christian say taht about something vile done in the name of Christ?

My good friend Screwtape will be upset with me pointing out that of the above the fact that at most Churches there is nothing for teens and young adults is the most important factor. Most would stay if there were something for them and either ignore the problems or (at least for a while) try to fix them. But nothing is strong and boredom is more powerful in drifting people away than anger is at driving they away.

 

[Hazelelponi]

I do not see it,
but as the man said, "As in the days of Noah"

Today there is a flood, a flood of information as never before, both from below, science, tech and from above, spiritual.

This in turn creates confusion..

I think there is too little soul-searching, too much judging based on outer things.

Get on a bus and look around, each passenger has a story .

I love reading your posts. You always have an interesting perspective.

 

[Robban]

I love reading your posts. You always have an interesting perspective.

Thank you

 

[Nithavela]

Probably not enough beatings. [/sarcasm]

 

[RoBo1988]

I do not see it,
but as the man said, "As in the days of Noah"

Today there is a flood, a flood of information as never before, both from below, science, tech and from above, spiritual.

This in turn creates confusion..

I think there is too little soul-searching, too much judging based on outer things.

Get on a bus and look around, each passenger has a story .

That "flood" comes in 2 minute (or less) bites.

My wife and I we talking yesterday, about various family members (all 40 and younger) and how they seem to not be able to focus on anything - they will go from one "big idea" to the next, leaving the remains of the last one behind, lacking the ability to focus. I am a couple decades older, but I catch myself getting caught up in the bombardment of "the latest and the greatest" that the world throws at you.

I remember someone talking about the progression of Sesame Street" - teaching in small bites, then it went to MTV, and videos, now you tube, and Tik Tok. This seems to be a contributor ; Very few have the patience to think for themselves, let alone sit and study/ discuss The Word.

That's the challenge for the church today - to show Jesus, and make disciples in this current culture.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

They are formed by the zeitgeist. They know they are supposed to oppose "Christianity," and they often do not even know what it is.

Agreed. .............. and that zeitgeist is now being led by Youtoob ex-christians and atheist/ex-christian organizations and publishers, many of whom have only cropped up in the last several years and go beyond what the New Atheists of 20 years ago put into place.

This is now the proliferation of challenges we're up against, and it doesn't appear that it'll be abating any time soon.

 

[Offline4Better.]

Sorry Mr. Manning, people don't come to no longer accept the existence of your god because of Christian hypocrites. That's just now it works.

Actually, I have a coworker who is done with church, and religion because her grandmother kidnapped her when she was younger. So, there are some people that have been traumatized by the Christian faith. For those who have been traumatized such as my coworker, organized religion may not be the best for her, but instead, a slow reintroduction to the faith might work, but I will not be the guy to do that, unless she asks me to. Her husband is not into organized religion as well, but she told me that he has a similar taste in music to me and her (electronic dance music). So, hypothetically, Christian dance music could be an outlet for these folks to rediscover God.

Hey, I am a young adult who is almost 25, and am a Christian man. Old-Earth Creationist also. My parents are Christian, trust the sciences, and did not shove religion down my throat.

 

[Offline4Better.]

Quick question, @Bradskii . When you were younger (teens or 20s), how was Christianity spoken about in your family, or in Australia as a whole? What turned you off about Christianity? For myself, as a Christian, the science deniers and some (not all) evangelicals make Christianity look bad. That is one of the reasons my parents and I left the nondenominational branch to go to Catholicism. Even then, there are plenty of Catholics as well that seem not to care about God's creation or other people.

In other words, it is the Christians that turn people away from Christ. For myself, I stay away from certain Christians, and only hang out with Christians who are not polarized all the way to the right, or all the way to the left.

 

[RDKirk]

I think belief in the supernatural in general is trending down. Largely due to the Internet. People, especially the less traditionally educated.. are exposed to a larger scope of ideas than ever before. Including the skepticism of the supernatural. Not sure how personally Christianity in particular should take this.

I just passed by (didn't watch, but will) a video discussing the proposal that there are so few true women atheists (people with zero belief in any form of supernaturality) than male atheists. My immediate response is to agree (at least in my own way of thinking).

 

[RDKirk]

That "flood" comes in 2 minute (or less) bites.

My wife and I we talking yesterday, about various family members (all 40 and younger) and how they seem to not be able to focus on anything - they will go from one "big idea" to the next, leaving the remains of the last one behind, lacking the ability to focus. I am a couple decades older, but I catch myself getting caught up in the bombardment of "the latest and the greatest" that the world throws at you.

I remember someone talking about the progression of Sesame Street" - teaching in small bites, then it went to MTV, and videos, now you tube, and Tik Tok. This seems to be a contributor ; Very few have the patience to think for themselves, let alone sit and study/ discuss The Word.

That's the challenge for the church today - to show Jesus, and make disciples in this current culture.

I just watched a video and noted another of a new TikTok rage. Young people are writing totally bogus checks to themselves in large amounts and depositing the checks into their own checking accounts through an ATM. The bank automatically credits them with some portion of that check, which they then withdraw and think of as "free money."

Of course, eventually the bank is going to debit that amount (and charge them a fee for the bounced check) and following that, chase them for their money.

The problem is that the kids haven't grasped the basic principle of TAANSTAFL ("There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"). If you get anything "free," either you're somehow stealing from someone or someone is somehow stealing from you. Because they haven't grasped that basic principle of life, someone who tried this put it on TikTok and a million other kids have tried it before the report of what eventually happened to the first kid becomes public.

 

[Robban]

That "flood" comes in 2 minute (or less) bites.

My wife and I we talking yesterday, about various family members (all 40 and younger) and how they seem to not be able to focus on anything - they will go from one "big idea" to the next, leaving the remains of the last one behind, lacking the ability to focus. I am a couple decades older, but I catch myself getting caught up in the bombardment of "the latest and the greatest" that the world throws at you.

I remember someone talking about the progression of Sesame Street" - teaching in small bites, then it went to MTV, and videos, now you tube, and Tik Tok. This seems to be a contributor ; Very few have the patience to think for themselves, let alone sit and study/ discuss The Word.

That's the challenge for the church today - to show Jesus, and make disciples in this current culture.

I think in times gone by it was called the "Rat race" maybe likened to the hamster on he tread wheel.

 

[Hans Blaster]

Actually, I have a coworker who is done with church, and religion because her grandmother kidnapped her when she was younger. So, there are some people that have been traumatized by the Christian faith. For those who have been traumatized such as my coworker, organized religion may not be the best for her, but instead, a slow reintroduction to the faith might work, but I will not be the guy to do that, unless she asks me to. Her husband is not into organized religion as well, but she told me that he has a similar taste in music to me and her (electronic dance music). So, hypothetically, Christian dance music could be an outlet for these folks to rediscover God.

I don't know you coworker (obviously), but leaving the church and ending participation in organized religion is not the same as becoming an atheist, as Mr. Manning claimed. Something like half of those who answer the "what is your religion?" question with "none" believe in some sort of god, pray, etc., some even occasionally go to services. If Mr. Manning had said that the hypocrisy of Christians (especially leaders) and toxic culture war preaching was driving young people out of the church, he would have been completely correct. Getting to no longer believing in gods requires a bit more (or at least realization that you no longer believe such things after being outside regular inculcation for some time as it was for me).

Hey, I am a young adult who is almost 25, and am a Christian man. Old-Earth Creationist also. My parents are Christian, trust the sciences, and did not shove religion down my throat.

I was never a creationist of any kind. As for "shoving down the throat", we were taken to weekly mass and CCD and said prayers over meals, but other than that discussion at home rarely went to the topic of religion. Nova and Wild Kingdom were regular viewing in our house and we watched the original airing of Cosmos together. No anti-science going on there. I was still doing on my own at 25, but by 30 I was out, for good.

 

[bèlla]

I think belief in the supernatural in general is trending down. Largely due to the Internet. People, especially the less traditionally educated.. are exposed to a larger scope of ideas than ever before. Including the skepticism of the supernatural. Not sure how personally Christianity in particular should take this.

I don't think there's a waning interest in the supernatural per se. But exploration is occurring outside of mainstream institutions and influences. It's more personal and inquisitive. What some might deem as spiritual is more prevalent than alignment to a belief system. I think we've reached the point where many are willing to admit no one knows it all.

~bella

 

[Niels]

Is Christianity out of touch or are these people simply evil and expressing there Hatred Of Christ ?

I see more misunderstanding than genuine hatred. The Church isn't necessarily out of touch, and young people don't necessarily hate Christ. At least not in a meaningful way if they don't know what they're hating.

Teenagers and young adults tend to seek independence and want to find things out for themselves. Meanwhile, while growing up, Christianity was portrayed like Rod and Todd Flanders on The Simpsons. lol

Never mind that the Simpson family and others also attended the same church. Which admittedly isn't saying much.

Of course, not all young people reject Christianity. Many continue in the tradition of their parents or embrace it for the first time. I know a lot of people who became Christians in college, and others who left the fold to return years later. It can just take longer for some to learn what it's really about, and then choose to accept or reject Christ from a more informed perspective.

 

[Offline4Better.]

I don't know you coworker (obviously), but leaving the church and ending participation in organized religion is not the same as becoming an atheist, as Mr. Manning claimed. Something like half of those who answer the "what is your religion?" question with "none" believe in some sort of god, pray, etc., some even occasionally go to services. If Mr. Manning had said that the hypocrisy of Christians (especially leaders) and toxic culture war preaching was driving young people out of the church, he would have been completely correct. Getting to no longer believing in gods requires a bit more (or at least realization that you no longer believe such things after being outside regular inculcation for some time as it was for me).

I was never a creationist of any kind. As for "shoving down the throat", we were taken to weekly mass and CCD and said prayers over meals, but other than that discussion at home rarely went to the topic of religion. Nova and Wild Kingdom were regular viewing in our house and we watched the original airing of Cosmos together. No anti-science going on there. I was still doing on my own at 25, but by 30 I was out, for good.

Shout out to Nova and Cosmos Neil DeGrasse Tyson, two of my favorites TV shows on PBS, though Carl Sagan made the original Cosmos, before my time. About Catholicism, I never had to go to CCD, as my parents did not become Catholic until 2019. They let me wait before making my decision, and I became Catholic in 2022, after learning about Eucharistic Miracles, and how there were a lot of Catholic scientists in the 19th-20th centuries. At least religion was not shoved down your throat either. My dad likes nature documentaries as well. I am really blessed to have parents that have common sense, and do not force me to do anything. And hey, never say never, as God may give you a calling. Science is a good way to glorify God. Together, you and I can band together to debate the Young-Earth Creationists and science deniers.

About church leaders, there are a lot of creeps that ruin the appeal of Christianity, but the Bible clearly says we must rebuke poor leadership. For instance, if a pastor or priest is crushin' on kids to put it lightly, kick them out and send the pastor/priest to jail.

1 Timothy 5:20 (ESV): "As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear."