Millennials are leaving religion and not coming back

Aryeh Jay

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In my mind the only saving grace of this site is the teens that come here. @Stanfordella @Cimorene @Go Braves ; these are examples of teens that put a shining light on Christianity and this site should count their blessings they've chosen to remain here - Though many of you don't make that an easy decision.

I would add ViaCrucis to the list of those saving grace, even though he is not a teen.
 
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straykat

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I don't see how you can take Catholicism all that seriously. It's a highly authoritarian and totalizing worldview where you are expected to follow one man and his opinions. Can you say "The Emperor's New Clothes"?

I never said I was a Catholic btw. But they have a valid line of succession, from the laying on of hands starting with St. Peter. That's why I take them seriously, even if their pope oversteps his bounds. I'm obligated to do that for any bishop. And if you think he's authoritarian, just wait until you meet the High Priest and King.
 
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FireDragon76

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I never said I was a Catholic btw. But they have a valid line of succession, from the laying on of hands starting with St. Peter. That's why I take them seriously, even if their pope oversteps his bounds. I'm obligated to do that for any bishop. And if you think he's authoritarian, just wait until you meet the High Priest and King.

Most secular historians can see no clear line back to Peter. It seems to be a pious fraud, a nice story that Catholics tell to lend themselves legitimacy, but of dubious truth value.

I'm not inherently anti-Catholic. My congregation was actually very Catholic in terms of rituals used. But intellectually, I am far from approving of the way they think of the Church and authority.
 
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Not David

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I'm mainly here for the Orthodox Forum but sometimes I cannot resist discussions (mea culpa). Nevertheless, try not to take this forum so serious, when you do that is an annoyance.

Here is a Taylor Swift's song to calm everyone:

 
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straykat

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Most secular historians can see no clear line back to Peter. It seems to be a pious fraud, a nice story that Catholics tell to lend themselves legitimacy, but of dubious truth value.

I'm not inherently anti-Catholic. My congregation was actually very Catholic in terms of rituals used. But intellectually, I am far from approving of the way they think of the Church and authority.

"Pious frauds" are usually ascribed to apocryphal writings and things of similar shaky origins. Not bishops of entire cosmopolitan cities, out in full view. Perhaps we should take a cue from the resident atheist here, and use Occam's Razor. :p What's easier to believe? That they simply kept records of such a public office.. or that they schemed for some arbitrary reason (I know not what). We even have writings from his earliest successors (St. Clement), and know the names of the bishops of Rome further on (Aristus, Alexander, etc), and then later witnesses in the 2nd century attesting that they all held Peter's office (Irenaeus, Tertullian). Even the Orthodox, who don't agree with Rome, still acknowledge succession from Peter. Why would they themselves partake in a pious fraud that doesn't benefit them at all? If they could, they'd invalidate Rome. It'd make things so much easier. But they don't.

And if St. Clement was a liar, then why was he did get martyred? A man of dubious origins would have likely recanted under duress. Instead he got tossed into the Black Sea, tied to an anchor.
 
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FireDragon76

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What makes you think the idea of bishop was even present in the early church in the form it took in Roman Catholicism? The consensus among most scholars in North America is that the office of bishop and presbyter was identical and only became hierarchical perhaps later in the 1st century as the Church's hierarchy began to take on form, imitating the Greco-Roman family structure. But in the Didache we get the depiction of a religious movement that is far less hierarchical and still has wandering preachers and prophets.
 
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Radagast

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According to the 2014 RLS, the decline was more in some groups than others. And many of the growing "unaffiliated" group are still religious; just not in any organised way.

PF_15.05.05_RLS2_1_310px.png
 
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Rusviking876

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Millennials Are Leaving Religion And Not Coming Back

Social science research has long suggested that Americans’ relationship with religion has a tidal quality — people who were raised religious find themselves drifting away as young adults, only to be drawn back in when they find spouses and begin to raise their own families. Some argued that young adults just hadn’t yet been pulled back into the fold of organized religion, especially since they were hitting major milestones like marriage and parenthood later on.

But now many millennials have spouses, children and mortgages — and there’s little evidence of a corresponding surge in religious interest. A new national survey from the American Enterprise Institute of more than 2,500 Americans found a few reasons why millennials may not return to the religious fold. (One of the authors of this article helped conduct the survey.)
  • For one thing, many millennials never had strong ties to religion to begin with, which means they were less likely to develop habits or associations that make it easier to return to a religious community.
  • Young adults are also increasingly likely to have a spouse who is nonreligious, which may help reinforce their secular worldview.
  • Changing views about the relationship between morality and religion also appear to have convinced many young parents that religious institutions are simply irrelevant or unnecessary for their children.
Many boomers never had strong ties to religion to begin with. Changing views about morality and religion? That ship sailed a long time ago.
 
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Occams Barber

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Many boomers never had strong ties to religion to begin with. Changing views about morality and religion? That ship sailed a long time ago.

You're completely missing the point. No matter how strong (or weak) the linkage is between Boomers and Christianity, it has always been apparent that later generations have been less inclined to stay in the religious fold.

What this study establishes is that this reduction in religious participation is a permanent fixture and not just an artefact of youth.
OB
 
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FireDragon76

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According to the 2014 RLS, the decline was more in some groups than others. And many of the growing "unaffiliated" group are still religious; just not in any organised way.

There's no such thing as "unorganized religion".
 
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DamianWarS

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"Luke Olliff, a 30-year-old man living in Atlanta, says that he and his wife gradually shed their religious affiliations together. “My family thinks she convinced me to stop going to church and her family thinks I was the one who convinced her,” he said. “But really it was mutual. We moved to a city and talked a lot about how we came to see all of this negativity from people who were highly religious and increasingly didn’t want a part in it.” This view is common among young people. A majority (57 percent) of millennials agree that religious people are generally less tolerant of others, compared to only 37 percent of Baby Boomers."
...
“My own upbringing was religious, but I’ve come to believe you can get important moral teachings outside religion,” she said. “And in some ways I think many religious organizations are not good models for those teachings.”

church culture is having a negative impact on this demographic and the reason the millennials give are not untrue. There is a lot of baggage with religion and millennials pick up on it and they aren't interested in it. There is a place for them but the church needs to respond to reach millennials and it is going to mean a restructure. the old system of church is a dying model, as the pews get more empty community is being taken to different places and the church needs to move with it.

 
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essentialsaltes

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There's no such thing as "unorganized religion".

It's probably better to say that some 'nones' do believe in one or more gods. They are not all agnostics and atheists.
 
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iluvatar5150

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Heck, every synagogue I have ever attended has had to have armed guards, since the 1980s, but ours don’t harass the homeless or other guests.

I've been attending urban churches for well over a decade now and IMO suburban evangelicals are way too afraid of homeless people. Once in a while, somebody wanders in and makes a scene, but most of the time, they just sort of fumble around distracted. My current church gets plenty of junkies walking in who may or may not actually be homeless, but either way are pretty strung out when they show up. They've all been polite to me and they're more punctual than the college kids.
 
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Rusviking876

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You're completely missing the point. No matter how strong (or weak) the linkage is between Boomers and Christianity, it has always been apparent that later generations have been less inclined to stay in the religious fold.

What this study establishes is that this reduction in religious participation is a permanent fixture and not just an artefact of youth.
OB
What’s your point? That numbers of Christians have decreased? Nobody denies that.

Boomers left the Church in striking numbers so to say this is a new phenomenon with millennials is a mistake.

The love of money and the lights of the world, postmodernity, humanism, liberalism, false ideology, depression, suicide, spiritual sickness have turned many away from God.
 
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durangodawood

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....The love of money and the lights of the world, postmodernity, humanism, liberalism, false ideology, depression, suicide, spiritual sickness have turned many away from God.
Good list. But dont omit "religion" from it!
 
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Tinker Grey

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What’s your point? That numbers of Christians have decreased? Nobody denies that.

Boomers left the Church in striking numbers so to say this is a new phenomenon with millennials is a mistake.

The love of money and the lights of the world, postmodernity, humanism, liberalism, false ideology, depression, suicide, spiritual sickness have turned many away from God.
Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin
 
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durangodawood

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Religion is part of human culture man. The anti-religion idea is part of a modernist hedonistic culture.
Ah yes. The people who disagree with me must be moral failures. Of course. No way could it have anything to do with the moral intransigence on display in so many religions.
 
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Not David

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Ah yes. The people who disagree with me must be moral failures. Of course. No way could it have anything to do with the moral intransigence on display in so many religions.
There are issues with religious groups but you are still moral failures.
 
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