Why do teenagers and young adults hate Christianity ?

MassimoTheChristian · Sep 7, 2024

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

Gregory Thompson · Sep 7, 2024

From what I recall, my teenage and young adult years were characterized by emotional and identity development.

I don't know what version of the gospel you are teaching, but anything that tells them that who they are does not matter, and emotions lie to you - generally can expect quite a stream of invective.

In the sense that most of christianity has lost the ability or inclination to "put themselves in the other person's shoes" it is kind of out of touch also.

chevyontheriver · Sep 7, 2024

Only some do. Others are on fire for Jesus. So why are some on fire for Jesus and some the opposite?

Gregory Thompson · Sep 7, 2024

Being on fire is part of being young.

"Where your heart is your treasure will be also."

dzheremi · Sep 7, 2024

Those who do tend to see it (in the USA, anyway) as being more anti-gay than pro-anything, and too closely aligned with conservative party politics. See, for example, this meditation on the decline in Christian affiliation among young people, which is 12 years old already (things have predictably not gotten any better since then).

chevyontheriver · Sep 7, 2024

Some people are forever young. Anyhow, some have chosen Jesus and some have chosen otherwise. It seems the trend is to choose otherwise among so many youth.

PloverWing · Sep 7, 2024

Your profile says that you're a young adult. When you've spoken with your non-churchgoing friends, what do they say? Are they indifferent to Christianity, or are they angry at Christianity, or do they think it's false, or do they happily belong to a different religion? What do they say about the religious choices they've made?

2PhiloVoid · Sep 7, 2024

It's a mixture of both to some degree ... depending on which exact preachers, parents and churches were involved with each individual apostate.

Gregory Thompson · Sep 7, 2024

When I posted that, the next response was "so pray" .. so I'm sharing it now.

Only God changes the heart like the direction of a river.

another thought that came up while writing this were the teachings of Jesus on the sermon of the mount. Actions speak louder than words, especially to youth who are looking for a good example .. though they may not say it.

Gregory Thompson · Sep 7, 2024

Looks relevant:

Caught Off Guard While Trying To Hand This Guy A Gospel Tract...

While finishing up evangelizing at the local farmer's market, I saw this guy standing around so figured he be the last one to pass a Gospel tract to while I head back. What he said shocked me and was totally unexpected. Curious how y'all would have responded because I was pretty much at a loss...

www.christianforums.com

zippy2006 · Sep 7, 2024

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

RDKirk · Sep 7, 2024

Lots of youth in my church.

A big factor is whether the congregation is active in something socially beneficial beyond evangelism that keeps them involved. That tends to be true about keeping men, as well.

Bradskii · Sep 7, 2024

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.

d taylor · Sep 7, 2024

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Well they may think they have life all figured out and do not need God. So they see christianity as a distraction to the pleasures offered by a worldly life.

Hazelelponi · Sep 7, 2024

Christianity has always been "out of touch" with the world.

At no time in human history was Christianity something easy.

AlexB23 · Sep 7, 2024

Ahh, that reminds me of a quote from a 20th century theologian. I have first heard this quote from the DC Talk song "What If I Stumble" on September 7, 2024 when watching DC Talk's "Free At Last" movie. A lot of Christians are legalistic, and shove rules down people's throats.

The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.

— Brennan Manning

dlamberth · Sep 7, 2024

The title of this thread is about Christianity. The question as I understand it is not about Christ. Those are two different things which would generate two different answers.

I thought the question posed in the OP was interesting. So I asked my two sons why they rejected Christianity. I talked to them separately to keep their answers from effecting each other. Within their answers were the negative exposure they have had with Christian family members on my wife's side. One will no longer go to family events because of his past experiences.

The way one so eloquently put it is that, these are his words: "Christians use the Bible for ego instead of the other way around." I thought that very insightful. He also said that for a religion that was persecuted they sure spend a lot of time prosecuting others. He went on quite a bit in this vain and got more railed up as he went on...but you get the point.

Something I didn't expect was how extreme my other son was in his rejection of Christianity. He's nicer words "the most evil thing ever", "make believe", the rejection of science. That's just a small example of the harsh words he used.

Both spoke negatively about the Christians political cult like support for Trump, and also how the gay community and Muslims are treated. It was interesting to me in how both brought up what Christians did to the American Indians and the burning of Pagans. And both of my sons on their own said that Christ would not approve of any of that.

I asked both about Jesus. Neither one "Hates Christ", but interestingly both said that Christians are hypocrites when it comes to Christ and how he treated people versus how Christians treat people. They both said that Christians use the Bible to ostracize others which they said is not at all Christ like.

Before asking my son's I would have simply said it's because of Christians that the youth reject Christianity. I have a much deeper understanding now and in the process enjoyed the discussion with my sons. It was a good exercise and for that I thank the OP.

MehGuy · Sep 7, 2024

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.

Hans Blaster · Sep 8, 2024

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.

Robban · Sep 8, 2024

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 .

Why do teenagers and young adults hate Christianity ?

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