A recent study found that 48.5% of Gen Z identify as non-religious, atheist, or agnostic. Religious leaders have a lot of thoughts about the reasons behind the decline in belief. For example, recent studies found that Gen Z reports the highest level of mental illness and suicidal ideation compared to other generations. This has lead some to suggest there could be a connection between the two trends.
Building a new Religion
Data published this week by the Cooperative Election Study found that 48.5% of Gen Z identifies as either agnostic, atheist, or non-religious, a 3% increase from the previous year. Another study from last month found that only 31% believe religion is “very important.” While the data did not delve into what has caused the rift between young people and religion, several experts that spoke with the DCNF had similar ideas about what is behind the split.
“It’s not that Gen Z isn’t religious, it’s that they picked a new religion,” Joshua Mercer, co-founder of the CatholicVote, told the DCNF.
“They have fervent beliefs and rituals, they have their symbols and sacraments, and they definitely purge their ranks of ‘blasphemers’ or anyone insufficiently dedicated to their faith. Look at how every corporation rushes to embrace the rainbow flag every June and look at how people adorn their social media platforms with symbols to show solidarity with Black Lives Matter, COVID vaccination, Ukraine, or climate change. They are definitely evangelizing, it’s just not Christianity.”
An old Trend
Joseph Backholm, senior fellow for Biblical Worldview and Strategic Engagement at the Family Research Council, made similar observations but also pointed out to the DCNF that younger generations’ withdrawal from the church has been happening for a while. Backholm told reporters,
“I think the reality is that those who were identifying as religious were doing so more for cultural reasons than out of theological conviction.”
“As the culture becomes more hostile to Christianity, for instance, and it’s not popular, you are seeing people not do so when there is not a social reason because a lot of their identity wasn’t theological in the first place.”
Religion & Mental Health Trends
As faith has declined for Gen Z, so has mental health. Recent studies found that Gen Z reports the highest level of mental illness and suicidal ideation compared to other generations. In 2022, a study revealed that 42% of Gen Z reported being diagnosed with a mental illness, and 70% said that their mental health has gotten worse since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Joseph Capizzi, executive director at the Institute for Human Ecology, told the DCNF that “loneliness, despair, unhappiness, and declines in worship and belief are connected.”
According to Capizzi the connection between religion and mental health is,
“something people have known for centuries, long before the rise of social science. For instance, Christians have long believed that hope requires more than material progress,”
“Believing in ‘progress’ — which is always ambivalent — cannot be a ground of hope; it will lead to despair. Instead, we must have experiences of great love to give our lives meaning. That can help explain why in an age of unprecedented material affluence we have so much hopelessness.”
Backholm agreed with Capizzi, saying that while mental health is a “complex question” the two things were “absolutely” related. He explained that in recent years the message “follow your heart” has backfired on Gen Z especially because they have “thrown themselves into that effort more zealously than any generation before them.”
“Gen Z has believed that following your heart will make you happy and they are just proving that it does not,”
A Solution to the Situation
The solution to the decline, according to Backholm, is to stop trying to “market Jesus” to young people who are actually “craving authenticity” and “purpose.” While Capizzi restated that “belief isn’t going away” but going to a different place and encouraged churches and people of faith to draw Gen Z to faith by giving them the space to encounter the love that they are “seeking.”
“As Pope Francis always reminds us, Christianity is first an encounter with a person, Christ. People have to be drawn to faith by encountering love. Otherwise, our age of despair and loneliness will continue indefinitely.”
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- Written by Kate Anderson
- Original post on pastorhogg.net
- Edets by LFC
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- christianpost.com
