In October of 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported that "half of young people ages 13 to 25 surveyed said they don’t think that religious institutions care as much as they do about issues that matter deeply to them…Those issues include racial justice, gender equity, immigration rights, income inequality, and gun control." I want to discuss why these grievances are misguiding.
Let us take Catholicism, for example. In speaking with a Massachusetts Bishop, I learned that the input he received from the synod was that the Catholic Church needed to be more welcoming. I immediately thought of a parish in this Bishop's diocese in which the priest says a special intercession for gay and lesbian children each week. He is welcoming, yet I see very few, if any, young people attending masses there. This is not an intercession said at every parish, but then I thought, “People put a whole lot of time and effort into researching the best place to go to school, the best place to buy a car, the best place to go out to dinner, etc., so why can they not put the same amount of time and effort into finding a parish that suits them?” It seems that unlike getting a good deal on a car, going to church is not high on many peoples' priority lists. So perhaps the criticism the Church is receiving is coming from somewhat unreliable sources because the people giving the criticism are not invested in the faith.
Research presented by scholars at Public Religion Research Institute supports this hypothesis. Betsy Cooper, Daniel Cox, Rachel Lienesch, and Robert P. Jones, Ph.D. reported in their 2016 article "Exodus: Why Americans are Leaving Religion — and Why They're Unlikely to Come Back" that 72% of religiously unaffiliated Americans say "that in their day-to-day life, they do not spend much time thinking about God or religion." Of the religiously unaffiliated, there are two prominent groups that personally reject religion: rejectionists and apatheists ("unattached believers" make up a third group that will not be discussed here). Rejectionists, who make up 58% of the group, "say religion is not personally important in their lives and believe religion as a whole does more harm than good in society." Apatheists, "who make up 22% of the unaffiliated, say religion is not personally important to them, but believe it generally is more socially helpful than harmful." 83% of rejectionists and 76% of apatheists report that they "seldom or never attend formal religious services." I then pose the question that if 72% of the unaffiliated admit that they do not think about God on any regular basis, and if more than three-quarters of rejectionists and apatheists never or extremely infrequently attend religious services, then how are they to have informed views and, therefore, helpful answers to questions like "what is the Church doing wrong that is driving you away?" In my research, I was encouraged to hear that houses of worship are not actively driving away the unaffiliated by traumatizing them with bad experiences. On the contrary, "more than two-thirds (68%) of unaffiliated Americans say their last time attending a religious service, not including a wedding or funeral service, was primarily positive."
One of the first lessons I learned in a college English class is to not make statements about something I do not know. If I want to make the statement "throughout Shakespeare's works, he stresses the deceptiveness of outer beauty," I ought to have thoroughly read and analyzed all of his works, and not just have read a few sonnets for homework one night. I would say the same to the religiously unaffiliated: if you are going to make strong statements against a given religion, you ought to have done your homework. You ought to have deeply thought about the possibility of a God throughout your day-to-day life, even if you do not believe in Him. And if one is a rejectionist trying to claim that Catholicism has no positive impact on the individual nor on society, it would probably be wise to attend mass at many different parishes, go to Adoration, try to pray, etc. In short, give Catholicism a real try. If your views on Catholicism remain unchanged, then at least now your views can be better substantiated, and you will be a more informed conversationalist on the subject of religion. I assume that Catholics like myself who are wondering why so many modern people reject the Church would be very interested to hear a substantial explanation for the emptying of our pews.
When asked "Why do you not come to church?" many of the disaffiliated will point to one of the trademarked criticisms of the Catholic Church (likely because 86% of apatheists and 79% of rejectionists report not spending "much time in their daily life thinking about God or religion," and people do not like to admit they don't know). For example, many will say, "In this day and age, why can't women be priests?" Perhaps this bothers an individual, and she claims it is the reason why she does not attend mass on a weekly basis. But I seriously wonder: if women were suddenly able to become priests, would that individual begin attending mass again? Or, if Catholic Churches started displaying rainbow flags in response to the criticism that the Church is "unwelcoming," would droves of people be crowding into churches again? To begin to answer these questions, we can look to Episcopal or Methodist Churches. Many of them display rainbow flags, and many denominations, "including the Episcopal Church and the United Methodist Church, now allow women to be bishops and hold other top leadership positions." However, in 2019 the Pew Research Center still reported that "both Protestantism and Catholicism are experiencing losses of population share. Currently, 43% of U.S. adults identify with Protestantism, down from 51% in 2009. And one-in-five adults (20%) are Catholic, down from 23% in 2009." If these social issues are so prominent in the minds of Christians, why are they not attending Episcopal or Methodist services? My hypothesis is, again, that these issues are not the problem. So we should endeavor to find out what has drawn Americans away from religion. I think in this case we would be smarter to look at the people themselves rather than the religions they reject for the answers.
My research points to the progressively secularized upbringings of each subsequent generation. A National Review article by Daniel Cox entitled "Stop Blaming Young People for Leaving Religion" explains that "young people are showing the greatest movement away from religion." The next step has been to "focus primarily on the distinctive characteristics of Generation Z and Millennials — things such as their higher rates of educational attainment, their attitudes about sex and sexuality, or their widespread adoption of social media." But, these explanations were left unsubstantiated; "for instance, higher rates of formal education among young adults are unlikely to have contributed to the surge in secular identity given that most young people disaffiliate before they ever step foot on a college campus." These explanations neglect the "single most important predictor of adult religiosity: our religious experiences in childhood." Each successive generation, from Baby Boomers to Generation Z, has "grown up with less formative religious engagement than the one preceding it." 57% of Baby Boomers attended religious services weekly in their childhood, compared to 40% of Generation Z. 61% of Baby Boomers attended Sunday school growing up, while 42% of Generation Z did. Cox makes the statement: "Young people are leaving a religion they were never particularly connected to in the first place. A 2016 study found that young people cited their family's lack of strong ties to religion as an important reason they no longer belong to a religious group, more so than politics, sex-abuse scandals, or a specific negative experience."
Another interesting fact was that most people disaffiliate before they turn 18. However, the religion of childhood, if one has a traditionally Catholic upbringing, often sounds something like: "my parents tell me to go to church on Sundays and pray before bed and before meals, so I do." Church on Sundays and regular prayers are things that are expected and part of regular living in these increasingly rare families. But when a young man grows into adulthood, I would imagine somewhere around 18, he can now take ownership of his faith more and claim it as his own. In other words, he may now go to church and pray because he chooses to, not because his parents are expecting it of him. Religion becomes less associated with obligation and more associated with a genuine love of God. But without the solid groundwork laid by childhood faith, many Americans are missing out on the spiritual richness of adulthood faith. And, "there is little evidence to suggest that Americans who have disaffiliated will ever return."
After doing research, I have a much better idea of the real reason for the decline of faith in America, and once the source of a problem is identified, it is much less frustrating and futile finding a solution to it. However, it is very hard for the Church, or any other religious institution, to solve a problem that originates in secular homes. I want to offer my own opinion on possible ways of bringing people back to religion. I begin by thinking, “What in the modern world does hold nearly all people's attention?” Some definite possibilities are movies and shows. Jonathan Rothwell at The New York Times states, "Other than sleeping and working, Americans are more likely to watch television than engage in any other activity." He continues to cite "a new wave of social science research [that] shows that the quality of shows can influence us in important ways, shaping our thinking and political preferences…" That being said, some entertaining TV shows or movies could be written that appeal to a wide audience while also featuring a positive portrayal of religion. If I ever had a doubt about the power of shows to influence thinking or introduce new ways of living into peoples' minds, I remind myself of how the ideologies governing today's world have gotten into the minds of so many young people and adults alike: through media, movies, shows, popular books, celebrities, etc. Perhaps with the added option of a show in which there is a likable character going to Church and practicing his/her faith, young people (and adults) in secular households will be exposed to a way of living that is perhaps foreign to them. It would, for once in mainstream modern entertainment, show religion in a positive light, and get people thinking about it and perhaps consider trying it out themselves.