j105 Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Religion is rapidly losing the youngest generation of Americans, according to new research.America’s rising generation of adults are the least religiously observant of any generation in six decades, determined an expansive study led by Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State.“Unlike previous studies, ours is able to show that millennials’ lower religious involvement is due to cultural change, not to millennials being young and unsettled,” Twenge says in a San Diego State University news release.In one of the largest studies ever conducted on Americans’ religious involvement, researchers from Case Western Reserve University and the University of Georgia collaborated with Twenge and her colleagues in California to analyze data from four national surveys of U.S. adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18. The surveys were taken between 1966 and 2014, and include responses from some 11.2 million people.The researchers’ findings were published this month in PLOS One.According to Twenge and her cohorts, today’s adolescents view religion as less important, report less “approval” of religious organizations, and spend less time on prayer than did their similarly-aged predecessors. Some 75 percent of American 12th graders, the paper finds, believe that religion is “not important at all” in their lives.Twenge cites a surge of individualism as the force behind atheism’s relative appeal to a young, self-centric generation. She’s literally written the book on the subject: “Generation Me.” In it, Twenge provides academic rationale to support the allegation that children born in the 1980’s and 1990’s form an “Entitlement Generation,” which she describes as being “tolerant, confident, open-minded, and ambitious but also disengaged, narcissistic, distrustful, and anxious.”“These trends are part of a larger cultural context, a context that is often missing in polls about religion,” Twenge says. “One context is rising individualism in U.S. culture. Individualism puts the self first, which doesn’t always fit well with the commitment to the institution and other people that religion often requires. As Americans become more individualistic, it makes sense that fewer would commit to religion.”The study also notes an “increasing acknowledgment that religion is not consistent with scientific understanding” could be driving adolescents away from religion. It is possible that “debates about teaching creationism or intelligent design in U.S. schools, such as those in Kansas in 2005, pushed some young people away from religion,” Twenge and her colleagues write in the study.The generational decline of religion’s appeal in America has been documented in other studies as well, including one published last year by Massachusetts computer scientist Allen Downey. Downey’s conclusion as to why Americans are turning to atheism contrasts with Twenge’s, however. As noted by the MIT Technology review, Downey finds unprecedented access to information afforded by the Internet to be a major factor in determining a person’s inclination to embrace religion. The Internet, Downey argues, could be as significant a variable as childhood religious upbringing in influencing an individual’s spiritual outcomes.http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/teens-are-fleeing-religion-like-never-before-massive-new-study-exposes-religions-decline/comments/#disqusThoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nono Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Jesus is a patient person and I found out after straying from religion, he was still there waiting to share his love when I needed him and after I turned my back on him for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great American Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 According to another survey, approx half are expected to return at some point in time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andras Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 It looks like they're not buying into the "suffer now because there's cheese at the end of the maze for you" mentality. They're growing more progressive and less religious. Good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falconcheff Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Not surprising. This generation of parental age people is so self absorbed, they're just not raising kids right anymore... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTA Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Do we not already have this thread? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andras Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Not surprising. This generation of parental age people is so self absorbed, they're just not raising kids right anymore...The "Me" Generation are already into their senior years. Try again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostone Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 This is my answer... I blame white people... this would answer most problems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falconcheff Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 The "Me" Generation are already into their senior years. Try again.Duh... THEY raised a generation of apathetic aholes, and now THAT generation is raising an even more self-absorbed group of kids...Think, man... things aren't getting BETTER with the passing of time and generations... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Radical Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Think, man... things aren't getting BETTER with the passing of time and generations...Funny thing though, they are for the most part getting better, outside financial problems the started a couple of generations ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serge Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 It's a natural shift in a post-industrial economy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toadfishtom Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Jesus is ready when you are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Yep because they are being taught magic monkeys turn into people that formed out of supernatural space ball that popped up out of nowhere and exploded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flip Wilson Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Man....the one thing above all else that I would wish for each of my kids is that they have an intimate relationship with Jesus.I have so failed to be the example that I need to be to them and so much of it is being just what Falconcheff said "self absorbed". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serge Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 (edited) Honestly Christians ought to be excited about this. Christian art dealing in narratives like pop music and movies completely suck because no one trying to commodify Christianity for a mainstream audience can allow themselves to explore doubt and/or anger reached upon enlightenment regarding the human condition with any honesty, so it's always a redemption narrative with no earned redemption and nothing genuine or even remotely interesting to say about spirituality. The present American brand of Christianity is a bloated corpse whose stench puts people off from all across the globe. The only way genuine spirituality can become a part of our culture is if it's explored through anxiety and introspection rather than religion being passed down one generation to the next like a genetic disorder or "inspired" by some ******* that figured out how to make a fortune on apologetics or making "Christian" movies. Edited May 29, 2015 by Serge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Ocean Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Honestly Christians ought to be excited about this. Christian art dealing in narratives like pop music and movies completely suck because no one trying to commodify Christianity for a mainstream audience can allow themselves to explore doubt and/or anger reached upon enlightenment regarding the human condition with any honesty, so it's always a redemption narrative with no earned redemption and nothing genuine or even remotely interesting to say about spirituality. The present American brand of Christianity is a bloated corpse whose stench puts people off from all across the globe. The only way genuine spirituality can become a part of our culture is if it's explored through anxiety and introspection rather than religion being passed down one generation to the next like a genetic disorder or "inspired" by some ******* that figured out how to make a fortune on apologetics or making "Christian" movies. What does this mean for Kirk Cameron? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Ocean Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 There was a period of time in the 80s when I thought Kirk Cameron and Matthew Broderick were the coolest guys on the planet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serge Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 (edited) Kirk Cameron's the best case scenario for a leading man in a Christian movie, and that's worked out extremely well for Kirk Cameron. Edited May 29, 2015 by Serge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falconcheff Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 It's a natural shift in a post-industrial economy.It's a natural shift in a democratic society... who needs religion when you can vote yourself salvation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serge Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 It's a natural shift in a democratic society... who needs religion when you can vote yourself salvation?That's awful that you would say that. Should Christianity simply be dropped upon someone at the age of reason and forced upon them through adulthood? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falconcheff Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 That's awful that you would say that. Should Christianity simply be dropped upon someone at the age of reason and forced upon them through adulthood? I'm not sure your question is relative to the statement I made... but to respond; Christianity shouldn't be dropped or forced upon anybody... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Radical Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Yep because they are being taught magic monkeys turn into people that formed out of supernatural space ball that popped up out of nowhere and exploded.And this is why religion is declining. Angry and wholly ignorant "Christians." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serge Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 I'm not sure your question is relative to the statement I made... but to respond; Christianity shouldn't be dropped or forced upon anybody...You said the decline of Christianity was inevitable in democracies because people will merely "vote for their salvation." Is that not implying that it would be better to revert back to totalitarian societies where a state religion is expected and enforced? And if it isn't, then what, exactly, is it implying? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great American Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Man....the one thing above all else that I would wish for each of my kids is that they have an intimate relationship with Jesus.I have so failed to be the example that I need to be to them and so much it is being just what Falconcheff said "self absorbed".Well said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andras Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 I'm glad society isnt turning out more weaklings that would rather run to a corner and accept their fates through prayer.Being lazy and passive would make another generation worthless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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