Generation atheist! Millennials to religion — get out of politics

[DonViejo]

Millennials are much less attached to religion than their elders -- the politicization of the church might be why

BY VERN L. BENGSTON

Reprinted from "Families and Faith: How Religion Is Passed Down Across Generations"

The Changing Demography of Nonbelief

In American society today more than 93% of adults say they believe in God or a higher power, and about 38% say they attend religious services weekly. Among the world’s advanced industrialized countries, the United States is the most religious in terms of belief in God and in organized religious participation. Compared to the 7% in the United States who are nonbelievers, 22% of Canadians do not believe in God, 39% of those in Great Britain, 56% of the French, and 56% of Swedes. At the same time, public opinion polls show that religious involvement such as church membership has declined considerably since the 1970s and is significantly lower than its zenith in the post–World War II period. The number of adults who never attend religious services or attend less than once a year increased from 18% in 1972 to 28% in 2008.

More noteworthy, the proportion of the adult population that reports no affiliation with a particular religion has increased dramatically in the past two decades, nearly tripling from 6% nationwide in 1990 to 20% in 2012. These changes are much greater in younger age groups. Millennials today are significantly less attached to organized religion than their elders were in their youth. In 2012 almost one-third of young adults ages eighteen to twenty-nine were unaffiliated with a religious institution, while in the 1970s only 13% of young adult Baby Boomers were unaffiliated. Young men are much more likely to be unaffiliated than young women.

These trends are occurring in a society in which there has been, and still is, a stigma attached to being nonreligious. It turns out that atheists are one of the most disliked groups in America. In a poll asking which of the following groups “shares my vision of American society,” out of a list that included Muslims, homosexuals, Jews, Hispanics, and immigrants, atheists were in last place. Asked if they would disapprove of their child’s marrying someone from a list of minority groups, atheists again were last.

Why have the nonaffiliated in younger age groups increased so substantially? One factor has to do with demographic changes: Today’s young adults marry and have children later than their predecessors and also enter the workforce later, extending the life cycle phase (the college years) when religious attachment tends to wane. Increased rates of higher education may be another factor. A Harris Poll reported that 86% of Americans without a college education believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, while only 64% of those with a postgraduate degree believe so.

full article
http://www.salon.com/2013/11/04/were_raising_a_generation_of_atheists/

[TreasonousBastard]

1. A lot of intersting points, but missing is...

the concept of church or temple as a center of community. It's just not necessary any more in modern society with all of our other modern organizations and communications.

God has essentially become irrelevant.

[DonViejo]

2. I disagree, very slightly...

organized God has essentially become irrelevant