5/3/05
It's not often you get heartening news about your country's future, but a spate of recent studies and articles have come to the surprising conclusion that Generation Y - or what Neil Howe and Bill Strauss call the Millennials, born between 1980 and 2000 - are not shaping up to be the conservative, yes-men robots that they were predicted to be. These kids, in case you haven't noticed them, range from "just out of college a couple of years" on down to the brats screaming the loudest at the Walmart, and while their belief systems are shallow, but at least they're pointed in the right direction.
A study called OMG: How Generation Y is Redefining Faith in the iPod Era (PDF) conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner found, among other things, that Gen Y supports gay marriage (53%) and a woman's right to an abortion (63%) and identify themselves as Democrats by an 11-point margin.
Yeah, yeah, young people don't vote, and there's still time for them to change their minds, but as Rux Teixeira notes, these shifts are much less likely once they hit 30, which is not that far away from the elder edge of Gen Y.
More interesting, the Millennials are less religious than the rest of the country (almost a quarter claim agnosticism) and are part of what CUNY's American Religious Identification Survey call a rising tide of America's "non-Christian coalition," which rose from 20 to 37 million Americans in the last decade.
But there's more: according to the National Study of Youth and Religion (a team of sociologists led by UNC's very own - and ironically named - Christian Smith), Christianity is widespread among the younger cohorts of Generation Y, but they have little understanding of religious specifics and are more likely to think of Jesus as a pal, or to ignore the Big Questions altogether. He calls it "Benign Whateverism" and was surprised at how conventional these teens were, taking their parents' religion with no particular argument (something that should not surprise Neil and Bill at all).
Why is this good news? Because it means the guys and gals 10-20 years older than my daughter Lucy (thus giving them a lot of power in her eventual eyes) will not be shoving the New Testament down her throat. The religion Gen Y does have is of a distinctly unexamined variety, the kind that falls away most easily when exposed to other theories in life (like, say, "evolution" or "homosexuals being real people"). I had been worried that a horde of bible-thumping nimrods were goose-stepping through the Halloween Hell Houses of America, lining up at abortion clinics, taking virginity pledges and saying the word "faggot" at the dinner table. Now it looks like they can't be bothered.
"What's your beef with Jesus?" you might ask, and I'd respond that this blog is not the place to visit if you dig on organized religion. Like all sweeping statements, there are exceptions - if Cathie's sermons are anywhere near as heart-warming and magnanimous as the woman herself, then I'd be happy for Luce to hang out at St. Philips. But my experience of almost any Christianity - or any other goddamn religion - is that the proponents can't keep their fucking opinions to themselves. Their faith bleeds all over our government, all over our laws, all over our schools, all over women's bodies, all over queers, and all over me.
I have bemoaned how pathetic my generation is turning out to be, and I've paid my fucking dues. I'm just happy to find out that the next cohort of mall rats don't plan on riding the Body of Christ all the way to Armageddon. Maybe the famously cranky, brilliant biologist Richard Dawkins is right:
...the broad direction of history is toward enlightenment, and so I think that what America is going through at the moment will prove to be a temporary reverse. I think there is great hope for the future. My advice would be, Don't despair, these things pass.
I knew the rant would make it through!! As the mother of two young boys I want to believe our country and its citizens will continue to evolve. I grew up with no religious bent and my experiences via friends just affirmed my feelings of agnosticism and disgust at the hipocrisy I saw in the "church". But, as a young adult I did understand my lack of faith in something left me hanging somewhat in a crisis. I survived and grew stronger and I am still ambivalent about the need for religion in my life. My partner would like our sons to be exposed to some faith practice because she feels that a total lack tends breed fanaticism. This, if anything, drives me to find a community to share with them but they will get a healthy dose of "choose for yourself". For the Christian mom her greatest fear is her son will come home one day and say, "Mom, I'm gay." Mine would be him saying, "Mom, I'm a born-again Christian." Arrgghhhhhh!
Though I dig an organized religion and am active in the Episcopal Church, I still enjoy and welcome your perspective in posts such as this one. As a former Wed. Child lover, I came here expecting witty, funny, logical, thought provoking commentary, as well UNC love, hoops talk, and baby pictures, and that's what I get, damn it.
It is frustrating that this Dobson lovin', rights takin', war ragin', "born-again" faction is so vocal, self-righteous, and well, powerful. I think these folks are hypocritical, misguided, and blindly following a leadership that takes advantage of their faith for political gain (still can't believe Ralph freakin Reed could potentially be my lt gov in the near future). And it results in turning a number of people off from what could have been a good experience for them.
Anyway, maybe a Christian "right" mom would fear a gay son, but in a world of abductions, pedophiles, bad schools, drugs, and Britney Spears, worrying about my son being gay is not even on the radar for this Christian mom. I'll always love and accept him for who he is. Hell, I can't see past this moment of fearing he'll never use the potty!
Okay, lookit--I just dreamed about Lucy for the 2nd night in a row!! I can't take it!! Must hug her and squeeze her...aaarrrggh...
But yes, I too go through massive waves of horror concerning the infiltration of religiosity into all things. Espec. recently with the hoopla over the (excuse me) goddamn Pope. I can't stand it. I was listening to a panel on the radio discuss his appointment (a priest, a nun--both unversity professors--and the moderator) and at a certain point in the conversation the nun was explaining dogma vs. doctrine vs. practice (something like that) and she very authoritatively said that what distinguishes dogma is that it's the information we have received DIRECTLY FROM GOD. So, we KNOW that dogma is impervious to change because it came straight from God's mouth--whereas doctrine was simply suggested by God through some intercessor (and therefore subject to some degree of change). The priest rejoined that doctrine wasn't really all that malleable, because remember it basically came from God, and I found myself marveling at the spectacle of highly intelligent adults having an argument that essentially amounted to: "God said this." "He did not. He said this." "Well, God sort of said that, but he also said this." "Everybody knows that God said THAT."
Aren't people who assert such things routinely confined? I mean, it's actually--actually--insane.
I'm worried these benign whateverists will be easily perplexed by scientific no-brainers like Schiavo and early abortion. I thought we all decided we hate swing voters.
I initially came here and returned daily for the political rants, and can't believe how much I'm jonesing for Lucy news. As a not-too-distant-future parent, I've been finding the baby blogs and comments invaluable and heart-warming.
I think this generation is going to be secular.
They'll probably go to church more than we did, but they'll do it for social reasons.
This is likely to be a very worldly generation, doers of great collective deeds, and not given to much soul-searching (or preaching).
That is, if Bill Strauss and Neil Howe are right that these kids are our next 'Greatest Generation.'
"Being-Whateverism"...I like that.
Really, though, religion is supposed to teach right from wrong, the Golden Rule, etc. It's not such a bad influence to have if it teaches love and not hate.
Ian, usually I'm with ya, but my experience is so different from this sentence of yours (below) that I just had to give a shout:
"But my experience of almost any Christianity - or any other goddamn religion - is that the proponents can't keep their fucking opinions to themselves."
Perhaps I'm sheltered by living in a blue-state Northeast city . But the Christians (of all stripes, including the ones I wear) and Jews (ranging from extremely Orthodox to Reformed) and Muslims and even the atheists around here are blessedly tolerant and private about their faith, or lack thereof. Church- and temple-affiliated folks are noticeable mostly when it comes to doing Good Works in the community. (soup kitchens, low-income neighborhood cleanups, etc.)
Some of the most interesting, intellectually vibrant people I know are people of faith. They appreciate a good debate and are actively engaged in all sorts of community activities.
Careful with that broad brush. ;-)
Now THAT is what I am talking about. As a member of said "generation Y" - born in August of 1980, just in time to see the beginning of the so-called Reagan Revolution (beginning of the end as I call it) - I can tell you that those numbers are probably a bit higher, but the problem is that only 1/2 of us bother to show up every other November. Also, as someone born and raised Catholic and who went to private catholic school from 5 to 18, I get especially annoyed that the media gives any credence whatsoever to the likes of Pat Robertson, James Dobson, Bill Donahue, et al, even though I don't particualrly consider my self Christian - in that I don't particularly believe that Jesus was God/son of God. These christo-facsists pervert the message, thoughts, and teachings of a good man and twist his words into hatred, bigotry, racism, bellism, anti-semitism, and homophobia, and every other "ism" that you can imagine.
On a bit of a "Don't stop worrying just yet" tangential thought: I am thinking that all of the christo-facsism links in with what our current government is doing in regards to the judiciary. They know as well as we do that A) no majority stays a majority forever, and B) eventually Americans will wake up and end their blatant over-reaching and blending of church and state. To wit, the Republicans (about 85% it looks like) in Sentate and House look to fight for the appointment of these completely unqualified and unethical judges onto the bench ASAP (still not sure what Tom DeLay has to do with judicial appointments, but that is neither here nor there). The court system is the last possibility of a "fair shake" left in this country, take that away and we are just half a goose step away from a police state.
This is my own little political rant in response to Ian's political. McNamee for Congress '08
Kevin, I've got some bad news for you. Well, maybe not so bad. Depends.
Anyway, you're part of Gen X, not Y. Probably. We won't know for a number of years exactly where to draw the line. But the best guess right now is somewhere between 1981-1983 for the last birth year of Gen X.
We embrace you, you and your alientated rantings. You're clearly one of us.
Welcome home, m'boy.
Hi.
I am a Catholic born, a Catholic bred, and when I die, I am a Catholic dead.
My husband's uncle is a Lutheran Bishop.
My daughter goes to Catholic school. We all celebrated when the Pope was chosen.
I go to Mass every week. I didn't always. But since certain events occurred: my daughter was born, my mom was diagnosed with cancer, my grandmother died of Alzheimer's, I have been going on a weekly basis. It makes me feel good. Gives me a sense of peace. Reminds me to be kind to others and strive to be a better person.
Dare I say that I love my religion. There is nothing wrong with that.
And, I am a faithful reader of your blog, wherein I also feel welcome.
All day I think about it, then at night I say it.
Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing?
I have no idea.
My soul is from elsewhere, I'm sure of that,
And I intend to end up there.This drunkenness began in some other tavern.
When I get back around to that place,
I'll be completely sober. Meanwhile,
I'm like a bird from another continent, sitting in this aviary.
The day is coming when I fly off,
But who is it now in my ear who hears my voice?
Who says words with my mouth?Who looks out with my eyes? What is the soul?
I cannot stop asking.
If I could taste one sip of an answer,
I could break out of this prison for drunks.
I didn't come here of my own accord, and I can't leave that way.
Whoever brought me here will have to take me home.This poetry. I never know what I'm going to say.
I don't plan it.
When I'm outside the saying of it, I get very quiet and rarely speak at all.We have a huge barrel of wine, but no cups.
That's fine with us. Every morning
We glow and in the evening we glow again.They say there's no future for us. They're right.
Which is fine with us.-- Jalaluddin Rumi
"But who is it now in my ear who hears my voice?
Who says words with my mouth?"Who looks out with my eyes? What is the soul?"
Who does it for your pet goldfish? It's neurons and impulses, babe, neurons and impulses. Jesus, don't nobody remember Galvani and that dead frog leg? Get with the program, people!
Whoops: Seems this Rumi guy died in 1273, but Galvani didn't publish about the frog 'til 1791. That explains something. Wait a minute....Moses lived before Galvani too, didn't he? Didn't all of those Bible guys, like, live in tents?
And for those seeking forgiveness allow me to recommend my own bearded Jewish savior, Sigmund of Vienna.
The issue is not Freud or God or religion. The reality is that we are all looking for answers to the basic questions of our existance. I am not a christian or even remotely religious but I know that we are close to creating life in the laboratory..... (see cloning, stem cell research, etc.) If we in fact manage this "miracle" of creating life, has science not simply proven one of the basic tenets of most religions, ie. that life was created by a "superior being"? If a completely ignorant, stupid, and irresponsible species (homosapiens) are capable of this feat, why are so many people of science against the religious idea that "life is created"? I have no opinion one way or the other but in being objective, it is helpful to be objective.
Trajan you do very much have an opinion, and I find it grating. I can't answer your question, because I disagree with your premise that "life is created" is a religious idea. If you're making cryptic reference to an idea, you'd have to spell out for me before I'd know whether to disagree or accept your premise that it's a controversial idea. In the mean time, I suggest you ask yourself why religious people don't believe that when they die they'll just be dead.
Oliver,
Sorry to be grating, it's not on purpose, although my wife would probably disagree.
I actually do not have an opinion regarding whether or not life is created or just happens. As a general rule I think that creationist / religious people are "grating" but not so much because I disagree with their beliefs as that they insist on pushing theif beliefs on everyone around them.
What I was trying to articulate, albeit not very well, is that science has few answers to the basic qustions that many people spend a lot of time thinking about. Life, purpose, consciousness, and "what next" are all questions for which the answers to have been sought out from eternity and today many end points to scientific study are these same issues. There are many parallels between science and religion and I fail to see why each side, the "science group" and the "religious group" work so hard at attacking each other. In particular, I find it odd that the religious side often appears to be incredibly anti-science, when science may in fact help prove their religious beliefs, which is all I was trying to say regarding the "creation of life"
"In the mean time, I suggest you ask yourself why religious people don't believe that when they die they'll just be dead."
I have asked myself this question and I often wonder if when I die I'll just be dead. There are several things I am sure of and I think even most religious people will agree:
1. When I die, my body will be "dead"
2. Matter and energy are interchangeable but cannot be created nor destroyed. What ever I am and the energy I possess in my mind and tissue will still be here when "I" am gone.
3. Energy and mass move in and out of various dimensions without known cause or ability.
I personally believe that the conscious self, myself, is simple "dead" when I die but I cannot say that I have any proof or scientific evidence that religious people's beliefs are wrong. The nuts in the religious community give truely spiritual people a bad name. It is a shame because both sides end of yelling at each other rather than viewing each other with respect and understanding that they are both searching for the same answers.
Trajan
"science has few answers to the basic qustions that many people spend a lot of time thinking about. Life, purpose, consciousness, and 'what next' are all questions for which the answers to have been sought out from eternity and today many end points to scientific study are these same issues."
But I find that many of the answers that science does offer conflict with the answer religious people arrive at as a result of contemplating psychologically basic questions. On top of that, it's a patently false statement of faith to assert science and psychology have nothing to say about life, purpose, consciousness, and 'what next.' One of the most important things science shows us, if it weren't obvious already, is that the eyes deceive, the intuition deceives and even our own unconscious deceives. A pitfall with psychologically basic questions is that they often end up being ill-formed with respect to how the universe actually works.
For me, conversations become about "the mystical" from vagueness, inadvertent verbal sleights of hand, invisible contradictions and the linguistic dizziness that results. Just think about square circles and how they got that way. Heavvvy, eh? I feel the same kind of brush with the ineffable when I read some of your questions, Trajan. I believe psychoactive drugs are another way to get mystical, and I also believe that if it's isn't already possible to measure the mystical with an MRI machine, it won't be long before we have a way to do it. That's what I devoutly believe and I hope others will forgive me for saying so. If you choose not to agree with me, you won't burn in hell for an eternity, but I do think you'll live in ignorance, which largely on faith I believe to be unfortunate, so it's not only something I like to spare people if I can as well as something I dislike seeing done to others.
I left out the most germane way to get mystical, given that we started with a Sufi: Spinning around while looking up at the ceiling.