Young Americans are becoming less religious — and anti-science, anti-gay rhetoric may be a factor

[marmar]

Americans are becoming less religious, judging by such markers as church attendance, prayer and belief in God, and the trend is more pronounced among young adults, according to a poll released on Tuesday.

The share of U.S. adults who say they believe in God, while still high compared with other advanced industrial countries, slipped to 89 percent in 2014 from 92 percent in 2007, according to the Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape Study.

The proportion of Americans who say they are “absolutely certain” God exists fell even more, to 63 percent in 2014 from 71 percent in 2007.

The percentage of Americans who pray every day, attend religious services regularly and consider religion important in their lives are down by small, but statistically significant measures, the survey found.

The trend is most pronounced among young adults, with only half of those born from 1990 to 1996 absolutely certain of their belief in God, compared to 71 percent of the “silent generation,” or those born from 1928 to 1945. ...............(more)

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/young-americans-are-becoming-less-religious-and-anti-science-anti-gay-rhetoric-may-be-a-factor-pew/

[smirkymonkey]

1. Finally, some hopeful news!

[HuckleB]

2. Recommended for the hope it brings!

[Warpy]

3. The young are just too damned busy to devote a lot of time to religion

Many of them will get sucked back in when they have kids. That's what happened to those heathen Boomers. Community and activities for the kids that don't involve booze and drag racing are important to parents and the churches step in to supply the clean activities.

Then again, I've got a great deal of hope for the Millennials. Maybe they're the ones who will make it OK to be an atheist instead of pussyfooting around the believers by saying they're just not particularly religious to avoid defensiveness or outright retaliation.

[yeoman6987]

6. Very true

Once kids are in the picture, church going increases.

[jwirr]

8. I think you are right about that. Many will come back when

it is time to send the kids to church. But I am not so sure that it will be as many as before. When you look at the role churches have had in destroying our government and the fear and hate preaching that has been going on since the 1980s I wonder how many will be able to forget that. Especially since it only seems to be getting worse.

[Warpy]

12. I sincerely hope you're right

It's hard to think they'll get sucked back in to those fire n brimstone, bribe your way out of hell fundy churches. All but a few of my friends went to the most liberal churches they could find when the kids started to whine that their friends were doing neat stuff at church, why didn't they?

[jwirr]

13. Many of those rw churches originated in the south and had

more reinforcement there. My grandchildren were raised in the more liberal churches and that liberalism was also part of our reason for being FDR Democrats.

But there is another big reason why many of our youth are not taking their kids to church anymore. They just plain cannot afford it. They work long hours during the week. The weekend is used to do the home based chores and Sunday morning is the only day they have to sleep in. And they do not have the money to support the big churches anymore.

By supporting the Rs many churches have priced themselves out of the market.

[hifiguy]

4. I wonder what the basis for such "absolute certainty"

can be.

It surely isn't extrinsic evidence, it cannot be as there is none, zero, zip, nada, el zilcho; logic has nothing to do with it, nor does even the most basic, nodding acquaintance with or understanding of cosmological history or theoretical physics. So what else is left? Nothing that I can see, which makes such "certainty" every bit as plausible and trustworthy as a five-year-old's absolute belief in Santa Claus.

I think the next generation or two is going to be far less susceptible to this kind of BS for the reason discussed above.

Unfortunately, they will probably be reduced to economic peonage by their generational predecessors who love them some Jebus and old-time feudalism.

[tkmorris]

11. That stood out to me as well

63% of Americans are absolutely certain of a thing they cannot possibly know. And this is an improvement over a few years ago. Apparently I am supposed to be encouraged by this but instead I just find it to be immeasurably sad. How can we hope to have any semblance of a civilized society when a significant majority of us are incapable of thinking logically?

[lindysalsagal]

14. Flat earthers.

Santa. Unicorns. The devil. They're all real, but global warming isn't.

No wonder carsen is ahead. No wonder we keep killing each other, in endless wars.

[hifiguy]

16. And remember, that kind of unquestioning stupidity has to be cultivated.

and very carefully nurtured. It has to overcome eons of innately developed curiosity that led the homo sapiens to do things lie domesticate animals, develop agriculture and make tools.

Religion - especially that of the Abrahamic variety, is the most successful blueprint ever imagined for turning curious human beings with senses of wonder and imagination into zombie dullards seeking perpetually to placate an always pissed-off and psychotically malicious skydaddy.

There is a term historians use to describe the era when idjit religion held sway over the entirety of the Western world: The Dark Ages. In the words of Nobel Laureate (Physics) Steven Weinberg, "religion is an insult to human dignity."

Asian cultures having never been subject, may have had issues of their own, but turning away from learning and science was not one of those problems.

No one ever explained it more truthfully or more humorously than the Great American Truth-Teller himself, Mr. George Carlin:

[lindysalsagal]

20. Thanks. Nothing like the gospel of Carlin to make me feel sane.

May he rest in peace.

[KamaAina]

5. Gee. Who would have thought?

[Hortensis]

7. Most of this is probably a return to "normal" after the

wave of increased religiosity, particularly the Christian evangelicalism, being "reborn," etc., that accompanied the conservative Reagan era starting in the late 1970s and continuing through to fairly recently. Just about all religions seem to be settling back toward pre-wave levels except for evangelicalism -- still a large part of American life and politics -- which I've read is for the most part holding but no longer gaining.

How long that last will continue, though...? Fundamentalism over this period became stronger in evangelical denominations, as have apocalypticism and Christian theocracy/dominionism. I.e., increasingly radicalized and inimical to genuinely traditional American values.

[Arugula Latte]

21. There is one big difference now: The Internet

It allows young people to compare notes, which is often a deadly blow to keeping these nonsensical mythological beliefs plausible to young people. These religions rely on don't-question-it "faith" and the relative isolation of their adherents.

They can see that the notion of a 2,000-year-old virgin-born dead guy coming back to life and returning to Earth someday is just as ridiculous as the belief that Muhammad rode a winged horse to Heaven.

There was a major study showing that the Internet is the main factor in the plunging percentages of religious young folks.

[Hortensis]

22. Sounds like an interesting study. Hope you're right.

Many people need religion and society needs it alive and well for them, but not powerful outside the home. I'm guessing the internet also keeps religious wingnuts revved up and fearful, old-fashioned balancing effects by family and neighbors not so effective any more.

[REP]

9. 71% of *living* "silent generation"ers

My mother, who was born in 1934 died last year, went from being a Sunday school teacher to an unrepentant atheist the older she grew. I'm pretty sure she is not alone.

[Person 2713]

15. Pretty much same here with my mother. I remember some religious person came to her door

while I was with her in hospice. "Please no , come back when I'm dead if you must" he looked at me I just gave him a blank stare . Never saw him again. She used to be big time churchgoer
Another person I knew told the hospital religious visitor no thank you that he was a Bhuddist . The person said his generic prayer was for all and but then invoked a prayer to Jesus . I wanted to say wtf but my friend was going into surgery and he just rolled his eyes at me

[riderinthestorm]

10. K&R! nt

[MisterP]

17. add to this the revival of the religious left--the mainstream denominations pointing out that,

lookee here, they're PACKED with scientists and gays

(also plenty of "celebrity atheists" are outing themselves as "Trump for non-hicks," so there's a funny counter-motion going on here)

[LostOne4Ever]

18. Maybe, just maybe young people are tired of Religious bigots and hatred? nt

[GOLGO 13]

19. Kids recognize the blind hatred & they are questioning it

“The idea of Republicans not believing in global warming is contributing to the notion that religious people are not intelligent,” O’Neill said

Kids today are not only keeping up with the speed of information/entertainment they revel in it. The cross humpers are still behind in 1980's tech/jargon while we progressives are full speed ahead with the latest firmware.

We don't pine for the "good ole days". They suck! They talk about how great Reagan was. We talk about wanting to go to Mars.