Why Gen Z "Nones" Are Reconsidering Religion

0:00Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look and an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street. While Gen Z is the least religious cohort in American history, 43% of this generation, that was born roughly between 1996 and 2012, identify as religious nuns. While there have been many reports since Charlie Kirk's assassination that indicate increased interest in religion and increased church attendance, according to statistician Ryan Verge, there's not yet statistical evidence of religious revival among young people. There is, however, ample evidence that zoomers are looking for meaning and willing to reconsider religion. Specifically, though these trends may not be yet large enough to be captured in statistics, there seems to be a growing interest in more rigorous forms of faith. In a recent article on Tablet magazine, Ani Wilcinski, a zoomer herself, explained the phenomenon. While acknowledging that Gen Z is less religious than previous generations, Wilcinski researched

1:03those that were bucking the trend, including converts to Islam, Jews becoming more observant, Latin mass Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and others who have been joining stricter more traditional religious groups. According to Wilcinski, Gen Z has been raised with, and I quote, the illusion of infinite horizons. They grew up, quoting again, without sturdy institutions or fulfilling rights of passage. As a result for this generation, everything, career, identity, relationships unfold as a series of self-directed experiments, something that has been labeled liquid modernity. Sociologists Zigmund Baumann coined that phrase to describe the experience of life as unstable and non-permanent, without fixed distinctions, and with no foundations for cultivating identity. The experience of liquid modernity is why, Wilcinski thinks, the ideological capture of Gen Z has been so comprehensive. For example, nearly one quarter of that generation identifies as LGBTQ, that's up nearly 20 points

2:08from previous ones. Ideology gives the illusion of a solid cause. It offers a replacement purpose for life, where otherwise there is none. Now, of course, that's the role that religion traditionally played in Western culture. As Wilcinski noted in her article, the draw of religion is that it provides a firm source of virtue and belonging, focus, and a sense of permanence. That's what the zoomers who are exploring more demanding forms of faith of all kinds are most likely seeking. As Wilcinski put it, and I quote, these faiths don't adapt to the age. They expect the age to conform to them. Their rituals and convenience, their authorities override preference, their truths don't negotiate. In a society allergic to absolutes, that refusal to dilute themselves holds a powerful magnetism. And quote, as an example, Wilcinski quotes the explanation a 23 year old woman gave to Plough magazine about her decision to join a Carmelite monastery. I figured if I was going to do something crazy for our Lord, she said, I might as well

3:10go all in. Like Wilcinski, the Plough article also noted how young women, especially who join strict religious orders, are simply looking to commit themselves to something stable and permanent. In other words, according to Wilcinski, when the Jenzeers who are turning to religion offer their reasons why they, and I quote, sound more like escapes from modern chaos than declarations of faith. The newfound religiosity is less about belief than it is about orienting life around something ultimate, something greater than the self. But that, of course, also leaves them quite vulnerable to falsehoods. Remember Wilcinski's not only research conversions to Christianity, but also to conservative forms of Judaism, even Islam. The desire to escape liquid modernity will say nothing about the genuineness of the faith that will follow. The same motivation can also explain the growing number of young men embracing political extremism from antifa to white nationalism. It's long been the case that laxer forms of religion have declined while more demanding

4:15forms have grown, or at least decline more slowly. And that divide within this segment of Jenzee is more pronounced than ever. This group will not be interested in churches that accommodate themselves to American culture. The seeker's sensitive model will not work, and by the way, it probably never has. The church has to be counter-cultural. It has to be unapologetic about even the weird things that we believe. We have to be unafraid to ask for serious commitment from people looking to follow Christ. It needs to explore the depths of the gospel. How the gospel explains all of life in its meaning, and the hard truths that it proclaims about the human condition, rather than only offer shallow therapeutic or pragmatic applications of it. A church that offers that kind of depth will not only be able to counter the destructive ideologies that are vying for all generations today, they'll also be able to offer the meaning and stability to a generation that is looking for both.

5:15For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street with Breakpoint. Today's Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr. Glenn Sunshine, and a special thank you to Joanne of Minneapolis for being a Cornerstone Monthly Partner of the Colson Center. You helped make this episode of Breakpoint possible. For more resources like this one, or to download and share this commentary with others, go to Breakpoint.org. Hey John Stone Street here, so many people tell us that Breakpoint has shaped how they think about the world. Praise God. The Bible is clear that God has put us in this time and in this place in human history. And that means we need to understand what's going on in the world around us. But it's not enough to just understand a Christian worldview. We're called to live it out, and that's what truth rising the study is for. This free four-part small group study is the follow-up to the truth rising documentary. It walks through God's game plan for engaging this civilizational moment with a big enough

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