So, a survey done by an organization whose mission is to promote Christianity that I cannot access without giving them my e-mail address. https://www.neighborlyfaith.org/who-we-are
Hard pass.
Feel free to post the results and/or interpretive framework of a secular study in regards to Gen Z that has results that contradict the findings of those found in the Deseret News article.
Regards,
MG
Not interested in researching your argument. For example, giving to a church is charitable giving, regardless of how it's spent. And most church's ask for donations. If I put money in a collection plate, I can claim I'm giving to charity, regardless of what the church spends it on.
Caring about your community and neighbors is a good thing. I don't think religion is required for that. The cause and effect relationship is more complicated than the information portrayed about the survey. As has been pointed out, Gen Z ers may be convinced that poverty, etc. is more effectively addressed through the government.
he/him When I go to sea, don’t fear for me. Fear for the storm.
Jessica Best, Fear for the Storm. From The Strange Case of the Starship Iris.
It’s also arguable that if Gen Z cares more about pollution and climate change, that may benefit many more people than being a friendly neighbor who brings you a cake a couple times a month during Home Teaching visits.
I do applaud MG for letting his true colors fly in this thread, though. It's kind of refreshing for him to cleanly declare he's here on a crusade to defend a very conservative American worldview against encroachment from secularism and progressive views.
The survey is just propaganda. It could just as easily have complained kids these days don't use rotary phones or watch the evening news at the same rates.
If you are in the business of selling rotary phones, sure, the future looks scary...
The interesting thing to me is something that I’ve intuitively deduced over time. It is this (from the article):
Gen Z is the nation’s least religious generation, with about a third having no religion — about the same proportion as among millennials — compared with 23%, 17% and 11% among, respectively, Generation X, baby boomers and the Silent Generation.
and this:
The data show that religious younger Americans are more than twice as likely to do community work as their nonreligious Gen Z counterparts. Half of religious Gen Zers report volunteering in the community often or very often, compared to 30% of slightly religious Gen Zers and just 21% of not religious Gen Zers.
Being involved with community groups — such as sports or social clubs — shows an even bigger difference between the very religious and not religious, with 46% of the very religious regularly being part of community groups, compared to just 16 % of those who are not religious.
As for charitable donations, the same pattern emerges once again, with fully half of very religious Gen Zers contributing often or very often, while 29% of slightly religious and just 17% of nonreligious Gen Zers do the same.
The article as a whole seems to paint a rather dismal portrait of what is to come unless more younger people come to Christ and/or participate in religious activity of some sort that promotes community values of charity/giving beyond one’s self.
Regards,
MG
From the other thread:
And here you are, supporting a worldview that can ultimately lead to dissolution of all that has contributed to the overall health and success of the modern world. Your world, as shown in the study I referred to on the other thread, leads to isolation and self absorption/selfishness.
Let alone, the possibility of a secular tyrant/organization of some stripe ultimately taking control and/or having undue influence over the masses.
Checks links for "secular tyrant" et. al...huh. Sounds like someone got their Fox News in their Dez News.
Check this out. One of the claims in MGs link argued:
On the topic of the value of religious diversity and pluralism, the values diverge again. Over half of very religious Gen Zers (54%) see real value in interacting with people of other faiths, while a little more than a third of nonreligious Gen Zers (37%) feel the same way.
Gen Z is enthusiastic about pluralism, but that isn’t necessarily translating into action. A 2020 study by the Interfaith Youth Core asked 7,000 students at 122 colleges about their interfaith engagement. Only 14% of respondents participated in a related interfaith activity at college, despite 70% of seniors indicating a commitment to bridging religious divides.
Religion scholar Ken Chitwood calls this the “apathy gap”—Gen Z’s enthusiasm for pluralism is overshadowed by indifference to act on it. But this isn’t necessarily surprising; Many young people aren’t sure how to live out their ideals, and others lack the opportunity to do so.
So 70% of respondents stated they were committed to bridging religious divides. As argument, the evangelical source tries to nope that by focusing on participatuon rates in interfaith activities at their university.
See how that works? Gen Z isn't committed to the social norms and structure of MGs worldview so they are therefore letting the world go to crap. Just as long as you define the problem narrowly you can see it, too.
Teen births with gen Z were a fraction of what they were with Gen X or Boomers.
Therefore, the more people come unto Christ, the more teenagers get pregnant.
Ipso facto, abracadabra.
Stu!
How have you been, brother?
About the stats above, I think you may want to reread them. They don't compare generations. They compare religious Gen Zers to nonreligious GenZers. And they show how religious Gen Zers are more sociable and give and volunteer more than nonreligious GenZers.
A reasonable inference from this would be that declining religiosity among the young would likely be accompanied by lower levels of socializing, volunteering, and giving--an outcome no one wants.
Not interested in researching your argument. For example, giving to a church is charitable giving, regardless of how it's spent. And most church's ask for donations. If I put money in a collection plate, I can claim I'm giving to charity, regardless of what the church spends it on.
Caring about your community and neighbors is a good thing. I don't think religion is required for that. The cause and effect relationship is more complicated than the information portrayed about the survey. As has been pointed out, Gen Z ers may be convinced that poverty, etc. is more effectively addressed through the government.
Studies find that religious people give more to both religious and secular causes than do the non-religious.
No one is climbing that only religious people care about community, yet the data of this study and others are consistent that the religious do more to actually build community and contribute to community then do the non-religious.
Old people have been complaining about youngsters for millennia. It is just part of the human condition.
True. And yet irrelevant to the OP, which actually discusses differences between the religious and the non-religious in the same generation.
...in regards to behaviors and attitudes primarily associated with religious community. If one is mainly concerned about tradition as surface-level proxy for society, the findings may appear concerning. If, on the other hand, one is looking at social function as independent of cultural form, the OP reporting says more about the values of the proponent of the studies than it does about Gen Z.
Last edited by honorentheos on Thu Mar 16, 2023 12:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
