Secular folks should worry.

[Rivendale]

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.

Don

Correlation is not causation. Yes that old trope. There is a tremendous lag time in sociological changes on behavior. Of course there would be increased socialization in a church especially on a survey. But the big question still remains. Are we witnessing the actual decline of every aspect of Mormonism in real time?

[drumdude]

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.

Exactly. Home teaching counts as “building community?”

Give me a break.

[malkie]

If the religious right in the US is anything to go by, then secular folks have a lot to worry about.

When I see the results of the evangelicals' and Mormons' politics, and their expressed (by some) wish to break down the church/state barrier, I certainly worry.

[Morley]

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.

I'm not sure that's true. I see Boomer MG summing up his opening post about Gen Z deficits with this:

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.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

I’m sorry, I guess I’m not following MG’s handwringing. The Bureau of Labor has a little over 26% of Gen Z donating to:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesnonp ... afe4412fd6

and get involved in social issues.

… causes include youth, animals and human services.

The outlook appears to be positive, no?

- Doc

[drumdude]

I’m sorry, I guess I’m not following MG’s handwringing. The Bureau of Labor has a little over 26% of Gen Z donating to:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesnonp ... afe4412fd6

and get involved in social issues.

… causes include youth, animals and human services.

The outlook appears to be positive, no?

- Doc

Too bad. They should be giving all that money to Ensign Peak so that they don’t turn into Celestial Kingdom Smoothies.

[canpakes]

Therefore, the more people come unto Christ, the more teenagers get pregnant.

The arrangement of words in that sentence notwithstanding, this would explain that Virgin Mary thing.

[honorentheos]

Mormons may want to rethink their argument based on the study.

[MG 2.0]

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...

I think that a gradual move away from civil society in the sense that people step outside of their comfort zones and serve their neighbors and communities through ‘hands on’ service rather than simply writing out a check or giving online isn’t where we want to go.

I’m not convinced that relying on tried and true principles of ‘loving one’s neighbor’ through service is as ‘conservative’ as you make it out to be in the sense of it being ‘fuddy duddy’.

If, as the article points out, younger people are moving away from those tried and true principles taught ‘religiously’ in churches/synagogues/mosques towards a self constructed worldview which may or may not entail altruism to one’s neighbor and community as a key component, I see that as something to be concerned about.

Religious activity provides a tried and true template that encourages the practice and implementation of principles of charity and love.

Secularism cannot guarantee that.

Regards,
MG

[honorentheos]

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...

I think that a gradual move away from civil society in the sense that people step outside of their comfort zones and serve their neighbors and communities through ‘hands on’ service rather than simply writing out a check or giving online isn’t where we want to go.

I’m not convinced that relying on tried and true principles of ‘loving one’s neighbor’ through service is as ‘conservative’ as you make it out to be in the sense of it being ‘fuddy duddy’.

If, as the article points out, younger people are moving away from those tried and true principles taught ‘religiously’ in churches/synagogues/mosques towards a self constructed worldview which may or may not entail altruism to one’s neighbor and community as a key component, I see that as something to be concerned about.

Religious activity provides a tried and true template that encourages the practice and implementation of principles of charity and love.

Secularism cannot guarantee that.

Regards,
MG

Are you going to leave Mormonism for Evangelism?