Alright, so here we go. Long post alert.
I'm not going to directly respond to most of what Ken Ham says in that video, partly because he pushes the ridiculous young earth nonsense and goes at this from a fundie Christian POV. He likes to blame modern science education and culture war stuff for the lack of faith in Gen Z. And he's partly right! But his premise is all wrong. But I digress...
It's worth noting that Gen Z is only the least religious generation so far. Prior to them, the millennials were. But one could argue we've reached a turning point since Gen Z is described as the "first post-Christian generation." Overall point being, religion is on the decline in the USA and the western world.
If I could boil down the main reasons why this is the case, here they are:
1) Gen Z no longer sees religion as relevant or necessary.
2) Religion does not appeal to Gen Z, at all.
3) Gen Z (and millennials for that matter) have a negative view of religion in general, because they were hurt in some way by their church or religious community.
On to bullet point 1. The relevance of religion.
Here's the generation argument and where I make some concessions about religion.
I can totally see the appeal of religion/Christianity. It has a lot to offer. It provides community, helps people get through hard times, provides a meditative and spiritual experience to people, gives people comfort about death, and provides a sense of identity.
Back in the day, church was the main thing that offered all of these things. That's no longer the case. Younger people find community in a number of places now, and for a lot of them, it's a much better fit than church. That was certainly true for me. It's also a foregone conclusion that one does NOT need religion to have a sense of morality or be a good person, and that there is no correlation between the two. Gen Z rejects the notion that we need church/religion to be moral, and generally has a different sense of morality than generations before (eg being gay is not wrong, premarital sex is not wrong, MJ use is not wrong, abortion should be legal, etc).
As for the science stuff, this is where Ken Ham loses me and a lot of people. Even a rudimentary understanding of biology, astronomy, geology, or paleontology shows that the young earth, literal creation story is complete nonsense. Evolution denial, while still rampant, is much less common with younger people. So if he and others are going to push the YEC theory, that's going to turn off young people fast. Especially those young people who grew up in the church and are questioning things.
Also with internet use being commonplace and more people living in cities, people are now exposed to more people and ideas than before. That affects people's worldview. Religion has outlived its utility for a lot of people. Gen Z does not see it as relevant to everyday life anymore. Europe is already there. Religion is really just a relic of history in Europe and churches are museums.
But you know what religion in America is? A very effective tool at controlling people, which is why it's so prevalent in politics.
Next bullet point, the lack of appeal to Gen Z.
There's really no nice way to say this. Gen Z and a lot of millennials are very turned off by religion. Partly for the reasons above, but largely due to Christians in America (specifically evangelicals). I'm speaking for myself here, but I think a lot of people agree with me: When I think of evangelical American Christians, the words that come to mind are: closeminded, hateful, bigoted, nationalistic, cruel, intolerant, anti-science, anti-LGBT. Am I being harsh? Yes, but in my opinion, it's deserved.
Add in the fact that Christianity in America has become so intertwined with patriotism/nationalism (i.e. Christian nationalism), it's created a very weird and cultlike mentality. As if, we're less American if we aren't Christian. I and many others have a huge problem with that, considering our form of government is explicitly secular and allows for people to freely exercise their religion, or to have no religion.
And now, it's become more aggressive. The bill to put the Ten Commandments in public schools, churches openly supporting political candidates in violation of the law and paying no taxes, and explicit. outward embracing of Christian nationalism. Gen Z sees this and finds it weird and sometimes downright disturbing. Why is the government so aggressively pushing Christianity on people?
Also extreme laws that are clearly based on a (quite fundamentalist) Christian belief. Laws banning abortion with (essentially) no exceptions, laws trying to legislate trans people out of existence, laws intended to make it harder for young people to vote (ok this one is less about religion), laws banning books, and then the blatantly unconstitutional laws mentioned above. It's hard to put into words how repellent and abhorrent Gen Z finds these laws. They are extremely unpopular, and will continue to be a thorn in the GOP's side for years to come.
Now, I'm getting political and I know that. And it's because we've reached a point where religion and politics are intertwined, and you really cannot divorce the two. Evangelicals own the GOP.
Now to the third and most serious point, the fact that many young people have been hurt by religion. Not just religion, but also the incredible influence of religion in government and politics and the effects it has had.
I speak from personal experience, but I know many others have much more serious stories than mine. It can be summed up with the common phrase "there's no hate like Christian love."
The first obvious one is the church's treatment of LGBT people. I am not gay, but I imagine growing up gay in the church (other than the more accepting denominations) must be extremely difficult. Being told time and time again that you are flawed and sinful for your attractions, and that you must change. This causes enormous psychological damage to LGBT young people (and older, for that matter). And now it's gotten worse with people like Abbott and DeSantis actively trying to make their lives more difficult and censor their very existence from others.
But for someone like me who grew up in the church, I simply feel betrayed and lied to. I was an avid participant in my church youth group throughout middle and high school. I went almost every Sunday, I went on frequent weekend retreats, and went to Christian summer camp. I was taught about the teachings of Jesus, the value of caring for others and especially the poor and weak, loving your enemies, and being good stewards of the earth.
American evangelicals are none of these things. The amount of hatred we see coming from Christians and Christian leaders is shocking at times. One that's pretty fresh on my mind is Abbott having the nerve to call 5 dead in Cleveland "illegal immigrants" in an official government statement. They are human beings (one of them was 9). That is an absolutely monstrous level of hate to immediately go there (even though it hadn't been verified). Or Ken Paxton, a self-described Christian. Known for his criminal conduct, unethical conduct, and uses his power to bully people under him (be them his employees or citizens of Texas). Tormenting families of trans kids, cruelly bullying people who unintentionally make a mistake while voting. That man is absolutely consumed by hate.Abbott and Paxton are the faces of evangelical Christians in our state government.
Or as another recent example, we are seeing the gun violence problem getting worse and we are told that after a mass shooting the only thing we should do is pray. What good has come of that? What conclusion can we draw from this other than the fact that God must not care that much?
We also see things like leaders passing problems to future generations without any regard to what they are doing. A selfish mindset of "i'll be dead and gone, so this is your problem." The most obvious example is climate change, a reality that an entire political party denies and always votes against any environmental regulation to address it. Because the money we make now is more important than the future we're creating. Also true with guns, social programs, and education. The boomer attitude of "I got mine, so F you." Passing problems to future generations and not giving a **** about the consequences is just seen as careless and selfish. The older generations (more religious) genuinely seem like they do not care about leaving a better world for younger people. This is seen as very hypocritical.
Then you have Donald Trump. We can debate all day over whether or not he's a sincere Christian (he's not). But he enjoyed wildly high approval from evangelicals. They ****ing loved the guy. He blew George Bush out of the water. I've long wondered why evangelical Christians were so crazy about a guy who is pretty much the least Christian guy ever. Why is that? I'll tell you why: because he is aggressive. He speaks to them and says he'll fight for them. He satisfied their biblical need for vengeance because he promised to destroy their enemies and win at all costs. And to their credit, he did. Trump was a great president for evangelicals, with their biggest victory being him ruthlessly shoving through a Supreme Court nominee, in violation of the precedent the GOP themselves set, in an aggressive ploy to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Which made me and many others come to a realization: the reason Christianity is so prevalent in politics is because it is an extremely effective tool. Trump knew that, and took full advantage of it. Others follow suit.
And it's extremely frustrating for someone like me who truly cares and wants what is best for Texas and America. I want Texas to fix its broken foster care system, fix their broken public schools, do more to fight gun violence, stop interfering in the private lives of LGBT people, and do more to help working people. And then to see them pass laws like forcing schools to display the Ten Commandments and legislating drag shows? it's just heartbreaking at this point.
And we feel very helpless because you really cannot reason with someone who believes God is on their side. All bets are off. If God is on your side, I am automatically wrong.
Basically, I and a lot of others feel betrayed. Being taught all these things as kids and then seeing adults be pretty much the complete opposite of that. "Do as I say not as I do."
This really is just the tip of the iceberg and there's a lot more I could say, but in a nutshell, younger generations notice this stuff. We see the world differently than the generations that came before and the differences are really starting to shine through.
What can reverse this trend? I do not know. In my opinion this ship has sailed, the damage is done. Religion is on its way out. The best thing that Christians can do is to actually be Christlike and loving.
If you read this whole post, thank you. If you were offended by some of the things I said, know that I do not write anything solely to offend. I am not here to make people mad, but to give an honest opinion of how I see things and to not hold anything back.
