Several possible reasons (4.00 / 1)

One reason everything the Boomers did was news was the sheer size of the Boom generation relative to other generations, especially to the Silent Generation just before it, whose name indicates their (our) biggest difference with Boomers.  Not until the "Boom Echo" were there more young people than those immediately ahead.

Another is that the media are now controlled by the always self-important Boomers, who still believe in Boomer exceptionalism.  How could what a bunch of slackers believe or don't believe possibly be important?

Yet another reason is that most of those very media people are also generally not Christian identified.  That's why they have to hire people to remind them write about believers and their culture.  It truly is "foreign" to the media management and reporters, because many are Jewish and/or seculars themselves.  So non-Christian identification either isn't news (just background) or they are afraid of a backlash if they do publish about it. 

Or maybe, since they are just getting up to speed on evangelicals, they are really two curves behind.  If writing about evangelicals is hard, imagine trying to write about something as diffuse and diverse as the gamut from "exotic" religions to personal spirituality to real non-belief in anything not part of the material world.

In any event, keep it up, because this is very interesting and important stuff, and you are undoubtedly right that it has profound implications.  "Religion" comes frommthe Latin word that literally means to retie the bonds, and it is what traditionally placed people in the cosmos, in relation to time, and to the infinite, as well as to other people in their group and larger society.  Untying the bonds, unless they are replaced with something else, can be very alienating.

John McCain--He's not who you think he is.

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by: Mimikatz @ Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 12:31:15 PM CST

Wow, great comment (0.00 / 0)

And thanks so much for the kind words at the end.

I think you are right both about Boomer exceptionalism, which is a strange phenomenon I never understood, and just how far behind the curve news reporters are on religion. It is as though they only discovered right-wing evangelicals back in 2004. It will take them forever to learn about this trend.

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by: Chris Bowers @ Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 12:52:27 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Boomer exceptionalism (0.00 / 0)

Here's how it was explained to me by a professor around 1965.  During the war there were great hardships for the men in the service, and for women supporting the troops at home and abroad.  Everyone just looked forward to the day when life could return to normal.  So the great dream was the wife and kids, and the house with the white picket fence.  Post-war parents doted on their new offspring because they were the centerpiece of this dream of normality (unlike with those of us born during the war or Depression, who were kind of a burden).  They were showered with stuff (to the extent people could afford it), and there was an explosion of child- and parent-centered magazines and books.  This dovetailed with the drive to get women out of the workforce to make room for returning men and to roll back the moral license of the war years.  "The family that prays together stays together" was a big ad campaign I remember from my childhood. 

So imagine the great consternation when the spoiled darlings rebelled against all this in the mid '60s and went for unkempt clothes and hair, and sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll.  It was seen as a great betrayal by the parents.  The kids, of course, thought they had discovered idealism, purity of heart and left-wing politics.  In the end, I believe all that pampering made them singularly susceptible to the blandishments of the very consumerism they despised in their youth.  But of course their taste is a great improvement over the '50s.

John McCain--He's not who you think he is.

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by: Mimikatz @ Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 15:07:59 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Self identification probably differs more than underlying feelings (4.00 / 1)

I was raised in an evangelical family.  My mother and many other adults I knew strongly self identified christian.  From their actions, they made it clear they didn't in believe anything the gospels said to do (feed the poor, care for the sick and needy, etc.)

Same would apply to our self identifier in chief.

My generation (gen X) seems to only self identify if they are fanatical about it.  Door to door evangelizing levels of belief.

I actually started attending a traditional denomination about 3 yrs ago (usually 2-3 times a month and three times this weekend).  Participate in a lot of the charity and community outreach programs.  Lots of opportunity to do a little good for others with my minimal time.  Somebody else sets it up and works out the details, and I just provide my time or money.

However, I would hesitate to self identify christian.  That brand carries a stigma of intolerance and has been really damaged by politics and con artists.  Most of whom rarely attend church services and never do any type of outreach.

So am I christian?  I guess so.  But I still think we should help the poor and needy instead of just the wealthy and powerful.  Which on political sites leaves me somewhere stuck in the middle of the culture wars.

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by: jello5929 @ Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 12:50:06 PM CST

Me, too! (0.00 / 0)

I'm a member of the United Church of Christ who attends church services three or four times a month and maybe once or twice a month goes to church for a potluck dinner or a meeting. I otherwise wouldn't have had the opportunity to work as a homeless shelter overnight host or to contribute food and clothes to those in need without a lot of effort---in a church, "somebody else sets it up and works out the details," which once was me, when I served on the outreach committee.

Where I live is very red, and my church is also the best place to find other lefties.

Yet, it's embarrassing to self-identify as Christian. The media, including blogs, seem aware of Christians only as the televangelist and megachurch frauds crowd who go against everything Jesus ever taught us. And so I also find myself in the middle of the culture wars.

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by: Joyful Alternative @ Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 13:43:06 PM CST

[ Parent ]

That is interesting (0.00 / 0)

Never heard that one before--don't want to be called "Christian" because it has a negative stigma. Interesting, and thanks for sharing!

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by: Chris Bowers @ Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 14:20:09 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Same here! (0.00 / 0)

I'm Gen X and go to church, but I really deplore the media cliches of what constitutes a Christian.

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by: sb @ Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 16:18:10 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Slowly, this seems to be becoming news (4.00 / 1)

A few weeks ago, when I was checking out the Des Moines register endorsement, there was another article titled "Faith Fades Among the Young" that I found much more interesting.

http://www.desmoines...

The faith of their fathers doesn't cut it with young adults.

Recent surveys found that young people have more negative opinions about Christianity and organized religion than they did a decade ago. Fewer are praying and attending worship than in previous generations.

"I've moved beyond my childhood spirituality. I'm finding my own way," said Charlotte Newsom-Henderson, 31, of Clive. "Churches have become so political, it's scary. I refuse to take my children to a place that does not accept all people. All that will teach them is prejudice."

Facing this kind of criticism as well as a steadily dwindling number of people in the pews and cash in the offering baskets, many mainline Protestant denominations are scrambling to come up with successful tactics to attract young adults to church.

This seems to be an issue bubbling over at the local level, as churches realize how few young people are filling the pews.  In Iowa, many churches see it as a marketing problem.  I think Chris is correct that it cuts much deeper than that.

Facing this kind of criticism as well as a steadily dwindling number of people in the pews and cash in the offering baskets, many mainline Protestant denominations are scrambling to come up with successful tactics to attract young adults to church.

"What do they want? That's a million-dollar question," said Justin Wise, director of the young adult ministry for Lutheran Church of Hope, a West Des Moines congregation that is one of the fastest-growing churches in the country.

"As a church, we're trying to figure out how to speak to this generation in a culturally relevant way. The way we've done church in the past does not work," Wise said.

Seven of 10 young adult Protestants, who may have been churchgoers in high school, quit attending church by age 23 and had not returned by the time they reached 30, according to LifeWay Research, an affiliate of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Debra Cleghorn, 27, of Des Moines knows how that can happen.

"I was raised in church," Cleghorn said. "In college, I would only attend service when I was visiting my parents. Towards the end of my senior year, I had a friend say to me that he didn't realize I was a Christian."

I'm 24, and out of a broad circle of friends that includes both liberals and conservatives my age, I know of only a 1 friend who regularly attends church.  To the rest, the issue  just never comes up.  If it does, it's in a joke.

I wouldn't be surprised if secularization among those in Gen Y is closing in on European levels.  That has been my experience.

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by: BCdem @ Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 13:33:01 PM CST

Also of note, the article above is on Iowa, this isn't just a coastal thing n/t (0.00 / 0)

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by: BCdem @ Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 13:36:24 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Thanks for the link! (0.00 / 0)

Much appreicated! :)

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by: Chris Bowers @ Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 14:20:50 PM CST

[ Parent ]

No, It Means You Should Get A Book Deal (4.00 / 1)

The religious shift in America away from Christian self-identification strikes me as a demographic shift of at least equal importance to the growing income inequality gap, the rise of the creative class, and even to large the influx of Latino and Asian immigrants around the country.... Considering the large amount of text I have produced on this subject over the past three years, I feel like I am either typing into the void on this one, or entirely off base on the demographic data.

On top of everything else, it's got a built-in readership:  All those folks that nobody else wants to talk about.

The retort in the subject line just popped into my head as a snarky remark.  But I'm absolutely serious with just a moment's reflection.  Built-in audiences are something that publishers love, and you are absolutely correct about how much it is being ignored.

There's only two quibbles I have with this diary.  First, it's not really true that "They didn't even laugh at the same jokes."  There was a great deal of earlier humor that kids like me grew up on.  True, Bob Hope and Jack Benny were not at the top of the list (the Three Stooges and the Marx Brothers were much higher us), but they were at least mildly amusing.  It was more that you wouldn't go out of the way to listen to them.  But there were bridge figures like Lennie Bruce and Mort Sahl who appealled to my parents as well as me.  And friken Lucille Ball is still on Fox affiliates filling hours upon hours of airtime.

I think this is roughly analogous to the fact that just because younger folks are a lot less religious, they're not going out and waging any sort of "war on Christmas."  They are just tuning in to different channels, as it were.

Second, you shouldn't refer to it as "an academic paper at the University of Chicago."  While arguably technically correct, it's actually a GSS report, which is a primary form for GSS staff to highlight important findings.  While it is surely significant how little impact it seems to have had so far in terms of follow-up, it's almost certain to have had an impact.  But that impact is not showing up in popular discourse.  (Gee, I wonder why?)  So, like I said above, get yourself a book deal.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

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by: Paul Rosenberg @ Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 13:52:06 PM CST

Already working on one (0.00 / 0)

But perhaps that is a good idea for my next book. Or, at least, a longish paper released by NPI or something.

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by: Chris Bowers @ Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 14:22:57 PM CST

[ Parent ]

No, It's Book Material, I Promise You (0.00 / 0)

I've reviewed over 300 books.  It makes you see them differently than just reading them.  This is a potential "calling card" book that can open lots of doors.

For the full effect, it might require you doing more interviewing and on-the-ground reporting than you're accustomed to.  But that's just the sort of way to branch out like that--write about a topic that you understand in a way that other's don't, so that you gain confidence in the new skills you're honing along the way.  Besides, you'll probably be talking to lots of people who are much like you, at least in the ways you'll be talking about.  That should establish comfort on both sides, and in turn open things up for discussing differences as well.

Once you've done enough of that sort of research, you could then turn around and construct some really great polling, and do some incredible analysis to top it all off.  Trust me, it's pure gold.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

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by: Paul Rosenberg @ Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 14:31:16 PM CST

[ Parent ]

As an atheist, I have no trouble finding other atheists (0.00 / 0)

to hang out with.  This is funny, because all the polls you hear about on the news says that 90% of Americans identify with faith and that 80% identify as some kind of christian.

However, people are not admitting their true feelings.  This is the new "tell pollsters that you support Tom Bradley for governor" thing  because most atheists are ashamed to admit to a large group or publicly that they are, indeed, non-believers.

Most atheists are not "scream it fromt he rooftops" like I am.

In short, people are lying to pollsters.  GASP!!!  That's a shock and NEVER happens!

For some reason, it seems that Obama has some pathological and deep-seated psychological need for Republicans to like him.  Seriously.  It's weird.

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by: avenged savant @ Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 13:59:28 PM CST

I admit (0.00 / 0)

That I don't like talking about religion in person. There is something less personal about it on a blog that makes me feel comfortable. But in person, I don't like talking about it. I imagine others feel the same way.

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by: Chris Bowers @ Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 14:21:50 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Excellent Commentary (4.00 / 1)

I often preface my spiels with 'one day, we'll wake up to a mainstream culture that isn't dominated by white Christian boomers, and it will be awesome...'

This story isn't being covered because
a) big media interests are currently aligned with the forces driving the young people away
b) the older generations don't want to hear it
c) nobody wants to give the impression to the youth that abandoning faith is 'normal'

Most non-evangelical churchgoers are there for the social benefits. Religion has been an easy way to keep in touch with old friends and a practical means to channel positive energy into gains for the community (helping the less fortunate, activities for the children, etc...) People go to church mainly because it reaffirms the notion that life is worth living.

Ever since the GOP started co-opting religion and exploiting faith for political gain, a gap has developed between the older church generations (who will never stop going to church no matter what) and younger generations - who see right through the political charades and have no trouble finding alternative outlets for channeling their positive energy and maintaining contact with old friends.

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by: buckswope @ Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 14:23:34 PM CST

my understanding is that Gen X and Y (0.00 / 0)

are just at the starting point in their life cycle when interest in institutional religion tends to crop up.  It's typically triggered by the birth of a first child, or the death of a parent.  There may have been a spike in non-Christian spirituality in the past few decades, but church-based Christianity is on the rise with Gen X and Y, too. 

Glancing at CBN's balance sheets over the past ten years would likely be a better barometer on this than sociological stats. Surveys on religious participation tend to always show a decline--because they tend to always be funded by the religious organization in question.

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by: Jeffrey Feldman @ Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 16:19:14 PM CST

Chris - you really should write this book... (0.00 / 0)

Younger people are turning against Christianity for a host of reasons.  One reason is that the Right's co-option of religion is a long-term killer.  The Left (or what passes for it here in the USA) is angry at the so-called Christians who elected and propped up a fascist government, and the young turn away from Christianity in huge numbers. Christianity does have a negative stigma for the Left now as one of the pillars of American fascism.

The mobility, diversity, and affluence of Americans also hurt organized religion.  In earlier years, different Christian churches were associated with national origin.  Southern European immigrants (and Irish and Polish) were Catholic, those from Eastern Europe were Orthodox, Scottish were Presbyterian, Scandinavians were Lutheran, etc.  Now, many of us have moved so much that we are no longer attached to our old nationalities.  We are American, and relatively affluent, so we no longer need the Church to acclimate to America and get ahead.  We also marry among different ethnic groups, and increasingly among different races.  So, there's no identity for churches to reinforce. 

This is a VERY different phenomena than in Europe where churches are/were an extension of the state.  Europeans rely on government for much that was provided by the state, and the state-based religions have been unable to stay responsive to the populace, so people stopped going. 

All of this raises an interesting question: are the young more liberal because they are less Christian or less Christian because they are more liberal?  Or are younger Americans more liberal and less Christian because their cohort is more diverse and American Christianity and conservatism reject diversity?  I don't know, but those are questions that deserve a book-length answer. 

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by: econlibVA @ Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 16:36:54 PM CST

It was on my wish list for a long time (0.00 / 0)

This loving chronicle of the New Left.

Young people are less Christian because they're more liberal and sick of evangelical hypocrisy. It's not a big story because the media keeps telling us 90% of us are Christians who pray to god every day.

Banned for posting five straight diaries.

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by: donna darko @ Thu Dec 27, 2007 at 01:14:12 AM CST

No payoff (0.00 / 0)

A previous diary (and it may have been on another blog) mentioned that a survey showed that "Christianity" to the young had become anti-gay and to a much lesser extent anti-abortion and not much else.  The co-option of the mega churches and televangelists had colored the perception of what religion "is" and made it much less attractive and in many cases flat out as something to be avoided.

However, the religious right has been extremely aggressive in publicizing and punishing those who oppose their agenda as "anti-Christian."  Do you really expect that much of this will hit many media outlets?  The occassional boycots, etc. could hurt profits.  Some advertisers could be pissed.  It is just abunch of "kids" after all so suck up to your sponsors and ignore what is going on.

It is quite interesting that this is happening in an environment where religion like politics has been polarized.  The main stream churches have not been part of the religious right, have generally lost membership, and have even suffered from "persecution" to a minor extent (UCC ad refused).  I looked in a bible concordandce a while ago and the word abortion was not even menioned.  Yes, people can find allussions to it but you have to stretch things a bit.  This and gay bashing are not the core of Christianity as practiced for 2000 years.  Just the current variety. And that is a flawed (if aggressively marketed) product.

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by: David Kowalski @ Thu Dec 27, 2007 at 03:52:34 AM CST

More data (0.00 / 0)

Here's National Election Survey Data on this.

http://www.elections...

Those claiming no religion in the entire electorate jumped from 2% in 1960 to 17% in 2004 (although this number was first reached in 1994).

I'd be interested to figure out why the number flatlined in 1994.  Perhaps that's when boomer religiosity mildly increased, with the rise of evangelical protestantism in the suburbs.  2004 seems to be the end of the flatline and continues the trend toward secularization of the electorate.  Maybe this accounts for Gens X and Y turning away from religion.

Either way, it's clear that the supposed "religious awakening" of America never happened.  Instead, from 1994-2002, there was a pause in the secular drive rather than a reversal.  It's amazing that the media could get this so wrong, hyping a religious revival that never really happened.

Yglesias put it in graph form.

http://matthewyglesi...

Much more substantive reporting needs to be done on this issue.

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by: BCdem @ Thu Dec 27, 2007 at 12:31:28 PM CST