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Is That You In The Corner? Is That You In The Spotlight?

20 June 2009 6 Comments

Are you losing your religion? It is no secret that the young professional generation is flocking away from the flock, and in a survey from 2007, 70% of us had “dropped out” of church/mosque/synagogue/organized religion. Is it just because we are a commitment-phobic generation? The secret lies instead in the question “Are young professionals only losing their religion or are they also losing their faith?”

Let me explain.

For a long while now, I’ve elaborated personally on a little philosophical thought that is often quoted and even more often misused. When Friederich Nietzsche stated that “God is dead” he wasn’t saying that God had physically died. He was talking about the belief in God and the fact that people were no longer turning to the church for full unabashed direction in their decisions, morals and explanations. He felt that humanity was going to become a nihilistic society, their values no longer routed in anything of substance but instead the fabrications of whatever whim people wanted to adhere to.

My elaboration of Mr. Nietzsche’s statement is simple. “God is dead, organized religion was the death of God.” (I know, deep, huh? I was a good little clove-smoking philosophy student!) The obscuring of God by organized religion started long before the young professional generation entered the mix. Anyone remember a little thing called the Spanish Inquisition? It isn’t like we’ve got the corner market on corruption of power by organized religion.

religion faithWe are, however, becoming adults and learning how to be “ourselves” in a world that is drowning in nihilsm. Between reality TV, neon yellow journalism and the superficialities that are acrylic nails, tanning booths and Louis Vuitton people are turning to everything but the church for their foundation in life. We are also extremely lucky in that we are the first generation that has really been raised to think for ourselves, to challenge the authority that Generation X had to fight so hard against. And for a lot of the young professional generation, religion is not the place that we are finding our answers.

This isn’t to say that we are in a crisis of faith. On the contrary, I think young professionals have a better grasp of their beliefs than those who have gone before them. However, organized religion does not seem to offer the things that are important to young adults. They are either left out of a lot of the rhetoric because they have not coupled and joined the ark or they are not interested in sitting in uncomfortable seats for 2 hours listening to someone preach at them rather than engage with them. We have had to leave organized religion to find the community we want.

For me, I don’t think we’ve lost our faith…we’ve just lost our religion. No longer do I find my personal moments with a higher power in the confines of four walls being told what I should believe. I see the love of my God in my friends, in a beautiful view from a mountaintop, in doing good for others. I don’t get anything anymore from an organization that is more interested in furthering its own agendas rather than teaching me how to believe in something greater than myself. I will admit, though, I’m a little worried where that is going to lead us.

What do you think? Are young professionals losing just their religion, or are they also losing all semblance of faith?

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  • Rachael

    I agree with your observation that despite the trend of abandoning organised religion, our generation holds true to their faith.

    I think we are engaging in our faith in personal ways on a daily basis. I think we are the first generation to have been exposed to all religions and have synthesised the most relevant parts to us into our personal spiritualities.

    As a generation we are trained to see patterns. As a result we have identified that all religions contain some basic principles (love, compassion, mercy, charity, faith) and have chosen to directly engage with those.

    Wonderful post, thank you for openly pondering such juicy topics!

  • Elisa

    Rachel – Welcome to the Webb! Hope lots of folks click thru to the Highwire, I already love it!

    You bring up a really good point that I felt but couldn't work into the post. I think that a lot of our generation has left the structure of organized religion because we HAVE been exposed to all these different religions and schools of thought and have shaped our own faith and beliefs on the parts of each of these that speak the most to us.

    I remember once talking to someone at my church about how much I love yoga (I don't really ohm my way to a higher spirit, I just meditate my way to a better place. You know, meditation, like Jesus did…) and she informed me that I had to stop doing yoga immediately. With its basis in eastern mysticism it was going to slowly eat away at my Christianity and poison my mind. I should have realized then that this organized religion thing wasn't going to be for me!

  • Sam

    Elisa, this is a very important topic, and not many people are willing to write about it. I did, and I also talked about the issue in my interview with Jun.

    I think Gen Y is at an interesting place in terms of religion and faith. We're out on our own, and making our own lives, and deciding what's important to us. But, I think the reason a lot of people don't write about it is because it's such a personal topic. Like most things, faith is taking on new definitions. Thanks for writing about this, I enjoyed reading your perspective!

  • Marie

    Love this post. I think our generation's tendency towards questioning everything and desiring to stay as true to ourselves as possible is going to lead to spiritual lives that are deeper and more meaningful in a lot of ways. I think a big reason reason that this topic isn't being blogged about so much is because so many of us are still trying to figure out what role spirituality plays in our lives. I think once more of us mature with our definitions of religion/spirituality we're going to see LOTS of really great discussions.

  • Elisa

    Sam – I know, I backlinked to your post in mine! I find it interesting that so many people are willing to write about their closest hopes/fears/dreams but their faith is somethng they feel that they can't share. I think a big part of that is the stigma that many young people feel is associated with having a strong faith or attachment to a religion. I've had lengthy chats with friends about my faith and can only recall two such conversations that didn't end with "Haha, you're a God-lover" or something similar. On the flip side, one of the conversations ranks among top 25 favorite of my life.

    Marie – That is a valid point. Maybe some of us are still trying to figure out where we stand and thus we aren't necessarily going to post our beliefs out there for everyone to see. However I do think it's important to engage in conversations and provoke our thoughts about faith to learn about what we believe ourselves. Nurturing community is one of the greatest places to learn about yourself by learning about others at the same time.

  • IrishHeart416

    I love this blog Paco! I think everyone is totally correct. This is such a taboo subject for oh so many reasons. I know that I have been jaded by organized religion and really it comes down to, I don't want to be boxed in. I was once told I could be anything I wanted to be if I worked hard enough. I don't understand why people can't grasp that I can believe and have faith to be what I want it to be, if I work hard enough. Faith is a relationship and it takes work. I feel we have to work out our own faith before we can judge others for theirs. For me I know I will never be able to judge others cause like my life, faith is always a work in progress. Thanks for speaking out, bravo!!