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Gen Y's Religious Perspective
By Rowan
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INTERVIEWS:
(names have been changed for anonymity)
Jason: "I'm training to be a Jedi."
Jane: "I'm undecided. I'm open to religion, but I'm fearful of commitment to something that may not exist. Anything can be sacred."
John: "I'm not religious. Religion is good as long as you don't force it on anyone else."
Jeremy: "I'm a Protestant. In the younger generation, religion is more a set of ideals than laws. I'm also very interested in taoist principles, and i respect the views of transcendentalists. I attend church regularly."
James: "I'm not sure yet what to believe in, but i'm hoping for a just God. I'm open to many things."
Jed: "I don't have a specific religion, just a relationship with God"
Jenny: "I don't think I have a religion. I can't think of anything religious I do besides drink beer."
Jessica: "My religion is The Impervious Order Of The Salad-Style Shredded Carrots. I started it 4 years ago and I currently have 11 followers. The philosophy advocates a free style in which people can believe in their own ideas. It isn't an organized religion."
Jock: " I don't want to think about it. Thinking makes my head hurt. (then, a moment later:) I believe in karma and energy. I don't believe in marriage, because everyone just divorces anyway. I kind of like believe collectively in various aspects of religions."
Joseph: "Culturally I'm Jewish, but I believe in karma and reincarnation. I believe in the whole undefinable energy thing."
ANALYSIS:
Young people in general seem less and less confined to one particular religion, or to the concept that one must accept all or nothing from a religion. Perhaps the most obvious historical leap in this direction was achieved by the Baby Boom generation in the 60's and 70's, but little has been said about how much more mainstream it's become since then with people my age. Even those interviewed who gave silly-sounding responses would probably be capable of having a relatively in-depth
conversation about a variety of religions.
This is not to say that this philosophy of open-mindedness is always applied. There
is a fairly common distrust of organized religion, but then I've mostly had contact with Californians and East Coasters. I understand the rest of the country is much more God-fearing, as it were. It is an interesting time.
We are more than just followers of trends, though that is a major component of our generation. The degree of change regarding religious views over the last couple decades has made it quite clear that the various social changes of the 60's and 70's are far from over. We'll just have to
see where those changes take us.
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Other columns by Rowan
 Gangsta Rap
GenY's Stress
Generation Y And The Internet
Elections Survey
Hip Hop, And Its Place In The Generational Soup
THE GENERATION GAP
Among Pirates and Rastas
WTO Protest Has Links With The
Past.......... |
Other columns by TOY
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ABORTION
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