It seems to me that we live in a continuously decentralizing world, slaughtering hierarchies and bureaucracies. Centrally planned and controlled and structured modes of life are no longer satisfactory to the modern human, especially those under the “millennial” label.
One such indication of this is the latest Pew poll that’s been making the rounds today about the decline in people in the United States affiliated with any religious organization, specifically Christianity. Granted, it’s still at majority levels, but it’s noteworthy…
It shows you the power of Christianity that it’s “news” when “just” 56% of millennials consider themselves Christian, but as a heavily religious country, that is indeed news.
Here’s the data to see for yourself. Some notes:Those who describe themselves as Christians has dropped from 78.4 percent in 2007 to 70.6 percent in 2014.
- Those who describe themselves as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular” has increased from 16.1 percent to 22.8 percent across the same period.
- In raw numbers, the unaffiliated number some 56 million Americans.
- The aforementioned lessening of affiliation from millenials is one of the reasons cited by Pew, known as “generational replacement.”
- Interestingly, this dynamic is seen with older generations, too. Baby Boomers and Generation Xers are also loosening their affiliations.
With that said, disavowing organizing around God does not mean disavowing God. If they’re not atheist or agnostic, it just means the person in question has taken a different path to understanding God or having a relationship with God or worshiping God or what have you.
In other words, I’m not heralding these results as a, “Yay, we’re becoming less secular!” But I do herald the push-back against ingrained and (often) destructive institutions.
Milam's Musings 