CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A new survey finds young people do not think religious communities care about social issues as much as they do, and that while many young people consider themselves at least slightly religious, they don’t turn to religious institutions in difficult times.
The survey of more than 10,000 13- to 25-year olds was conducted by Springtide Research Institute, a non-profit that studies young people and religion in America.
The survey, “The State of Religion and Young People 2021,” found young people believe they care more about things like LGBTQ rights, immigration rights, reproductive rights, income inequality, and environmental causes than religious or faith communities do.
The survey also found only 23-percent of young people said they attend religious services on a weekly basis or more.
According to Springtide Research Institute lead writer Ellen Koneck, “Things like affiliation are no longer the most important indicator of a young person’s religious identity. So, they may kind of have a religious upbringing in a certain tradition, but be taking up practices or entering communities or reading sacred texts from other communities. In Springtide’s report, we call this ‘faith unbundled.’”
She said, “One of the most exciting things stumbling upon here, young people today, 71 percent identify as religious, 78 percent identify as spiritual.”
But, the survey suggested that that manifests itself through things other than regular attendance at houses of worship.
The report said “faith unbundled” describes the way young people increasingly form their faith by combining elements of religious and non-religious sources rather than forming it from a single institution or tradition.
“Young people are staying really engaged, but might not look like formal attendance on Sunday morning,” Koneck said.
She added that Gen Z is taking religion and spirituality seriously.
“It might just not look the exact way that it did those 18 years under their parents’ home," Koneck said.
She said 53 percent of Gen Z is more likely to use art as a spiritual practice than prayer (45 percent). They’re also more likely to engage in yoga and martial arts as a spiritual practice than attend a religious group.
And, while 45 percent like to be in nature as a spiritual practice, 29 percent choose meditation and 28 percent choose to study a religious text.
Another disparity involves what young people do when they encounter difficulties in their lives. Koneck said, “40 percent of young people who tell us they’re very religious, said they wouldn’t turn to someone from their faith community so that’s a big disconnect.”
She said only 10 percent of young people report a faith leader has reached out to them during the COVID pandemic.
Koneck surveyed more than 10,200 young people and conducted 65 interviews.
Sizable numbers of young people who say they are religious told Springtide they are not part of a religious community. That includes 44 percent of Catholics, Jews, and Hindus, 54 percent of Buddhists, 32 percent of Protestants, and 45 percent of Latter-Day Saints.
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