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In Their Shoes: Millennials Talk Religion

Len Ly |
March 8, 2010 | 10:11 p.m. PST

Staff Reporter

 Millennials Michael Fox, Gia Longo, Sarath Ambati and Godwin Kanu. Photo by Neon Tommy/Len Ly
Millennials Michael Fox, Gia Longo, Sarath Ambati and Godwin Kanu. Photo by Neon Tommy/Len Ly

Bride-to-be Alyce Belayeta has not considered herself a Methodist for many years, but said she will still have a religious wedding in the fall.
 
"We're going to have a ceremony outside the church, but my pastor that I grew up with is still going to marry us," said the 22-year-old communications major at Cal State Los Angeles. "Partially that's important to my parents and it's important to me because it's not that it's the church, but that it's God."

Belayeta is part of the Millennial generation, those born after 1980.  These young adults are less religiously active than their parents and grandparents-- Generation X and Baby Boomers--but are fairly traditional in other ways, according to a recent study by the Pew Research Center. Among the findings, Millennials are less affiliated with any particular faith, have lower worship attendance and practice, and are more open to multiple ways of interpreting their religion.  

Many young adults are unaffiliated because they left the religion of their upbringing. Eighteen percent of Millennials said they were raised in a religion but are now unaffiliated with any particular faith, compared with 13-percent of those ages 30-49, 12-percent of those ages 50-64, and 7-percent of those ages 65 and older.

For Belayeta, religion ceased being a major part of her life after she joined a youth church group. It was there, age 13, Belayeta said she experienced discriminatory teachings.

"I had a friend who was considered atheist but she was a very good person and I remember bringing it up to the [church members] and they were just talking about how she's going to go to hell," Belayeta said. "It just made me feel it wasn't right."

After Belayeta became engaged in December she started seeking a church to attend again.

"I prayed beforehand but I do it more consistently now because it just makes me want to pray so hard for my future," she said. "It makes you feel better to think there is somebody there that's like watching you and caring for you."

Varun Soni, Dean of the University of Southern California's Office of Religious Life, said it is not surprising to see Millennials redefine religion and spirituality because previous studies have shown similar results.

 "Millennials are more likely to make their religion or spiritual tradition work for them as opposed to them [working] for their religion or spiritual tradition," Soni said.  "Students move into this mentality of saying, 'We're interested in spirituality, we're interested in these questions, we're interested in this journey and path, but we're not religious, we're not interested in dogma, doctrine or traditional worship services.'"

A nationwide survey called "Spirituality in Higher Education" by the University of California Los Angeles, for instance, has found that as Millennials progress through college they become increasingly interested in the ultimate questions of meaning, purpose and identity. However, Millennials' approach to answering these questions are less likely to be in the form of engagement with traditional religious services.

Godwin Kanu still considers himself a Catholic if anyone asks but does not need organized religion to believe in God.

"When I was younger I was more religious because my parents would make me go to church," said Kanu, 28, a PhD candidate in physical chemistry at UCLA. "Now I'm independent and I'm a little lazy so I really don't care about going to church these days.

"I pray once in a while.  . . just a way to keep me sane," Kanu said.

Zach Desilva, a theatre major at Loyola Marymount University, said his upbringing as a Catholic took a backseat to everything else after he entered college. Now he practices his own definition of religion.

"My religion is just treating everybody with respect," Desilva said.

Michael Fox, a student at Occidental College and an atheist, said he relies on close friends and family rather than on religion to deal with life.

"The appeal of organized religion in some aspects is that it is a social organization,"  Fox said. "It's a collective group of people who can help you and if you can find that aid elsewhere, that's adequate as well."
 
Fox was raised Catholic but started questioning religious traditions after learning about atheism in junior high school.

"I didn't believe in a heaven or hell after that," said Fox, a 20-year-old kinesiology major. "You can have a sense of purpose to life without being religious."

Soni said Millennials exhibit a more optimistic outlook than previous generations. Young adults who are religious are more likely to live out their beliefs in the form of service than in the form of worship. As Millennials become less attached to their own religious tradition, this presents many interfaith opportunities because they also become more open to traditions of others.

For example,  traditional Evangelical Christians who historically might not have engaged with other groups of students on campus around social justice issues like HIV, global warming and Darfur, are starting to do that, Soni said.

Millennials' tolerant attitudes were reflected in social and political issues.  The Pew findings indicated 52-percent of Millennials support legalizing abortion as do 48-percent of adults ages 30-49, but only 37-percent of elders ages 65 and older agreed. The study also found 63-percent of Millennials said homosexuality should be accepted compared to 51-percent of adults ages 30-49 or 35-percent of ages 65 and older.  

Sarath Ambati, who considers himself a Hindu, said homosexuality does not conflict with his personal religious beliefs. Even if his religion condemned it, Ambati said he would not care because sexual orientation is a personal choice.

"It's more important to teach children morals and not necessarily a specific religion," said Ambati, 24, a  master's candidate in computer science at USC.
 
Soni said Millennials' growing independence from traditional worship requires churches to cater more to young adults' interests. This is especially true for mainline Protestants whose congregations have been "greying" and shrinking for almost three decades.

"I think they have to let students take charge of their own religious lives, which means students should be allowed to do their own types of worship ceremonies, develop their own type of worship music," he said. "The more creative groups are in terms of engaging Millennials, the more likely they're going to attract those groups."

For Gia Longo, a similar lack of pressure made her a more devout Catholic.

"When I was younger, it was something my parents said you had to do while you were living in their household," said Longo, 22, a screenwriting major at Loyola Marymount University. "Now that I'm older. . . I want to do it for my own self and I'm not being forced to so I know it's more important."

The important lesson from the data is that Millennials are invested in religion and spirituality but their investment is a work in progress and may look different than their parents' generation, Soni said.

Those differences can be seen on and off the field when Longo plays softball with other school teammates. Although Longo doesn't wear a cross around her neck or write scriptures on her arm like some of the other girls, she always enjoys one ritual with her team.

"We all lock pinkies before every game and we pray," Longo said.

 

Reach reporter Len Ly here.



 

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