According to Cornell University's recent peer-reviewed study, Americans are moving away from organized religion and toward a mix of convenient faith and worldly wisdom.
The study, "Breaking Free of the Iron Cage," finds that while the proportion of religious "nones" has risen from 1 in 20 to more than 1 in 4 in just a few decades, young people still do not want to call themselves atheists. Instead, they are looking for "DIY religion," a more individualized faith.
Dr. Alex McFarland says these Gen Zers are put off by some of the perceived flaws in churches.
"The things that drive people away from church would be hypocrisy … legalism, and then the lack of biblical teaching," he tells AFN.
Researchers found that church attendance among young people has fallen from 44% a decade ago to just 13% today. McFarland says these young people are mixing and matching their favorite beliefs from different religions and molding them into a unique belief system, a process called syncretism.
"Classical orthodoxy is not a cafeteria where one takes an entrée here, a side dish there," he asserts, advising churches that want to plug this leak to refocus on their main purpose.
"It is the responsibility of the clergy and the churches evangelizing and discipling to make sure that people solidly understand what it means to have a relationship with Christ," McFarland summarizes.
Scholars analyzed data from more than 1,300 participants in the National Study of Youth and Religion who completed four rounds of surveys between 2003 and 2013, starting when they were between 13 and 17 years old.
Over that decade, participants reported how frequently they attended religious services or prayed alone, if they were affiliated with a religion and believed in God, if they supported converting others to a religion, and if they practiced meditation.
The results showed institutional aspects of religion declined significantly faster than individual faith and spirituality. Estimated trajectories showed a sharp decline in religious attendance, while prayer frequency plateaued, producing a widening gap between institutional engagement and individual practice. Religious affiliation dropped "precipitously," but belief in God held stable.
Support for proselytism declined nearly 10%, while meditation practice grew about as much – the only variable to show growth.
The Cornell Chronicle calls this transformation "remarkable."
