Generational differences explain the decline in religious faith
A study by the Pew Research Center reveals that 35% of millennials are unaffiliated with religion, compared to 17% of baby boomers. A BSA survey found that a majority of people in the UK identify with no religion (52%).
However, David Brooks, a cultural commentator for The New York Times, argues that people have an intrinsic longing for their spiritual needs to be fulfilled. This “spiritual yearning”, as he calls it, can be explained by a desire for people to make sense of things that are hard to reason with.
Dr. Sandra Obradovic, from the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science at LSE, sees that yearning: humans reason with cause and effect, and we base this on supernatural things. She explains that religion is usually the key way to do this, but alternative ways are emerging, ways that aren’t religious but serve the same function.
In her studies, Dr. Obradovic shares there is an assumption that as human beings progress, we move from irrational to rational forms of thinking: “It’s basically moving from religion to science”, she says. Moving to science still leaves space to have an appetite for the unknown and the unknowable. It also leaves space for identifying as spiritual, but not religious.
Artist and musician Emilee Petersmark is inspired by spirituality, but still feels detached from her religious upbringing. She says: “No matter how much you learn, you can’t really disprove the existence of some sort of greater force in the universe. Spirituality ties into everything, and it’s something I want to represent in my work.”
Here, spirituality finds a meaning separate from religion. Brooks calls it “hodgepodge spirituality”, where individualism comes first. Then, the search for meaning is personal, and open to anyone’s interpretation.
Cover photo credits Bella Cavalcanti.
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