Youth Turned Off by Religion and Politics, Turn Away From Church
Young people are turning away from churches because they associate Christianity with Republican politics, a study reveals.
Political science Professors David Campbell (University of Notre Dame) and Robert Putnam (Harvard University) published their findings, "God and Caesar in America: Why Mixing Religion and Politics Is Bad for Both," in the March/April edition of Foreign Affairs. Campbell and Putnam also wrote American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us (2010), which was recently released in paperback. For that book, they have been surveying the same group of people from 2006 to 2011. The same data was used for the Foreign Affairs article.
One of the most surprising findings from the data they collected, Campbell said in a March 13 interview with The Christian Post, was that people are driven away or toward religious involvement because of their political leanings. In particular, those...
SteveR wrote: Considering this thread should be about youth leaving the Church because of the unseemly unification of Church and Politics, and its propensity to concentrate just on Politics only validates the claim of the study. How do we tell our kids Mormonism is a lie of the Devil, then embrace a Mormon ONLY because we think he can win? Your point is valid about the fruit of the POTUS, but how good is the fruit of the Mormon? Doesnt he have a track record of questionable social positions? .. GOP heros like Schwarzenegger? He too was pro choice & pro gay marriage like Obama, but he was a GOP hero Why do our kids leave? Because we are hypocrites and our kids know it
Ther's the GOP, then there's the RINO GOP. They don't all fit the same mold.
Mormonism is indeed a lie of the devil, but so is POTUS' self proclaimed Christianity, and his claim of Jesus' social gospel. Not sure one is more devilish than the other. Romney at least admits being Mormon, not pretending to be that which he is not.
It's interesting the youth are leaving the church because of said unification with politics, yet are enthralled by politics, for which churchgoers are held in disdain. (In spite of the heading of this thread, it was youth voted Obama in)
Young adults are more interested in sex, drugs, partying, and raunchy movies than God. I think partly because of churches that don't teach biblical doctrine or make disciples and also because all of these fleshly things are more readily available and accepted now then in the past.
SteveR wrote: Considering this thread should be about youth leaving the Church because of the unseemly unification of Church and Politics, and its propensity to concentrate just on Politics only validates the claim of the study. How do we tell our kids Mormonism is a lie of the Devil, then embrace a Mormon ONLY because we think he can win? Your point is valid about the fruit of the POTUS, but how good is the fruit of the Mormon? Doesnt he have a track record of questionable social positions? How about GOP heros like Schwarzenegger? He too was pro choice & pro gay marriage like Obama, but he was a GOP hero Why do our kids leave? Because we are hypocrites and our kids know it
Mike wrote: It's the old by their fruits you will know them thing. We pray for the president, the Congress and the courts to have wisdom, that we may have peace. We can pray for a Mormon as well, and at least it appears he doesn't hate his country.
Considering this thread should be about youth leaving the Church because of the unseemly unification of Church and Politics, and its propensity to concentrate just on Politics only validates the claim of the study.
How do we tell our kids Mormonism is a lie of the Devil, then embrace a Mormon ONLY because we think he can win? Your point is valid about the fruit of the POTUS, but how good is the fruit of the Mormon? Doesnt he have a track record of questionable social positions?
How about GOP heros like Schwarzenegger? He too was pro choice & pro gay marriage like Obama, but he was a GOP hero
Why do our kids leave? Because we are hypocrites and our kids know it
SteveR wrote: I know, I had to do a double take on this myself. However, have not the Christians of the GOP chosen to demonize him rather than pray for him? Are they not willing to ask for a Mormon to rule over them instead?
It's the old by their fruits you will know them thing. We pray for the president, the Congress and the courts to have wisdom, that we may have peace. We can pray for a Mormon as well, and at least it appears he doesn't hate his country.
jpw wrote: This has a direct impact on the younger generation who is left with an economy based on surveillance technology. Can anyone say soviet?
"2. We [evangelicals] go on sinning so that grace may abound. The secular stereotype of the modern evangelical — as a judgmental moralizer — is so wrong as to be laughable. Everywhere you go, preachers reject this model entirely, emphasizing, for example, “divorce recovery,” therapy, and treatment for the consequences of sin. Again, these are worthy things, but Christ and the Apostle Paul also emphasized holiness and discipline. How often has your church actually disciplined adulterers? How often have you intervened in the life of a friend before they made devastating mistakes? Our desire to be liked trumps all, and suffering is the result."
We're exhibiting self-control issues without end. It's no wonder we need surveillance throughout every institute of education, commerce and government.
The bailout/debt/eternal foreign provactions thing that is being passed on as 'loving Israel' is such an affront to the gospel.
This has a direct impact on the younger generation who is left with an economy based on surveillance technology. Can anyone say soviet?
I have loved the evangelical church but she is being absorbed into this. And the left-behind voyeurism of end time obsessions taught and warned of a future time of globalism, yet by the policies she pushes and the adventures she supports she is building the very thing she warned her children would be coming. In mental health terms, there is something wrong here.
The adults are not advising the youth well. There are implications in all areas of life for them. I've given the example of how medical students are often required to perform an abortion. Do we pass this info on or just pretend its all good?
If the older generation wants security over faith, the younger generation will having nothing but to leave.
Many will probably go the direction of the emergent church--that will be too bad if so. If the Lord says flee, may they leave and may the church be purified and if the Lord says stay, may they remain faithful. But it is not for us to say.
Mike wrote: Makes sense, but for the "our current Christian President" part.
I know, I had to do a double take on this myself. However, have not the Christians of the GOP chosen to demonize him rather than pray for him? Are they not willing to ask for a Mormon to rule over them instead?
SteveR wrote: 200 posts discussing whether our Sovereign God needs permission from a sinner to bestow Grace yet just a paltry handful discussing why we cant keep God's Covenant youth in his House.(sigh} Faith Alone, while I understand your point, we do live in a different Era. God's people do not have a wicked king... as we are now 2000+ years into the Reign of Christ awaiting the full number of the Elect. While our youth are using the unseemly unification of conservative social goals with corporate & military ones when contrasted with our gerrymandered social justice brethren for an excuse to leave the Church, their error doesnt justify our actions. Christians have entered into an unholy alliance in the GOP. A party more interested in Tax Cuts and Military Provacation then the duties our LORD has created us for & now culminating in the probable running of a Mormon(with a poor abortion/deviant marriage track record) against our current Christian President. Forcefeeding memorization of catechisms(which conflict with one another), cameo Lords Day appearances with evenings viewing the High Priests of the GOP on Fox w/ rants against DNC evil does not work. Im out of characters
Makes sense, but for the "our current Christian President" part.
Ah, Heretic, a huge number of priests violate their vows, just by example, Abuse in the Catholic Church and many articles that are on the John Ankerberg site were written by fine Christians whose through the grace of God, e.g. Mike Gendron, left the Romish church and became Christians one of his articles being, Abuse by priests
Jim Lincoln wrote: Come out of the Catholic Church
Sadly, John "Come out of the Catholic Church" Ankerberg is a notorious heretic. Follow his advice at your soul's risk.
For Father Bartholomew F. Brewer it was a cinch to make a "pilgrimage" from the priesthood to marriage and the working-stiff life. Run this process backwards and almost no one materializes. Just a few married Anglican priests who convert into the Faith and are called into the priesthood. And who pays attention to that?
Thus, only disobedient priests who violate every vow and even the "least of these" receive widespread titillating press. Even the Devil himself, "an angel of light," isn't so maladroit as to fiendishly hurt children in the name of Christ. He's a skosh more subtle than this.
He'd more likely appear as a three-piece Reformed Baptist pastor with 40, totally untarnished, years in the pulpit teaching only two miniscule drops of lethal heresy.
Faith Alone, of course I would opt out of an apostate form of religion, these Jews were not considered by the prophets, nor are Christians considered Christians who reject the tenants as given in the Bible, as the Romish church does.
Thank you Barry and Blow the dust off for joining this conversation.
Barry, as you suggest Prayer indeed needs to be an essential part of our reform. Prayer & Repentence are essential because our kids clearly have seen what hypocrites we have been.
Blow the dust off (...Your KJV Bible) While I deeply enjoy reading catechisms, I feel they shouldnt be used as the measuring stick for our youth. Both Pastor and Parent seem to feel they met their obligations with just a class, yet will blame one another if the youth goes astray. Often the youth will be held to the Mosiac law while adults work on the Sabbath, commit adultry, use the Lords name in vain etc with no admonishment.... It turns out to have more of a club atmosphere with different standards for the 30+ crowd with empty words then a place to worship the Lord.
Which makes Confirmation only a pass to join that club in later years
SteveR and jpw, great post from both of you. You guys are awsome. I feel the failure to engage the youth is the church bodies fault. It is certainly not the fault of our Lord and Savior. He still beckons. The answer isn't in games and rock music. I don't believe it's in really cool study bibles or anything of the kind. It's been my experience that to engage we have to be engaging, serving and humble. The young adults always respond to someone that is genuine. Reading some of the posts on SA I get confused and I have been on this Christian walk for over 40 years. If we sputter and spew some of this venom in our churches, I'm not surprised we are losing. I pray for a healthier chuch body in America. I feel that right now as it stands, organized religon in America has been corupted by the world. I'm not just talking the liberal mess either.
Baptist Catechisms: Revision of the Heidelberg Catechism (1680)
Anglican Catechism: Book of Common Prayer Catechism (1548)
Anabaptist Catechisms
With all of this modern Bible-wrangling and horse-trading even over the most salvation-critical doctrines, why would our children bother memorizing any of these ancient, conflicting and unsettled Q&As? In fact, with this dizzying array of Catechisms and Confessions which are constantly undergoing deletions and revision via SA alone, how could a child believe anything much at all about Jesus?
We can print 500 posts discussing the order of salvation
200 posts discussing whether our Sovereign God needs permission from a sinner to bestow Grace
yet just a paltry handful discussing why we cant keep God's Covenant youth in his House.(sigh} Faith Alone, while I understand your point, we do live in a different Era. God's people do not have a wicked king encouraging sinful behaviour as we are now 2000+ years into the Reign of Christ only awaiting the full number of the Elect.
While our youth are using the unseemly unification of conservative social goals with corporate & military ones when contrasted with our gerrymandered social justice brethren for an excuse to leave the Church, their error doesnt justify our actions. Christians have entered into an unholy alliance in the GOP. A party more interested in Tax Cuts and Military Provacation then the duties our LORD has created us for & now culminating in the probable running of a Mormon(with a poor abortion/deviant marriage track record) against our current Christian President.
Forcefeeding memorization of catechisms(which conflict with one another), cameo Lords Day appearances with evenings viewing the High Priests of the GOP on Fox w/ rants against DNC evil does not work.
do people leave the church or does the church leave the building? maybe we should start to listen to this generation since they must bear the burden of the debt/eternal foreign escapades global politics that dominates both parties..
John Y., Of course the reason that many Catholic youth are rejecting the Romish church, is because of the horrific amount of hypocrisy that exists in the magisterium, q.v., Vatican reports on Irish child abuse scandals,what I find almost amusing is that His Unholiness wants the Irish Church to be more Catholic. The present Irish Church would be better off if it was more like the one founded by Patrick (214-228). So, Catholic young people both in Ireland and the United States realize this, Should Roman Catholicism really be classified as a Christian religion? -- No.
A church has to preach the gospel, unlike false churches like the mainline ones and the Romish church, have to Proclaim the Word And not just have messages that tickle the ears and ceremonies to impress the eyes.
The main reason why some of the younger generation are ceasing attending church is that they are coming under the influence of Satan and more interested in this life then in the afterlife. Being more interested in this life then in the afterlife is nothing but secular humanism.
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