CV NEWS FEED // According to recent polling, the majority of Gen Z identifies religion as the primary source of issues faced by the United States.
In an op-ed titled, “Gen Z’s Conflicting Opinions on Faith, Religious Practice,” Public Interest Fellow Natan Ehrenreich cites recently published results of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty’s 2023 Religious Freedom Index, calling Gen Z responses “a striking outlier.”
Generation Z, or Gen Z, is the generation of people born between 1997 and 2012.
Despite 2023 having the highest Index score to date at 69%, demonstrating an overall rising support for religious liberty across most demographics, Gen Z respondents trended in the opposite direction.
As Ehrenreich observed, even though 59% of Americans identified religion as a potential solution to America’s problems, 61% of Gen Z respondents said they thought religion was the source of said problems.
An additional 56% of Gen Z specifically identified people of faith as culpable.
“That should worry Jews, of course, but also Christians, Muslims, and anyone who cares about our tradition of religious co-existence,” said Ehrenreich, adding: “It would be wrong, though, to say that Gen Z’s attitudes towards religion and religious liberty are all bad news.”
Gen Z holds the highest percentage as a generation with 63% supporting “freedom to practice one’s religious beliefs even when they are contrary to accepted majority practice,” such as wearing religious head coverings or abstaining from pork.
However, when religious practice is contrary to mainstream culture, Ehrenreich pointed out, “Gen Z’s tolerance shrinks,” with only 38% of Gen Z supporting freedom for religious persons to believe that marriage is between a man and a woman without having to face repercussions.
Ehrenreich continued:
Since Oct. 7, there has been an increased desire to understand the oppressed/oppressor framework that many have hypothesized drives the views of young Americans, and we see evidence that such a mentality is present when considering religious liberty issues.
Though Gen Z may champion religious minorities in certain areas, Ehrenreich pointed to the rise in antisemitic reactions to the events following October 7:
As the distance between us and the events of October 7th continues to grow, more and more Americans are starting to wake up to the fact that antisemitism has often been the canary in the coalmine.
The reactions to the attacks have proven tat the canaries on college campuses have been dead for a very long time.
The results of the Index and the current observable trends among the younger generation should serve as “a wake up call to all Americans,” he said, and concluded: “Supporters of faith in the public sphere should reflect on our role in the effort to meet that need head on.”
