I want to believe.
Zero Hedge: The story of religious trends in America has been one of increasing disaffiliation among younger generations. But a new study reveals an unexpected resurgence of faith among youngsters in a post-Covid era.
Some young adults had an awakening during Covid as the entire world crumbled around them. They were in search of a higher power to get through the government-forced lockdowns and controlled demolition of the economy, as well as watching loved ones and friends contract Covid-19 that some federal government agencies believe leaked from a Chinese lab.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, a new study commissioned by Springtide Research Institute found about one-third of 18-to-25-year-olds believe in a higher power, up from one-quarter in 2021. The findings were based on polling data from December.
Church leaders and young adults attribute the increase in faith to believing in a higher power during the Covid crisis:
For many young people, the pandemic was the first crisis they faced. It affected everyone to some degree, from the loss of family and friends to uncertainty about jobs and daily life. In many ways, it aged young Americans and they are now turning to the same comfort previous generations have turned to during tragedies for healing and comfort. –WSJ
Rev. Darryl Roberts, the pastor of the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., said the pandemic, job loss, inflation, and increasing economic worries had left many young people feeling vulnerable and are turning to God for protection.
“We are seeing an openness to transcendence among young people that we haven’t seen for some time,” said Abigail Visco Rusert, associate dean at Princeton Theological Seminary and an ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church.
Me again.
I’ve been saying that the great Big Atheist push from ten years ago failed miserably. People did not turn to atheism. They didn’t believe in nothing. They still believed in a higher power. But sadly, they didn’t turn to the faith of their parents. They’re turning to Wicca and weird new age paganism. They are accepting that there is more to this world than a material world. But the Church is not appealing to them.
Why?
For many reasons. One, because the Church is demeaned, derided, and scorned. Priests are seen as sexual abusers. The Church is seen as an oppressor.
If we are, we are the worst oppressors in the world. Right now, churches throughout America and the western world are being vandalized, torched, and destroyed at record levels. Pro-lifers are being rounded up by SWAT teams. The FBI is infiltrating traditional Catholic parishes.
Does that sound like an oppressor class to you?
The time will come when the forces of darkness put their heels on the throats of Christians, seeking to stamp it out but the only thing they will accomplish is showing the difference between the dark and the light, between love and hate.
That is when we will see people returning to the Church, seeing it in a new light. I don’t want it to go there but it’s happening. The only thing we can do is prepare ourselves.
God help us all.
