If you were told in 2020 that, statistically speaking, more than 1 in 3 people between 18 and 29 were religious, you most likely wouldn’t have believed it. In 2018, only four per cent of Gen Z went to church regularly. In the latest survey from 2022, that number has risen to 16 per cent. A recent YouGov and Bible Society study pointed to this. People are flocking back to God at record numbers it seems, even Central Cee became Muslim recently, but why is that? For almost 50 years, religiosity has been decreasing in the West. From the writings of Bertrand Russell to the debates of Alex O’Connor, atheism and outright rejection of Abrahamic belief systems have become more and more a part of the developed world. Alongside this, multiple studies from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), University of Chicago and Centre for Economics, Policy and History have shown that as a nation develops, less people identify as religious. With all that said, why are more young people turning more to religion?
When first researching, I immediately thought about men and the far-right. With the role of men being reshaped by society due to a lack of acceptance for misogynistic behaviour, this has left a sizeable portion of men feeling hard done by. It would make sense for men to be flocking to religion for some sort of stability. A reassurance that their role was secure and made for them by a divine power. Therefore, the conclusion that men were turning more to religion seemed correct. When talking to Tabib Haque, a Muslim student here at Trinity, he also mentioned that a lot of men are reverting to Islam and that he has noticed a considerable increase in the amount of people he sees at the Muslim Students Association in Trinity. However, the statistics seem to tell a different story. In the United Kingdom, women were seven per cent more likely to identify as religious. Alongside this, they were more likely to label themselves as very or fairly religious by four per cent. In the United States, men were more likely to identify as religious, but by only one per cent. Men are showing up more to church regularly, with 13 per cent of men regularly attending church, while 10 per cent of women do the same, but this doesn’t prove anything when we look at all the other statistics. All the stats show that men aren’t the only ones pushing the numbers up; instead, it is a joint effort between men and women.
An increase in attendance by white people also made sense to me. The Bible is full of stories of God-sanctioned genocide, sexual violence, and slavery – just to mention a few. These past heroes were, objectively, terrible people, yet they are still paraded. The Israelites, God’s chosen people, did so many things which would make any rational reader wince with pain. Despite this, God loves them and chooses them. This is the Christian message, that no matter how broken one is and no matter how much bad one has done, Jesus can save them. According to the Jim Crow Museum, white Americans used to turn the skin of slaves into leather and had breeding farms for slaves to create the strongest possible workers. This is without mentioning that the US and Britain are responsible for the destabilisation of nearly every developing nation. The comfort of knowing that God’s chosen people committed the same sins as one’s own people can bring a sense of connection and understanding. However, the statistics do not back up this idea. While there aren’t extensive statistics on the race differences, white people are only one per cent more likely to go to church now. The Bible Society even claims that nearly 50 per cent of black male Gen Zers go to church regularly – way above the average of 13 per cent across all groups of men. So, what is causing this rise?
Well, it seems like it’s one thing. Deception. “Lies, damned lies and statistics” – the famous saying rings true again. These statistics have been used by groups like the Bible Society to promote ideas that going to church is back in style and that Christianity is not dying. Unfortunately, though, this does not seem to be the case. Firstly, in 2018, the only over-18s within Gen Z were those born between 1997 and 2000. That is approximately 12 per cent of the Gen Z population and thus an unreliable sample group. As time has gone on, Gen Z has reached the same level of religiosity as the previous generation, with 37 per cent of Gen Z and 34 per cent of Millennials being religious. Notably, Gen Z are still significantly less religious than their parents’ generation, with 42 per cent of 45 to 64-year-olds being religious. Furthermore, Gen Z are still the second most likely to not believe in a higher power or be unsure about their belief. Even when looking at spirituality alone, older generations are more likely to believe in herbal medicines, karma, and divine miracles.
Overall, Gen Z believes less in solely spiritual practices than older generations.
Church attendance statistics are also misrepresented. The definition of “regularly” in this survey is once a month, and this leaves the door open for a lot of bias. Especially in one’s late 20s, when friends are starting to get married and have kids, church attendance increases. When the only Gen Z adults were, at most, 21, they had no reason to be in church regularly. They were most likely away at university, or simply atheists. As one enters the range of the late-20s and every other friend or family member is getting married, it can definitely feel like one is a regular church attender and therefore, the statistics are skewed.
There might genuinely be a rise in religiosity in Gen Z. Economic insecurity, increased migration from religious nations, and more entertaining versions of religion being available could also cause this. The rise of the far-right among young men and trad-wife/stay-at-home wife content becoming more popular online could also change ideas of Gen Z. However, the statistics don’t show this. Instead, they show that religious institutions are really desperate to get you to believe that being religious is trendy again because attendance is not increasing.
