By Mark Tooley, Juicy Ecumenism.
Is there a resurgence in religion in America and the West especially among young people? Anecdotal evidence says yes but major surveys do not confirm. Asbury University President Kevin Brown reflects here, recalling the revival on his campus three years ago. He offers some surveys showing increased interest in Bible reading and increased attendance at some religious rallies while admitting the mega data so far does not evince increased religiosity.
Major surveys seem to show that the rapid decline in religious affiliation has halted, but some predict this halt is temporary, as older religious people pass, and less religious younger people replace them. Or maybe not.
Often, I ask teachers and others who work among young people if they see evidence of more religious belief and almost always, they say yes. In response to my tweets on the topic, a British military chaplain responded that more young sailors on his recent mission were religiously interested and traditional. A young British man I met recently, himself not religious, said many of his twentysomething friends in London are now church attending. A Dutch politician I met last year reported increased Christianity.
The same is even more true among Americans I know. Newspaper articles highlight young men especially attracted to Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism. Urban evangelical churches that appeal to young people continue to grow. But so far this activity is not sufficient to appear significantly in national polls in America or Europe.
Perhaps the increased religiosity is mostly confined to educated urban people or those on prestigious school campuses who are noticed by some journalists and cultural “elites.” It definitely appears stronger among young men than young women. By some counts, young men who are active church attenders are more numerous than young women, which is historically unusual.