Gen Z far less likely to be atheists than parents and grandparents, new study reveals

18 comments

1. Sigh. Just to be different. Never mind the truth that it’s just a sky Gandalf story.

2. They have no other source of hope for the future, and the priests seem to be keeping it in their pants now.

3. Makes sense. i think religion back in our parents’ day was more harshly instilled. Even the Catholic church is trying to move towards an arguably more liberal image + spirituality in its broader forms is becoming more popular. the vast majority of friends i have aren’t atheists.

4. I guess life is so shit now they have no choice to turn to fairy tales to tell them what to do so things might be less shit when they’re dead

5. Maybe it’s because Gen Z is far more likely to come from backgrounds other than white British

   I’m an atheist because my parents are and I believe both sets of my grandparents are

   However if my parents were religious then it’s far more likely that I’d be religious

   1 in 3 children are now being born to mothers who were born outside the country who are more likely to be religious than British mothers

6. And their kids will probably be less religious than them. Things like this tend to be quite cyclic.

7. The generation who are the pioneers of cultural decline. Jesus is my algorithm brooooooo

8. So people are turning their backs on the established religions – I’m generally happy with that.

   But they are using TikTok to research <checks notes> Astrology. There was a time when the likes of Mystic Meg and Russell Grant were considered amusingly eccentric and were indulged with a sort of affectionate disdain. Now it’s making billions amplified by a Chinese data farm.

   I’m going to avoid the hysteria often attributed to people my age that ‘the kids are not alright’ as I’m very sure that this is a phase; like shell suits and fidget spinners. But could somebody please press fast forward to the ‘Post TikTok Epoch’ – it’s all very silly.

9. Stupid headline. They’re hardly old enough to be grandparents now are they?

10. I mean I feel rather spiritual and I am a millennial. I prefer to believe there is something waiting rather than nothing, especially with how life has been. In the past people live in a greater sense of optimism whereas today it seems society is approaching a new phase or the end stage of what we had.

11. Like most of these surveys, it depends who they ask and where they ask them.

    An extreme example would be the survey was only in the back of a church magazine. Or they stood outside mosques asking the question.

    Most surveys can be manipulated to give the answer the person paying for it wants.

12. I’ve realised in recent years how paradoxical atheism is in the sense that it carries this weight of intelligence and scientificness when it’s actually an incredibly stupid and nonsensical theory.

    We have an infinitely huge universe, our planet is teeming with incomprehensibly intelligent life forms that we fool ourselves into believing we understand. And all of that is meant to be totally meaningless and pointless? Something can’t exist without it having been created.

    For the developed world mostly gone are the days of believing there’s a superhuman man who lives in the clouds. But to genuinely believe that existence is nothing, really misses the point that we exist at all.

    I think this is what gen Z are coping onto. Atheism IMO was an extreme rejection of the dogma of religion, but we’re moving past that now, and atheism is nothing but dogma in and of itself.

    Also, when I was growing up it would be embarrassing to say you believed in God, smart-asses would explain how science has disproven the theory of a God, and you were ridiculed for being stupid if you said you believed in a higher power.

    This is also less prevalent today due to public ridicule being more of a faux pas than it used to be.

13. Not identifying themselves by the term atheist doesn’t mean they’re religious or not actually atheist. The term just has some negative connotations and is seen as uncool now. There is currently a rising trend of anti intellectualism that doesn’t help.

    *Many* people have no belief in a god (the definition of atheist) but don’t define themselves as atheist due to misunderstanding the definition or believing it makes them sound closed minded.

14. Gen Z are also more likely to engage online, and as a result, unfortunately, are often more likely to believe what their peers believe or tell them is true, or that influences peddle.

15. Whatever the reason for this, it doesn’t stem from reason.

    Sad news.

16. Uf you read the article the entire study is dodgy no info on the survey aside from the number surveyed so no clue who made it and what the questions where the % for certain groups aren’t reflective of the population at all and it was made and funded by a author who makes his money writing very pro-christian books.

    Also the ingo in the study doesn’t even match the headline folk are arguing over very clear misinformation and click bait.

17. It’s purely down to a demographic shift in the country

    More oppressive and forced religions become more prevalent so the tradition of being religious is carried on

    It’s sad imo really, people should have free choice. But if you’re born into it you have no choice. Just told god exists and you now have to live your life around faith in something that we pretty much know isn’t real

18. I don’t care what religion you are but I will automatically look down on you for it and not hold any value to your opinion if you ever bring religion into any conversation or problems r resolution of issues, religion is for weak minded idiots that need something to grasp, absolute morons.

    We give far to much sway to bend to ALL religions, they shouldn’t be given any protections under law, they can’t prove shit, let them have their places of worship but in real life like politics or work or anything else, religion isn’t even considered when adults make decisions. It should be classed and given as much reverence as a hobby or playing Sunday football for the pub team

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