Think tanks and polling firms confirm the decline in religious affiliation among younger Americans. In fact, Millennials and Generation Z have been fleeing churches at record rates. The reasons they give, however, are varied.
In one Barna study, 31 percent of Millennials and 23 percent of Gen Zers claimed that Christians are hypocrites, among their top reasons for feeling a barrier between themselves and the religion. Even 36 percent of churchgoing teens believe “the people at church are hypocritical.”
One source of frustration for the young Christians Faithfully Magazine spoke with is the church’s failure to adequately confront sexual abuse—and its preoccupation with sexual purity.
For decades, reports of lax responses to abuse have spotlighted the Roman Catholic Church. Yet, Protestant denominations aren’t to be absolved of also failing in this area.
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Sierra Lyons is a senior broadcast journalism student at Florida A&M University and freelance writer with a focus on the intersection of race and religion.
