Read on Twitter
So like, here's the thing.
Millennials might not be flocking to church and shul like our grandparents did, but it's not because religion is bad. It's 'cause our entire way of life is different and what's considered socially essential has shifted. A few (unscientific) notes: https://twitter.com/FiveThirtyEight/status/1345104781866643457
Millennials might not be flocking to church and shul like our grandparents did, but it's not because religion is bad. It's 'cause our entire way of life is different and what's considered socially essential has shifted. A few (unscientific) notes: https://twitter.com/FiveThirtyEight/status/1345104781866643457
1) Dues models generally don't work for us. Millennials are subscribers. We are happy to pay $10/month for spotify or $60 for a wine club, but we don't like being tied down and paying for things we don't use. Especially in the Jewish world, traditional dues structures deter us.
2) Religious leadership is something we don't think is necessarily a source of moral authority. Coming of age with the internet means that each time another scandal came to light, we knew. And we didn't like it. And it made us question if anyone was in this for the right reasons.
3) The Religious Right is a giant turnoff. Like, a *giant* turnoff. I have friends who want nothing to do with organized religion because organized religion to them means pro-lifers screaming outside @PPFA and saying climate change is a hoax and humans should subdue the earth.
4) We weren't all raised with robust religious educations. What's the point of going to a service if you don't speak the language/don't know the tunes/haven't read the scriptures?
(Note: There *is* a point but the learning curve is tough and we don't talk about that enough)
(Note: There *is* a point but the learning curve is tough and we don't talk about that enough)
5) Many Millennials were raised in interfaith homes of some sort, but a lot of us faced major scrutiny if our fams tried to bring us to religious schools etc because intermarriage was less understood and accepted than it is now. So we've got reasonable chips on our shoulders.
6) Religious centers just aren't our main gathering places now. We have others. And many religious communities are trying to keep things as they were, or at least close to how they were, rather than looking at how we gather now and adjusting so there's cultural congruity.
7) You don't have to believe in God to believe in religion, but lots of us don't know that, and even those who do don't all see the point of saying words or engaging in community built around a God one might not think is real. It feels inauthentic. Millennials like authenticity.
8) Our generation is broke and it's the fault of the generations most likely to be in church leadership roles. We trusted Boomers as our parents and politicians, and they're leaving us a society in shambles. Why should we want to trust them with our religious lives too?
9) Religion has been used to justify all manner of horrifying things in our country, from slavery to segregation to rape to war. Knowing that, why would we want to buy in?
...And, with all of that? I'm a Millennial rabbi. I know a ton of other Millennial clergy. And I think, with all my heart, that religion matters. It just needs a bit of a reset. We need a robust religious left that is committed to justice. We need leadership that reflects us.
We need liturgy that is written and translated with an understanding of our world as it is today.
We need to talk about and study the topics often shushed in religious spaces: sex, drugs, crime, divine fallibility-- y'know.
We need to meet people with understanding and nuance.
We need to talk about and study the topics often shushed in religious spaces: sex, drugs, crime, divine fallibility-- y'know.
We need to meet people with understanding and nuance.
Millennials don't hate ritual. We hate meaningless ritual.
We don't hate responsibility. We hate not feeling seen for who we are and what we can bring.
We don't hate religion. We hate what it's become.
Luckily? A lot of us are changing it. With love.
#ShabbatShalom
We don't hate responsibility. We hate not feeling seen for who we are and what we can bring.
We don't hate religion. We hate what it's become.
Luckily? A lot of us are changing it. With love.
#ShabbatShalom
