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One thing about the article is that these young people are members of their respective churches but also have internal conflict about some of the positions that the church takes. I do believe that in the past one’s religion might encompass a huge amount of one’s community and communal identity (or tribe).
I believe that today because of our secular society, public schools where people associate more with people of different beliefs, and lastly with the internet and the related explosion of the sharing of ideas – because of those things young people of today can be much less tribal or dogmatic.
They may identify with different marginalized groups themselves or at least know of good people in those groups.
Roy wrote:
I do believe that in the past one’s religion might encompass a huge amount of one’s community and communal identity (or tribe).
Good point.
It also seems like the younger generation sees the fruits of some of those things and they don’t like it. They want something better, with less of the exclusions to other groups. And there is more acceptance to express it (sometimes gets viewed by the older generation as entitlement).
By opening up to expressions and breaking from how things were hidden in the past or covered up…there are new things learned, as you said:
Roy wrote:
with the internet and the related explosion of the sharing of ideas – because of those things young people of today can be much less tribal or dogmatic.
So the institution setup to help protect and strengthen the community boundaries don’t fit the new framework of reducing pain of exclusion and individual circumstances that they experience.
New frameworks are needed. More than just 2 hour church…but new frameworks that start getting into LGBTQ issues and women and the priesthood and some of those things.
Probably once those changes are made, the next generation will see the imperfect implementation of those…and want something different.
It is how we get to things like the bible being written never intended to be taken literally, to it being used as literal text, and so forth.
Roy wrote:
One thing about the article is that these young people are members of their respective churches but also have internal conflict about some of the positions that the church takes.I do believe that in the past one’s religion might encompass a huge amount of one’s community and communal identity (or tribe).
I believe that today because of our secular society, public schools where people associate more with people of different beliefs, and lastly with the internet and the related explosion of the sharing of ideas – because of those things young people of today can be much less tribal or dogmatic.
They may identify with different marginalized groups themselves or at least know of good people in those groups.
I am not so sure that the young people are less tribal or dogmatic – I think there are just a lot more “tribes” out there competing for attention – whether it be Comicon, Special Interest Facebook Groups, other church families, or other sites such as blogs/podcasts. I also think it easier to become more aware of the existence of other tribes out there.
In the last 100 years, it became easier to “drift” cross-country from the place of origin. I think it is becoming easier to “drift” tribe-wise to find the mosaic of groups that fit you best for the current time period.
The church monopoly (if it had one) on people belonging to the tribe is getting overhauled. People are more likely to access media sources and/or find more worthwhile things with their time then church.
I think it also exposes a tension – the church is a one-size-fits-all brand (or it tries to be), but people are more interested in tailoring their experiences to reflect who they are as an individual. One of the reasons why Utchdorf and Okazaki are so beloved for their words is that they channeled accessing spirituality on the individual level.
Heber13 wrote:
SamBee wrote:The fruits of this can be seen in mental health problems …
I can see an argument for that.We trade one set of issues for another. Trade-offs.
Yes that’s true. The current generation like to claim that they are more tolerant than previous ones. In reality, many of them have traded one set of prejudices for another. I know younger people who are quick to jump on racism, sexism, transphobia and homophobia but are completely bigoted about religious people, old folk, the working class and people with other political preferences.
And yes, there are all the other issues such as diet and sedentary lifestyle.
dande48 wrote:
Heber13 wrote:
We trade one set of issues for another. Trade-offs.
I know I’d have serious mental health problems living in anytime before now. War, disease, impoverished working conditions, lack of sanitation, high mortality rates, lack of education… heck I couldn’t have been a Mormon 100 years ago, nor a Christian for 8.5/10 of the time Christianity has been around. I tell you what, warm showers and a good bed work wonders on my own mental health difficulties. For the first time, we can
affordto be mentally unwell. I wouldn’t trade this time for any other.
It’s not a one way traffic, we now have a mentality which sees poverty as a personal failure, discourages lifelong relationships in favor of the diminishing returns of promiscuity, food which is contaminated with all kinds of chemicals (some of which cause mental health issues)..
We lack peace and silence, we are continually being contacted and now tracked…
It is a world which makes girls starve themselves to death, others work themselves into a heart attack and has sent suicide rates skyrocketing.
The only thing which holds this society together is medication, drink and dope.
That and the fact the west has killed the community and replaced it with piss poor substitutes.
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