Church of England in "doomed" shocker
Ruth Gledhill writes for The Times about Making Sense of Generation Y, a report issued by the Church of England, based on a survey of 120 people aged between 15 and 25. (If you're a little older, like me, you're on the Gen X-Gen Y cusp, in the MTV Generation, despite which I don't think I've ever watched more than a minute or so of MTV).
The report does away with the popular conception among Christians that the youf have spiritual urges which are currently misdirected towards Harry Potter or throwing shapes in the church of dance, but which the Christianity can tap into and divert for its own purposes. Gledhill quotes the report as saying that "the data indicated that they found meaning and significance in the reality of everyday life, which the popular arts helped them to understand and imbibe." She says that the Gen Y creed could be stated as “There is no need to posit ultimate significance elsewhere beyond the immediate experience of everyday life” and that "the goal in life of young people was happiness achieved primarily through the family". The report also reported a lack of feelings of the fear of death or guilt about sex, those pillars upon which Christianity, or at least the sort of Christianity which is best at making copies of itself, must rest.
Amusingly, the report tells the Church not to panic (Gledhill does not record whether it does so in large friendly letters), and by way of consolation, points out that mental health problems in the youth are on the rise (it's not clear why this is a good thing for Christianity, or rather, I can only think of one, slightly, uncharitable reason why it might be). ETA: OK, so I'm trolling here, as gjm11 points out.
I think this newfound sensibleness in the youth is to be encouraged, and that the church has heard the sound of inevitability. Whether it will yet vault off the railway tracks remains to be seen, but I am, of course, cheering for the oncoming subway train.
The report does away with the popular conception among Christians that the youf have spiritual urges which are currently misdirected towards Harry Potter or throwing shapes in the church of dance, but which the Christianity can tap into and divert for its own purposes. Gledhill quotes the report as saying that "the data indicated that they found meaning and significance in the reality of everyday life, which the popular arts helped them to understand and imbibe." She says that the Gen Y creed could be stated as “There is no need to posit ultimate significance elsewhere beyond the immediate experience of everyday life” and that "the goal in life of young people was happiness achieved primarily through the family". The report also reported a lack of feelings of the fear of death or guilt about sex, those pillars upon which Christianity, or at least the sort of Christianity which is best at making copies of itself, must rest.
Amusingly, the report tells the Church not to panic (Gledhill does not record whether it does so in large friendly letters), and by way of consolation, points out that mental health problems in the youth are on the rise (it's not clear why this is a good thing for Christianity, or rather, I can only think of one, slightly, uncharitable reason why it might be). ETA: OK, so I'm trolling here, as gjm11 points out.
I think this newfound sensibleness in the youth is to be encouraged, and that the church has heard the sound of inevitability. Whether it will yet vault off the railway tracks remains to be seen, but I am, of course, cheering for the oncoming subway train.