CURRENT A B I M O N T H LY L O O K A T F A I T H , L I F E A N D C U LT U R E
Young Americans Might Just End Religious Divisiveness in America
‘Heresy’ Is Having Its Hollywood Moment
The rising generation doesn’t view faith as something that divides culture. WHAT THE ... HECK? This spring,
I
f you flip on the TV or scroll through social media, it’s easy
by religion. Part of the reason why this is so significant
to see America has become
is because it represents a significant cultural
a divided place. But a recent
shift compared to recent generations: 2016
study conducted by MTV and
research from the University of Minnesota
PRRI of a cross-section of young millennials
(which featured more older Americans than
and members of Generation Z found that the
the MTV study) found most people believed
up-and-coming generation no longer views
religion was actually more divisive than race
faith as something that divides communities.
in America.
The respondents were asked about
Considering that other studies have
whether they feel the country is divided over
found that nearly 80 percent of the same
things like politics, wealth, race and religion.
demographic say they believe in God and a
Though they overwhelmingly said politics
majority say religion is important to them,
divide (77 percent), a majority said wealth
the attitude shift could mean in the future,
causes division (57 percent) and half saw
religion won’t fade out of American life, but
race as a dividing factor in America. Just 38
instead will become something that is no
percent felt America was currently divided
longer so culturally divisive.
MAR-APR
020
two movies are releasing that tell the stories of people who have questioned the existence of hell— and how it affected their lives. In Come Sunday, Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Carlton Pearson, a real-life pastor who lost his large ministry after he stopped believing in hell (Pearson’s mentor, evangelist Oral Roberts, is played by Martin Sheen.). The film is based on an episode of This American Life and is produced by Ira Glass. Likewise, the documentary The Heretic tells the story of Rob Bell, who famously became an evangelical outsider after his book Love Wins questioned the reality of damnation.
2018
