Of all the chores assigned to me as a kid, there was not one I disliked more than attending weekly confirmation classes at my local church. This process, which lasted the entire nine-month duration of my freshman year of high school, did the exact opposite of its intent.
It guided me further away from God than I had ever been.
While the group singing, hand-holding and preachy message bothered the self-appointed intellectually independent teenage me, it was even more confusing how so many people could believe in something without undeniable evidence.
I especially reveled in my distaste and skepticism for what my parents were putting me through, because it gave me an excuse to rebel against them.
Immediately following my confirmation ceremony, I decided Christianity, God and religion were all pointless and nonsensical. Nothing or no one could convince me otherwise.
For many current college students, this personal account likely resonates in some capacity.
According to a study done by The Survey Center on American Life, 18% of our generation identifies as either atheist or agnostic, and a whopping 34% identifies as religiously unaffiliated. The latter percentage, which has only increased in the past century, is double its respective amount within the baby boomer generation.
It’s hard to pinpoint one cause of this decline, as the issue is inherently complex.
Father Jake Anderson of Gopher Catholic cited declining family structure and increased institutional skepticism as a possible reason for this shift.
“I think that’s an instability factor for a lot of people to begin questioning things, to drop out of things,” Anderson said. “People are much more inclined to listen and hearken to the authority of experience rather than a spoken word from a higher institution.”
This skepticism, upbringing and institutions aside, has undeniably been exacerbated by technology. Young people now have easier access to a wider range of opinions than ever before, resulting in a generation of impressionable kids who now think twice about going to church on Sundays.
For those who already identify as religiously unaffiliated, college represents the perfect opportunity to shelve any association with the concept. College campuses, especially now, are littered with various outlets focusing on social activism, politics, academics, sports and Greek life. People make new friends, start new hobbies, become more social and expose themselves to new ways of thinking.
But what happens if it all starts to feel surface-level?
No one wants to be the person having an existential crisis in the corner of the party. No one wants to feel like they lack meaningful connections or a sense of purpose. Most importantly, no one wants to feel like they have nothing to fall back on when they need it.
In the past year, this exact internal dilemma forced me to reconcile with my previously set-in-stone dismissal of religion.
I’ll admit — I still can’t bring myself to look past the same distaste for the church environment I had as a kid. I’m not even sure if my shaky belief in God is out of true faith or just a fear of there being nothing beyond material existence.
But the beauty of religion is how it recognizes the never-ending nature of this internal debate.
Eli Bechard, a fourth-year University of Minnesota student who was raised Christian, echoed that sentiment.
“It’s about accepting everybody where they’re at,” Bechard said.
Even without fully believing in God, basic religious principles can provide value for anyone.
On an interactional level, religion provides a framework for displaying compassion, mutual respect, charity, discipline, forgiveness, humility and ethical decision-making all while encouraging individuals to partake in community and civic engagement. It satisfies our natural desire for belonging and gives meaning to the everyday interactions with our coworkers, friends and families that we often take for granted.
On a personal level, religion teaches us plenty more. Commentary on self-reflection, gratitude and purpose is ingrained in every major practice in the world for a reason — it teaches us to reexamine our actions, strive for improvement and understand our place in the world. For many, developing a sense of spirituality (a divine connection with God) gives them hope when adversity hits.
While thinking about these core values, consider this:
We are part of the generation with the highest recorded rates of depression, loneliness and anxiety. Regardless of the cause, those numbers are only trending upward.
We are often told that we come from nothing and that there is no greater meaning to our daily lives and interactions. Many of our lives revolve around jobs we don’t care about. We live in a world filled with distractions fueled by online echo chambers, tribalism, social media and a culture of comparison that leaves us perpetually unsatisfied.
As a college student, it can feel impossible to balance family, friends, job searches, academics, hobbies and money at once.
No, faith will not solve all your problems. Yes, it must be acknowledged how religion can and has been used to justify oppression for centuries. However, this does not mean that the underlying message has no value.
At the end of the day, is it really detrimental to believe in something that allows us to step back from our everyday lives and think about what matters in life?