The Changing Face of theAmerican Family: Modern Historysteady boil) over issues such as
abortion, same-sex marriage, and stem-
cell research. These disagreements
reflect divergent moral judgments on
issues at the heart of families.
With the graying of America, today’s
youth and young adults will determine
the future of religion in the 21st
century. It is often suggested that young
people are‘spiritual but not religious.’
In contrast to this, researcher Christian
Smith (2005) has found teenagers are
not particularly influenced by post-
modern, pluralistic culture. Most
American teenagers are religious and,
the vast majority, Christian. However,
their faith is what Smith calls
‘Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.’He
explains this as oriented toward being
good and nice in moral ways, primarily
concerned with one’s own happiness
and comfort, and a view of God as
distant except when there is a problem
one needs God to solve. This type of
faith is not unique to young people but
reflects the less-than-passionate faith of
their parents.
The influences of post-modernism
are stronger in young adults, especially
those who attend college.Young people
are marrying older, having fewer
children, are more educated, move
more often, and live in more diverse
neighborhoods.According to Wuthnow
(2007), this creates a large group of
young adults who are neither
contributing to nor receiving support
from local congregations. The net result
is their influence on American religion
is by their absence, not by their
presence.Wuthnow suggests the
strongest effect on church attendance is
marital status. Since young people are
delaying marriage and child bearing,
this suppresses church attendance until
they are in their early 40s. The 20s age
group rates the highest in discussing
religion with friends, indicating lack of
church attendance is not a sign they are
oblivious to spiritual concerns. On the
contrary, while piecing together bits
and pieces from different theological
resources is characteristic of young
people,Wuthnow reports core beliefs
have been remarkably unchanged in the
last 30 years.
It will be interesting to see if the
early 21st century brings renewed
interest in the Church and an increase
in family-related reforms comparable
to the Progressive Era of the late 19th
and early 20th centuries.