Turning Belief from Cringe to Tuff
For the health of society, William Wilberforce set out to make “goodness fashionable” but today we need to make believing in God fashionable … or in Gen Z terms, make it Tuff (for those of you out of touch with current slang, “Tuff” generally describes something that is cool or one agrees that something is cool).
Some say that you cannot be good without God because without a creator, there is no objective reference point for determining what is right and wrong. Without God, people would have no reason to believe that moral obligations are anything other than figments of the brain's imagination. Others say that people can be moral without believing in God, but that they cannot have objective morality without God. This is certainly our experience, and in our religious tradition is reinforced by the passage in Romans 2:14-24 that the moral law is “woven into the fabric of creation” (The Message) whether one acknowledges it or not.
Regardless of your perspective, however, what is not debatable is that believing in God has personal and social benefits. And as Mark and Irvin Scott wrote about earlier this year, what is also not debatable is that Gen Z, the least religiously-affiliated generation in American history, has the lowest sense of personal wellbeing. The research firm Springtide has found that:
Nearly a quarter say they are currently or have been medicated or hospitalized for mental-health issues.
Nearly half of young people report being moderately or extremely depressed.
Over half of young people say they are moderately or extremely anxious or moderately or extremely stressed.
Almost half report being moderately or extremely lonely.
Image provided by Unsplash
In his recent book The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt suggests that it is the screen effect that has replaced real human interaction and connectivity, which would include faith communities, which has largely contributed to their mental health crisis. At Clapham, we believe a related culprit may be the very messages that they are getting on the screens – the message that organized religion and firmly held religious belief are more harmful than positive.
Whether it is negative images from religiously-motivated conflict, intolerant and hate-filled religious social media posts or cynical entertainment content such as The Righteous Gemstones or Midnight Mass, religion and belief in God is often denigrated in the media that Gen Z consumes, likely contributing to their detachment from what could be the very antidote to their crisis: more than one-third of Generation Z are religiously unaffiliated, a significantly larger proportion than among millennials and Generation X and the majority of Gen Zers say religion is either not at all important or not as important as other things.
In contrast, studies have shown that religious belief and affiliation with religious institutions is beneficial to an individual’s wellbeing, as well as to societies. For example:
More than one-third of actively religious U.S. adults describe themselves as very happy, compared with just a quarter of both inactive and unaffiliated Americans.
Actively religious people are less likely to engage in activities such as smoking and drinking.
There is a positive correlation between high religious activity and civic engagement. A higher percentage of actively religious adults in the United States say they always vote in national elections than do either inactives or the unaffiliated.
Again, Springtide offers helpful insight into the spiritual lives and desires of Gen Z. They are not hostile to religions as one might suspect, and they see family and friends as a key bridge to connectivity to faith:
More than two-thirds of Generation Z describes themselves as at least slightly spiritual while more than a quarter of them say they have become more religious or spiritual in the past few years.
More than half agree that their religious or spiritual practices matter for their mental health.
Nearly half trust caring adults to help them find meaning and purpose in life.
More than half agree with multiple religious traditions.
One of the challenges in reaching Gen Z, however, with the good news that the Good News is good for them is the form of content that can appeal to them and the platforms for distributing content that can reach them. They are not in the streams or platforms of religious content, and very little positive reference to belief in God is mainstreamed in an integrated, compelling way.
If belief in God is a positive for personal well being and religious institutions essential for a flourishing society, and if Gen Z is looking for connectivity and grounding but disconnected from the information channels that would expose them to positive stories of religious conviction, how do we reach them to make “belief fashionable”?
Image provided by Freepik
This has been, in part, the mission of the Faith and Media Initiative, which understands that working with media, notably entertainment, is a critical way to promote a counter-narrative to Gen Z with regards to religion. They understand that Gen Z is as unique in its connectivity and entertainment consumption choices as they are:
Smart/iPhone native – By age 13, the research shows Alphas have as much, if not more, access to various devices than the average global adult, and almost half of them are using those devices to learn about what’s going on in the world.
Creators – A study by UK regulator Ofcom found that a number of kids preferred YouTube to apps like Netflix simply because they’re “made by normal people,” which offers a lesson to brands and influencers; kids are keen to see down-to- earth moments, alongside pre-planned ones.
Story/Image driven – More than two-thirds of US Gen Alphas would like their favorite brands to help them learn more about their interests and compared to adults in these markets, teens are also more likely to watch vlogs/influencer videos weekly, as well as comedy/meme videos, and livestreams.
Social Platform connected – According to EMARKETER's 2024 forecast, over half of US children will watch YouTube at least once per month and almost all children aged 3 to 17 (96%) watch videos on video-sharing sites and apps. More than half of all youngsters view live-streamed video content (58%), which increases to 80% among 16-17-year-olds
In addition, their identity is grounded in “story” (IP) – Gen Z is considered the “artist generation”, consumed with associating their identity with pop culture stories and characters, such as cosplay, and grounding their opinions in pop culture references. And as Gen Alpha is left with few traditional role models, they learn to mimic the (im)mature behaviors from social media and its influencers, resulting in the abandonment of childhood norms of past generations.
Finally, although they are short content consumers (e.g. Tik Tok and YouTube), this complements consumption of multiple/long form content. Much of the social media content consumed by the young participants in the latest Children’s Media Lives study consists of "dramatic" videos designed to capture and hold their attention, but these videos demand little effort or focus from the viewers. These videos, popularized by the likes of Mr Beast, Infinite, JackSucksAtStuff, and the ubiquitous and confounding Skibidi Toilet, are often short-form, with a distinct, stimulating, editing style, designed to create maximum dramatic effect. However, Gen Z doesn’t stop at consuming TikTok, they engage in other forms of entertainment that requires sustained attention, such as watching mini-series, playing video games and consuming the endless spinoff content of world-building IP such as the Star Wars franchise.
Which aspects of religious practice and belief are important to model in pop culture? Certainly prayer has proven benefits, and being part of a religious community as well, but even struggling with belief and taking it seriously would be an improvement over cynicism and silence.
Can this be done? It has, and perhaps we can learn some lessons from these successful efforts that appealed to Gen Z:
Film: Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird offers a nuanced exploration of how faith intersects with personal identity and family dynamics.
TV Series: Hulu’s Ramy delves into the struggles of identity as he is torn between the religious values he was raised with and the secular values he is surrounded by.
Music: Justin Bieber’s 2021 album, Justice, includes tracks that reflect his spiritual beliefs and his gratitude towards God.
Comedy: Anjelah Johnson-Reyes, a stand-up comedian, often refers to her cultural background and religious upbringing in her comedy. She brings up religion in her stand-up routines light-heartedly, aiming to find humor in everyday experiences related to faith and spirituality.
Gaming: Jenova Chen’s Sky is packed with religious and spiritual themes: The progression from darkness to light, the gathering of fallen stars, and the act of spreading light to others explicitly references religious themes of redemption, salvation, and evangelizing.
Graphic Novels: In Gene Yang’s American Born Chinese, the characters' journeys toward self-acceptance and reconciliation with their identities are accompanied with themes of redemption and forgiveness in the context of a Korean-American Christian family.
Literature: In Skyward series, Brandon Sanderson integrates elements of religion and spirituality into the fabric of his science fiction narrative.
Bottom line, for the mental health of Gen Z and the health of society we need to make religious belief Tuff, and with the help of some courageous creatives in the entertainment industry, we believe it can be!