"A comprehensive study conducted in the US found that millennials are turning their backs on traditional religious institutions but continuing their search for spirituality. Sociological findings suggest that young people are severing ties with religious structures that conflict with their individual values.
"A new study conducted by sociologists from Cornell, Tulane, and Oklahoma universities in the US has revealed that young Americans born in the late 1980s and early 1990s are moving away from organized religion. However, this shift doesn't mean a complete abandonment of belief in God. While young people may be severing their ties with institutional structures like churches or mosques, they continue to engage in spirituality and soul-searching on an individual level.
The individual influence of religions is decreasing
"The article, 'Breaking Free of the Iron Cage: The Individualization of American Religion,' published in April in the journal Socius, shared the results of a long-term study examining the faith development of more than 1,300 Americans.
"In the National Study of Youth and Religion, conducted between 2003 and 2013, participants took four different surveys when they were 13 to 17. These surveys measured frequency of religious observance, prayer habits, whether they practiced meditation, and their attitudes toward conversion.
"The study found that while the social influence of organized religion has declined, individual forms of belief have remained more persistent. While belief in God remains high, attendance at churches or religious communities has declined significantly.
What is behind the break from institutional religion?
"Landon Schnabel, associate professor of sociology at Cornell University and lead author of the study, emphasizes that this rupture is not superficial or temporary:
"People don't leave religious institutions just for political reasons; they leave because it doesn't align with their individual values. Their belief in the sanctity of the individual conflicts with the expectations of the institutions."
Faith is not over, it has changed its shape
"The survey shows that while American youth's participation in religious institutions is declining rapidly, practices like individual prayer and meditation persist. In short, while young people are moving away from traditional structures, faith hasn't completely disappeared, only changed form.
