Post-Boomer Spirituality

In my April 25, 2025, blog post, I asked, "Is Religion Obsolete?" referencing a recent survey by Pew Research Center. There are clear generational differences in religious sensibility, beliefs, and practices, and this new blog post attempts to unpack the what and the why, from the perspective of socioligist Christian Smith.

"Today’s young adults exhibit far lower levels of religiousness than older adults. Young adults also report attending religious services less often than older adults do, and they express lower levels of belief in God or a universal spirit. Compared with older adults, fewer young people identify as Christians, and more say they don’t identify with any religion."  

Definitions and Statistics

Spiritual - According to a Pew survey on the 'spirituality" of Americans published on December 7, 2023 70% of Americans think of themselves as spiritual or say that spirituality is very important in their lives. More specifically, 48% are religious and spiritual, and 22% of Americans are spiritual but not religious (SBNR).

Religious - 58% think of themselves as religious or say that religion is very important in their lives - more specifically, 48% are religious and spiritual, and 10% are religious but not spiritual.

Neither Spiritual nor Religious - 21% are neither spiritual nor religious.

Religiously Unaffiliated - Pew found that while 46% of young adults born since the 1980s still identify as "Christian", 43-44% identified as "religiously unaffiliated."

Nones - On January 24, 2024 Pew Research reported that religious ‘Nones’, those who describe themselves as atheists, agnostics, or ‘nothing in particular’, represent 28% of Americans. But some “nones” are indeed spiritual. About half say spirituality is very important in their lives or say they think of themselves as spiritual.

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That post-boomers are less religious than their elders is clear. But what is less clear is exactly why this is happening. We know a lot more about the fact that traditional American religion has declined than we do about why this is so.

Religious affiliation and practices of Americans born in the 1940s and 1950s are very different from those of post-boomer generations. Gen X is a transition to Millennials and Gen Z.

Generation Descriptions

The Boomer Generation was born from 1946 to 1964 and is now 61 to 79 years old. They are so named because there was a huge post-WWII birth rate. They grew up in a time of optimism and opportunity. Think post-war economic growth, suburban expansion, and the rise of the “American Dream.” But they also lived through major cultural shifts, like the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and the counterculture of the 1960s. They were around for the birth of television, the moon landing, and the early days of computers. But they didn’t grow up with tech in their hands like later generations.

Generation X (Gen X) were born roughly between 1965 and 1980 - now 45-60 years old. These are the OG "latchkey kids." They grew up during a time when both parents often worked, so they learned to be independent and resourceful. Think MTV, grunge music, and the rise of personal computers. They were the bridge between analog and digital. They saw the world go from rotary phones to the internet. Their cultural mood is skeptical but practical. They’re known for being adaptable and valuing work-life balance.

Generation Y (Millennials) were born between 1981 to 1996 - now 29 to 44 years old. Millennials are all about change. They grew up with the internet becoming a thing, so they’re super tech-savvy. They’re also the generation that got hit hard by the 2008 financial crisis, which shaped their outlook on money and stability. They were the first to embrace social media (MySpace, anyone?) and smartphones. Their cultural Mood is optimistic but stressed. They value experiences over material things and are big on social justice and self-expression.

Generation Z (Gen Z) were born from 1997 to around 2012 - now 13 to 28 years old. These are the digital natives. They’ve never known a world without the internet, and they’re pros at navigating tech and social media. TikTok is their playground. They’re all about instant communication and creativity. They grew up with smartphones, streaming, and memes as part of daily life. Their cultural mood is realistic and socially conscious. They care about mental health, climate change, and equality. They’re also super entrepreneurial and love creating their own opportunities.

University of Notre Dame sociologist Christian Smith argues in his provocative 2025 book, Why Religion Went Obsolete, published by Oxford University Press, that there are other, more fundamental sociological and financial factors at work than getting doctrinal and ethical ideas and programs right.

Smith's book goes beyond the metrics of organizational indices and individual beliefs and practices to describe the milieu or zeitgeist (the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era). He asserts that there are complex cultural changes, particularly generational differences and larger social forces that have "crowded out" traditional religion in America. It is more a matter of obsolescence than a tug and pull between religious and secularization forces. As Smith posits, it's more than younger people are just leaving the stadium where that game was being played."

"The number of Americans identifying as "not religious" has increased remarkably. Religious affiliation, service attendance, and belief in God have declined. More and more people claim to be "spiritual but not religious." Religious organizations have been reeling from revelations of sexual and financial scandals and cover-ups. Public trust in "organized religion" has declined significantly. Crucially, these religious losses are concentrated among younger generations. This means that, barring unlikely religious revivals among youth, the losses will continue and accelerate in time, as less-religious younger Americans replace older, more-religious ones and increasingly fewer American children are raised by religious parents."

Why Religion Went Obsolete aims to change that. Drawing on survey data and hundreds of interviews, Christian Smith offers a sweeping, multifaceted account of why many Americans have lost faith in traditional religion. An array of large-scale social forces-everything from the end of the Cold War to the rise of the internet to shifting ideas about gender and sexuality came together to render traditional religion culturally obsolete. For growing numbers of Americans, traditional religion no longer seems useful or relevant.

Using quantitative empirical measures of big-picture changes over time as well as exploring the larger cultural environment - the cultural "zeitgeist." Smith explains why this is the case and what it means for the future. Crucially, he argues, it does not mean a strictly secular future. Rather, Americans' spiritual impulses are being channeled in new and interesting directions.

The story of why religion has declined in America is complicated; there are many cultural causal trends. Religion has not merely declined; it has become culturally obsolete. The cultural zeitgeist or “spirit of the age” has changed.

The book proposes an alternative narrative to the “secularization” thesis, suggesting that something more complicated and interesting has transpired that requires a more creative conceptual description than traditional secularization theory offers. Religious losses do not automatically translate into secular gains—that zero-sum mentality is misleading. There are other possibilities out there, and this book advances new ways of thinking about them.

"Very little of what caused American religion’s obsolescence was planned or intended by anti-religious agents."

"Younger Americans’ expectations of religion clashed with their lived experiences in a dramatically changing society. Several external developments fostered that mismatch, including technological developments, economic transformations, and cultural innovations. The assumption that religion was credible and valuable gave way."

"Sociocultural developments over the past 30 years acted on post-Boomer Americans in ways that made most of them believe that traditional religion was not relevant, valuable, or attractive."

"During the two decades of the 1990s and 2000s Americans experienced big cultural transformations resulting from huge historical events and institutional changes driven by developments in technology, economics, politics, the media, education, business, social networks, law, marriage, and family, and even warfare, all of which have played crucial though mostly unintended causal roles in driving religion into obsolescence. The reasons for these transformations were largely institutional. But the decisive changes affecting traditional religion were mediated through culture, across widespread, transformed assumptions, beliefs, values, norms, expectations, and aesthetics, as those shaped young people’s life experiences, interests, identities, and commitments.

"Obsolete does not mean 'useless' or 'failed.” It just means having been superseded by alternatives that most users deem preferable."

"Existing electric typewriters can still type letters as well as they ever did. Most people just prefer computers. Analogously, traditional religion still works well for some Americans. Most people simply prefer alternatives. Obsolete does not mean totally abandoned or extinct. Some people still can and do use obsolete items because they are familiar, less expensive, viewed with affection, or as a matter of principle."

Pastoral Idealism

Religious leaders tend to focus on the inadequacies of their programs and communications and their struggles to retool for greater appeal and relevance, but that will not solve the issue. "Two common but problematic tendencies Smith observed in American religion, especially among Christians—what he calls 'theological idealism' and 'program idealism.”

1. The first is the usually invisible assumption—perhaps particularly common among religious intellectuals, educators, authors, and some clergy—that, if only people could get their doctrinal and ethical ideas right, then they could (fill in the blank) do church correctly, make strong disciples, transform society, live faithfully, etc. The seasonal catalogs of religious publishing houses exemplify this theological idealism.

2. The second is similar, though more common among pastors and other ministry people with boots on the ground: if only they could implement the right programs, then they could really (fill in the blank) keep our youth coming to church, make our message attractive, grow in numbers, evangelize our city, etc. Both are sociologically naïve."

Community

"Most Americans can also be suspicious of 'community.' As much as 'community' can be close, warm, and supportive, it can also be smothering and coercive. “Community,” many worry, can be used as a nice word to cover for groupthink, invasions of privacy, and pressure to conform."

"Religion, in people’s imaginations, is about settling down, family, community, commitment, belonging, history, eternity, tradition, roots, external authority, objective truth, self-disciple, sobriety, sexual self-control, ethical constancy, and service to others. The experience of emerging adulthood, then, is a major cultural mismatch with traditional religion."

Secularism

"Militant secularism actually does not sit very well with most Gen Xers, Millennials, and Gen Zers. It sounds too similar to the overconfident religious zeal that makes religion so scary in the first place. Younger generations tend strongly toward relativism, tolerance, and avoiding being 'judgy'.”

Religion and Science

"The majority of Americans still assume the 'deep culture' belief that science and religion have long been direct competitors over basic truth claims about reality and that, in any conflict between the two, science has always eventually won and will continue to win."

Neoliberal Capitalism

"The neoliberal policies that Reagan and Thatcher initiated, and that went global in the 1990s, opposed state intervention in economics and social issues, labor unions, overregulation of business, the nationalization of industries, and tariffs. They sought to minimize public service sectors in areas like healthcare, education, and utilities. They promoted free markets, privatization, deregulation, competition, efficiency, small government, offshoring, global trade, technology, and austerity programs for less powerful, “developing” nations. Social problems should be addressed through civil society and volunteerism.

While championing economic “freedom,” neoliberalism was also wary of robust democracy, fearing that popular people-power leads to distorted economies through legislated entitlements and regulations that bloat governments and break their budgets.

The champions of neoliberalism were significantly—though not entirely—successful in remaking the world. They were effective enough, however, that the structures, rules, practices, and cultures that younger Gen Xers and all Millennials grew up in were profoundly different from those that Baby Boomers and older Americans had encountered.

In short, the mental and physical transience that accompanies neoliberal capitalism is the enemy of stability, and traditional religion thrives under stable conditions.

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Jake Meador wrote July 29, 2023, in The Atlantic: The Misunderstood Reason Millions of Americans Stopped Going to Church "The problem is that many Americans have adopted a way of life that has left us lonely, anxious, and uncertain of how to live in community with other people."

"The defining problem driving people out is ... just how American life works in the 21st century." Neoliberal Capitalism "simply isn’t set up to promote mutuality, care, or common life. Rather, it is designed to maximize individual accomplishment as defined by professional and financial success. Such a system leaves precious little time or energy for forms of community that don’t contribute to one’s professional life."

Neoliberal capitalism socializes people to value autonomous individualism, continual innovation, material prosperity, market exchange relations, consumer satisfaction, endless competition, globalized cosmopolitanism, and the monetizing and marketizing of almost all aspects of life.

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If you have the time, I highly recommend you listen to Tripp Fuller's excellent interview of Christian Smith about his book on his Homebrewed Christianity Podcast of April 21, 2025.

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Having just returned from a trip to the Bay Area, staying at a Vacaville hotel overrun by dozens of adolescents attending a youth rally at The Father's House, I am reminded not to over-generalize. A simple, fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible still has appeal to some younger generations, particularly if there is an emotional, peer pressure influence.