Over the past few months, there has been quite a bit of talk about the lack of religious identity among young people on college campuses.
According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2012, approximately 35 percent of adults between the ages of 18-29 identify with no particular religious affiliation or denomination. This percentage is greater than that of all other age groups older than 30 years. Moreover, the study found that the majority of individuals who were more likely to be disengaged from organized religion or faith were men (56 percent). They are also more inclined to be single or living with a person (51 percent), as opposed to being married (39 percent). This is even true among millenials that are married, 23 percent say they are affiliated and 12 percent say they are unaffiliated.
In regard to the reluctance of college students to embrace religion, it is probably surprising that there are a number of scholars and demographers who are disputing such an argument and claiming that religious activity on college campuses is rebounding. These are the academics who have made the case that a dramatic shift in the global landscape has made religion a crucial factor in the lives of a growing number of college students.
The fact is that prior to the 1960s, a number of colleges and universities had some sort of required religious activity that students had to adhere to. This could range from attending chapel, mosque, temple, synagogue, mass, etc., or some other once a week on-campus religious activity, or at the very least, volunteering to work part time with a Judeo-Christian or other religious organization.
This began to change by the mid-1960s, when more than a few campuses (save for religious-based ones) became hotbeds of anti-religious activity, or at the very least, citadels where those who advocated a deep religious faith were often marginalized, ridiculed or dismissed as being outlandish, fanatical and in some cases, just plain weird. At least right now, to quote legendary folk singer and septuagenarian, Bob Dylan, “The times, they are a changing.” The following are examples of evangelical activity:
