Religion is a powerful tool — it has inspired good in many of us and has been used to justify horrific actions. Degrees of affiliation range from the staunchest atheist to the most unwavering fundamentalists, with most people somewhere between the two. Regardless of one’s own affiliation – or lack thereof – few people, if any, can say they’ve never encountered religion. Our columnists told stories about going from theism to atheism and from atheism to theism. It is because of religion’s profound impact on society that Viewpoint’s columnists took the week to reflect on their own religious and irreligious experiences. Furthermore, we wished to examine the college-aged Millennials’ (18-24 year olds) attitudes toward religion.

A commonality most of the columnists share is having been introduced to religion at a young age by their parents — such is the case with many college-aged people. But seven of the 10 will admit to you that they’re not deeply religious, if at all.

Though we don’t claim our columnists constitute a valid, scientific sample population (by any means), our stories are somewhat representative of data shown in national polls.

Data from a survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and Georgetown’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs shows that only 11 percent of Millennials say they were unaffiliated with religion as children, and 25 percent of Millennials say they are unaffiliated now. This is in addition to decreased religious involvement such as going to church, mosque, temple, etc.

Why the shift?

Are we heathens? Perhaps some of us, but another PRRI survey found that a strong majority of Millennials think religious groups are too judgmental and hypocritical. Several religious texts condemn homosexuality and — when interpreted by someone literally — inform bigotry. But when it comes to tolerance and acceptance of things like homosexuality, survey data, news and the way we vote show that Millennials do it best. 

Religious unaffiliation does not necessarily predicate immorality. We just have different views about morality than previous generations. 

It’s worth noting that a majority of Millennials surveyed also said religion offers good moral lessons. 

The world is more interconnected than ever, and it shows no sign of going back, so we might as well embrace our differences — religious and otherwise. If Viewpoint’s religion-themed week taught us anything, it’s that – like our knowledge of medicine and astrophysics – our knowledge and interpretations of our religions can evolve.

Due to page space restrictions, we will have to run two additional columns online. Please visit Technicianonline.com/opinion to read Lauren Noriega’s column about her experience with Catholicism and Naman Muley’s experience with Hinduism.