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The United States is currently going through a bit of a family life crisis. Americans are getting married later (if they get married at all), having fewer children (if they have children at all) and generally putting more energy into their careers than their communities.
Perhaps most significantly, few Americans today see kids and marriage as essential parts of a fulfilling life. Even people of faith, who are taught to be champions of human connection, seem to think choosing the right career matters more in the pursuit of happiness than choosing the right spouse, according to a new Pew Research Center report.
“In every religious group analyzed, two-thirds or more say having a job or career they enjoy is extremely or very important for people to live a fulfilling life,” Pew reported. “By comparison, having children and being married ranks lower among all religious groups.”
The relationships people of faith are most passionate about are friendships. Around two-thirds of evangelical and mainline Protestants, as well as 59% of Catholics, say “having close friends” is an extremely or very important ingredient for a fulfilling life.
To be clear, people of faith generally aren’t negative about marriage, although they view it as less of a fulfillment-driver than other things.
Many more Protestants and Catholics say the rise in couples living together without getting married and in kids being raised by single or unwed parents will have a negative impact on the future of the U.S. than say it will have a positive impact.
But Pew observed much less concern about the decline in childbearing, which I find shocking. I guess I’ve always assumed people of faith are cheerleaders for having children, perhaps because I’ve written often about religious leaders like Pope Francis condemning couples for choosing pets over kids.
Around one-quarter of mainline Protestants, Black Protestants and Catholics actually said it’s good for the country when people have fewer children, Pew found.
I guess my question now is where will faith groups go from here? Will churches resist recent family life-related trends or embrace them, as many church members already seem to have done?
For more information about Pew’s new report on family life, check out coverage from my colleague, Lois Collins.
Fresh off the press
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Mainline Protestant pastors are often more liberal than churchgoers. Does it fuel conflict?
Religious student clubs regain equal treatment in California schools after court ruling
What adults in other countries get wrong about American religion
This NFL linebacker spoke on faith instead of football at his postgame press conference
Term of the week: Viddui
The Viddui, or confession, is a prayer recited by Jews at Yom Kippur, which begins at sundown on Sunday. It reminds the people who are reciting it not just of the ways they personally have failed in the past year, but also of the ways the whole community has gone against its professed beliefs, according to David Graizbord, director of Arizona Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Arizona.
“The Viddui affirms a long list of wrongdoings for which all congregants repent: Among other things, ‘We and our fathers have sinned. We have trespassed. We have betrayed; We have stolen. We have slandered,’” Graizbord wrote for The Conversation.
Confession is one the themes of Yom Kippur, which is also known as the Day of Atonement.
What I’m reading ...
Wheaton College, one of the most significant evangelical Christian institutions in the country, has concluded a landmark study into how and why racism emerged on campus in the decades after the school was founded by abolitionists. Researchers determined that the school “fell into going along with culture” in the early 20th century and stopped admitting Black students or speaking out in favor of integration. Stakeholders hope the study will serve as a reminder “how easily our fallen world can shape each of us into its mold,” Christianity Today reported, citing the research.
Later this week, I’ll be venturing outside my house (for once) to check out a community group for moms of young kids. As I prepare to be brave and (hopefully) make some new friends, I’m enjoying reading researcher Daniel Cox’s recent piece on America’s “friendship recession.”
My colleague, Dennis Romboy, wrote a lovely essay about a recent adventure: taking a very long bike ride with his adult son.
Odds and ends
Believe it or not, a new Supreme Court term is almost upon us. And guess what? The justices have not yet taken up a religion case. I’d love to hear what other legal issues — abortion? gun rights? free speech? — you’d like me to track in the year ahead.