Some Stats 4 The Nones (The Religiously Detached) 50 % Pew - - PDF document

Mission Ready: 
 Engaging a Culture of Doubt

• Dr. Rich Knopp

Program Director, Room For Doubt Professor of Philosophy & Christian Apologetics Lincoln Christian University

www.roomfordoubt.com

Session Webpage:

www.worldvieweyes.org/leaders2019.html

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Live Survey Questions

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Some Stats

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0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 1990 2007 2012 2014

22.8% 19.3% 15.3% 8.1%

The “Nones”

(The Religiously Detached)

Pew Research Center, 2012 and 2014

All Americans

(56 Million) 19 Million INCREASE

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0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 1990 2007 2012 2014 (25-33) 2014 (18-24)

36% 34% 32% 22% 11%

Millennials

The “Nones”

(The Religiously Unaffiliated)

Pew Research Center, 2012 and 2014

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The Nones

“All the numbers tell us that if the unaffiliated gathered into a formal religious organization, it would be larger than any Protestant denomination and all Mainline Protestant denominations combined” (Drescher, 6).

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Misc. 2%

Believe in God 68% Agnostic 17% Atheist 13%

Nones

Misc. 21% Neither Sp. 
 Nor Rel. 42% SBNR 37% Spiritual but
 Not Religious

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“Spiritual But Not Religious”

✦Spiritual but NOT SEEKING. ✦“Are you looking for a religion that would be right for you?”


88%: “NO.”

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The Nones: From Where?

✦ 79% of Nones were raised in some religious tradition. (21% raised unaffiliated). ✦ For each 1 person becoming religious, 4 people become Nones.

1:4

Nones

R R

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Strength of Affiliation

Strong Affiliation

Schnabel & Bock, in Sociological Science (2017): GSS Data

N

• A

f f i l i a t i

• n

( N

• n

e s ) N O T S t r

• n

g A f f i l i a t i

• n

60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

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Type of Affiliation

Schnabel & Bock, in Sociological Science (2017): GSS Data 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 70% 60% 50% 40% 20% 10% 0% 30%

N

• A

f f i l i a t i

• n

( N

• n

e s ) Evangelical Non-Evangelical

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Raised As:

% Who Leave (2007) % Who Leave (2014) % Who Become Nones (2014) Hindu 16 20 18 Jewish 24 25 18 Catholic 32 41 20 Baptist 40 63 15 Presbyterian 60 66 25 Non-Denom. Protestant 56 53 19

Change in Childhood Religion by Religious Group

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Barna (2018) 13-18 yrs old

0% 5% 10% 15% 20%

All Adults Gen X Millennials Gen Z

13% 7% 6% 6%

“Atheist”

• b. 1965-
• b. 1984-
• b. 1999-

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Can’t Ask Most
 Pressing Questions
 in Church

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Significantly
 Doubted 
 Their Faith

38% 36%

Churched Youth

32%

Felt Like 
 Rejecting Their
 Parents’ Faith

David Kinnaman, You Lost Me

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Churched Y

• uth

“Disengaged” in Their Twenties?

59%

David Kinnaman, You Lost Me

70%

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Shallow belief system No room for doubt Exclusive faith No answers for opposition (science & philosophy) Church is intolerant Church is against science Church is not relevant (personally & professionally)

“Why are Teens Leaving the Faith?”


(Brian Housman — Lifeway)

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“High-Information” Seekers

• Well-educated
• High achieving
• More time online
• More religiously diverse friends

See www.projectnextgen.org

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Larry Barnett’s “Next Generation Project”

“W e found that the presence of doubt much more strongly predicted leaving Christianity for high information seekers …. [H]igh information seekers with doubts are about two to four times more likely to disconnect from Christianity than other doubters who are not high information seekers…. [emphasis added]

See www.projectnextgen.org

“High-Information” Seekers

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Some Statements

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“I'm young, and I shouldn't be worrying about this, but I really want someone to help me know God is truly real. I have believed in God all my life, and I hope to never lose him, but I just have so many doubts. Please help me.”

www.roomfordoubt.com

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“I have been a Christian since I was 8, went to Bible College, and am now in ministry. An intellectual switch was flipped in my mind somewhere around 22 and I can’t shut it off. I’m really struggling to find answers and to know which way to go.”

www.roomfordoubt.com

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I am currently in a pretty sticky situation with my faith right now. I don't know if god exists or not and I don't want to waste my life on something false if He is not real. I also don't want to say that I'm an atheist, because I'm

• not. I'm just lost.

www.roomfordoubt.com

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Hello! Im Deborah,19 years old and currently going through emotional doubts about God. It scares me so much that I have sleepless nights and panic attacks because I’ve been a christian since childhood… I need my faith back and I need to believe again.

www.roomfordoubt.com

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The Cultural & Theological “Crunch”

• n Young Christians

Cultural:

• Socially connected 


like never before.

• Socially sensitive 


like never before.

• Aware of diversity 


like never before.

• Inclusive like never before.
• Aware of “good” non-Christians

like never before.

Theological:


“Christianity seems so exclusive.”
 “How could God not accept them?”
 “How could God not save them?”

C R U N C H

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Some Strategies

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Diagnose the Doubts

Moral Doubts Self Doubts Spiritual Doubts Intellectual Doubts V

• litional Doubts

“The prognosis for faith is greatly dependent

• n the diagnosis of doubt.” – Rich Knopp

The “WORST” Doubt?

UNEXPRESSED Doubt 26

Dialogue with the Doubters

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Some Don’ts with Doubters

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Don’t be so DOGMATIC.
 Don’t be so SIMPLISTIC.

Some Don’ts with Doubters

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Doubt: A Doorway

Greater DISBELIEF Deeper BELIEF

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G I V E

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www.ROOMFORDOUBT.com

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www.ROOMFORDOUBT.com

Overview of New Website and Mobile App

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Mission Ready: 
 Engaging a Culture of Doubt

• Dr. Rich Knopp

Program Director, Room For Doubt Professor of Philosophy & Christian Apologetics Lincoln Christian University

www.roomfordoubt.com

Session Webpage:

www.worldvieweyes.org/leaders2019.html

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