I see faith as a relationship and religion as a set of rules. I think it's hard for anyone (especially people our age) to be told to follow rules.

perhaps the key to the whole faith/religion argument is that any set of values that can prove to be relevant to the context of real life is probably easier to follow. Perhaps people who veer away from traditional religion find it to be archaic. Just a thought. I think something is much easier to follow if you see its direct relevance to your everyday life. For some people that might be traditional religion, and for others that might mean forming a community with people of like-minded ethics and values.

Religion is structured. It's meant to teach faith through values, rules, and practice.

Faith itself is personal and has no boundaries.

I feel that more and more Americans are finding other aveunes to discover their faith and define their values other than religion. Religion was initially a necessity and/or a reason for people to gather and form a community. Nowadays that isn't so much the case.

What is interesting to think about is whether older generations who follow religion have a stronger faith than those who simply believe and not practice a religion. Though I believe in God, I am definitely more skeptical than my parents who were strictly brought up Catholic.

I think what you are seeing is the same thing that has happened to religion over the ages. Despite what many church people believe, religion is NOT unchanging. It does adapt and change with society. Nowhere is this more obvious than the evolution of Christianity.

In ancient times, the Israelites used to believe that that God actually physically resided in the Temple at Jerusalem. When the temple was destroyed, they had to change the way they though of their god, to be a god that was 'everywhere'. But this god insisted that the faithful follow hundreds of rules that the religious leaders were constantly enforcing and interpreting.

Later, Jesus came and changed the religion again, saying that you didn't have to follow all these rules perfectly to get admitted to heaven, you just had to be 'saved'. This started Christianity. But there was still a hierarchy and set of strict rules that evolved within the church. This became known as the Catholic Church.

Then later Martin Luther came and said that you didn't have to follow many of these rules either. And that the priests were not required to be your interpreter to god. You just had to have faith. This started the Protestant reformation.

And then different people decided to worship different ways so that now we have Lutherans and Presbyterians and Baptists and Anglicans and Episcopalians... etc.

Is it any wonder that the next generation is changing they way they worship?

My experience is that faith is strong in GenY. As a Freemason, we are open to all religions, but members cannot be aetheists. In the past two years, we've had a membership explosion of GenY candidates seeking membership, and really committing to the fraternity.

The energy and enthusiasm has been exciting to say the least.

Yes, Gen Y is losing religion. I see it in my own church and have heard it from other ministers. I 'left' the church after going away for college basically because I moved around and wasn't connected with a community that worshiped together. Fairly recently I started going back to church and now serve on the vestry ... the same church I went to Sunday school and also served as an acolyte for something like seven years. The congregation and vestry are a close knit group. As a side note here's something to wrap your head around - one of the members of the vestry was my Sunday school teacher ... and she doesn't let me forget! Anyways our church has gone through some changes lately due to the minister retiring (end of last year) after 27 years. We've been searching for a new minister and believe we've found one contingent on the approval of the bishop. The last ten months have been hectic and trying at times as we've worked with the local diocese. Many churches are closing and merging lately but we're still hanging in there at least for now. The process has made us ask many questions and made us examine the reasons for our very existence. It was recommended by the diocese that we read a book titled 'Transforming Congregational Culture'. I've read about 3/4 of it and it is very good but is not light reading. It explains where religion was based as a civic based institution and where it is being transformed to. It's not an easy transformation but the author does a good job of explaining the history and the steps necessary to transform religion from a board culture to a ministry culture where the whole congregation is engaged. The book is on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Transforming-Congregational-Culture-Anthony-Robins... if you're interested (rated somewhere between 4 and 5 stars so it can't be all that bad). Organized religion does get bad press but depending on the minister and congregation, religion can be a very good and worthwhile experience. So, in conclusion, I haven't given up on religion and believe it is an institution that can be transformed to meet the needs of the members of its congregations in the 21st century.

I don't personally believe in a higher being, but I respect those that do and have some unresolved questions for the universe. I feel Gen Y is pretty diverse in its religious believes. I live in liberal ass Massachusetts (bleeding heart liberal right here) and I find that nuanced religious beliefs are stronger and the institutions are weaker. I come from a Catholic background and see a lot of the structure of the church turning people off. It turned me off entirely among other things.

@Rebecca Thorman - here is the link my state's grand lodge http://www.mn-masons.org/

I think that it is probably not that unusual for people within the age range of Generation Y to be less active with their religion. However, I think that this has a lot more to do with their age than the generation itself. In fact, I bet the same phenomenon occurred when Generation X went to college and throughout their twenties.

But, life changes again for most adults when they start reaching their thirties and forties. People get married, have children and settle down.

In my late teens and early twenties, I was convinced that I knew so much more than my parents. But, as I got older, the family traditions and faith again became more important to me.

For me, as soon as I had children, I had a desire to introduce them to Christianity. Being a Christian I felt an obligation to God to make sure that my children knew Him. Once again, my faith became a much more important part of my life.

A half serious thoughts...(I don't necessarily agree with everything I'm commenting on)

Maybe we aren't religious because using our precious time on Sunday to talk about something that hasn't been proven to us is viewed as a waste of time?

Religious= Crazy people who over-judge and condemn
Faith= understanding people that don't force their belief on others
???

The U.S. finally has a group that supports athiests and those who don't practice faith/religion speaking for them in the government. Is this a possible change? OR a whole new direction?

Religion= Republicans
Faith/non-practicing= Democrats/Green Party (not respectively)

Religion= You're going to hell for all the things you've done
Faith/non-practicing= Define hell? Define heaven?

Maybe our generation is asking too many questions. Could we be the first generation that doesn't just 'accept' God without a doubt?

If so, is skepticism good or bad when dealing with religion?

If you were born and raised in India instead of the United States, would you be more or less likely to be a christian?

An honest answer breaks out like this:

Born in India: ~80% chance of being a Hindu

Born In America: ~80% chance of being a christian

The truth is, the choice of religion is ridiculously highly correlated to

A) Where a person was born
B) Their parent's religion (which in turn is tied to where they were born)

So, in the far majority of cases (and its somewhat of an uncomfortable truth)the choice of religion is really not much of a choice. It's really quite an arbitrary thing. The hand is already dealt while you're in the womb...a genetic lottery so to speak.

This is just one of the difficulties I have with religion. When you start to think about it in a logical manner, things break down quickly.

Thanks for the brave post Rebecca.

@Liza: Right to the point. Most GenY people I know can't commit to any religion because believing in a higher being that can't be seen or proved is just too much to their heads (including mine). They choose to be agnostic instead and accept the right that other people have to believe in a religion.