{"id":73310,"date":"2024-04-17T06:00:54","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T10:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=73310"},"modified":"2024-04-12T23:24:58","modified_gmt":"2024-04-13T03:24:58","slug":"the-prodigal-generation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/04\/the-prodigal-generation\/","title":{"rendered":"The Prodigal Generation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Americans\u2019 ranking on the latest World Happiness Report<\/a> has plunged from #15 to #23, the lowest it has ever been.\u00a0 Young adults have been dragging those numbers down. Gallup<\/a>, one of the pollsters involved with that study, blamed the decline on \u201cAmericans under 30 feeling worse about their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Politico has published an article on the\u00a0soaring mental health problems<\/a> among young people and young adults, observing that \u201cno one knows what\u2019s causing the spike.\u201d Arizona pastor\u00a0Robb Brunansky<\/a> , who brought up the information in the first paragraph, thinks he knows why.<\/p>\n

\n

Brunansky notes that, according to Gallup,\u00a0 \u201cAmericans under 30 feel less supported by friends and family, less free to make their own life choices, more stressed about their living conditions, less confident in the government, and more concerned about political corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n

No wonder, he says.\u00a0 This so-called Generation Z<\/a>, aged 11-30, \u201cis unquestionably the least religious generation<\/a> in American history.\u201d\u00a0 Of course that is going to impact their happiness and stability.<\/p>\n

He notes that in the absence of religion, faith in the government often rushes in to fill that void.\u00a0 Political zeal takes the place of religious commitment, as people look to the government to solve all of their problems and give meaning to their lives.\u00a0 This is happening, he says, on both sides of our political polarization. But the government, made up as it is of sinful, limited human beings, can\u2019t solve all of our problems and must end up disillusioning those who put their faith in it.<\/p>\n

I was most struck by what Brunansky said about the loss of a sense of family and the misery that causes.\u00a0 Again, what else can we expect?\u00a0 Young Americans are rejecting marriage in favor of extramarital sex, pornography, and homosexuality.\u00a0 And large numbers of them are rejecting parenthood, both by resolving never to have children and by demanding the right to abort any whom they might conceive.\u00a0 This mindset repudiates the very concept of family, so of course those who think that way will never know the stability and the happiness that family can bring. Says Brunansky:<\/p>\n

Certainly, people can \u2014 and do \u2014 attempt to re-define the family on their own terms. But re-defining something God ordained does not make that redefinition correspond with reality. Eventually, the proverbial chickens will come home to roost. Reality wins every time. When you lose the foundation of what family is, you experientially lose family, which leads to loneliness and a feeling of being unsupported by family because there is no family to support you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Brunansky is hopeful that, like the Prodigal Son, this generation\u2013disillusioned and experiencing the failures of their assumptions\u2013will come to its senses and return to God.<\/p>\n

I appreciate Brunansky for not simply blaming the internet for the woes of Generation Z, nor blaming their parents.\u00a0 I do think we need to ask how and why so many young adults have turned against religion and the family, even as they reap the consequences of doing so.\u00a0 We also need to ask how to help them.\u00a0 But I think it\u2019s healthy and not necessarily blaming the victim to hold people accountable when they contribute to their own misery.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Image by\u00a0Sammy-Sander<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0Pixabay<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Happiness is down and mental health problems are up, especially among young adults under 30, the so-called Generation Z. But no wonder, according to a writer who cites their lack of religion, their misplaced trust in politics and government, and–with their rejection of marriage and parenthood–their repudiation of the family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":73412,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,27,35,36,37,39],"tags":[14585,5220,3903,1985,10747,3465],"class_list":["post-73310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family","category-life-issues","category-philosophy-2","category-politics","category-psychology","category-religions","tag-decline-of-religion","tag-generation-z","tag-loss-of-family","tag-secularization","tag-world-happiness-index","tag-young-adults"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Prodigal Generation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Happiness is down and mental health problems are up, especially among young adults under 30, the so-called Generation Z. But no wonder, according to a writer who cites their lack of religion, their misplaced trust in politics and government, and--with their rejection of marriage and parenthood--their repudiation of the family.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/04\/the-prodigal-generation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Prodigal Generation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Happiness is down and mental health problems are up, especially among young adults under 30, the so-called Generation Z. But no wonder, according to a writer who cites their lack of religion, their misplaced trust in politics and government, and--with their rejection of marriage and parenthood--their repudiation of the family.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/04\/the-prodigal-generation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cranach\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-04-17T10:00:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-04-13T03:24:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/305\/2024\/04\/depression-5851019_640.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"427\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/04\/the-prodigal-generation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/04\/the-prodigal-generation\/\",\"name\":\"The Prodigal Generation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-04-17T10:00:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-13T03:24:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\"},\"description\":\"Happiness is down and mental health problems are up, especially among young adults under 30, the so-called Generation Z. But no wonder, according to a writer who cites their lack of religion, their misplaced trust in politics and government, and--with their rejection of marriage and parenthood--their repudiation of the family.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/04\/the-prodigal-generation\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/04\/the-prodigal-generation\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/04\/the-prodigal-generation\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Prodigal Generation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\",\"name\":\"Cranach\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\",\"name\":\"Gene Veith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gene Veith\"},\"description\":\"Gene Edward Veith, Jr. is a writer and retired literature professor, serving as Provost Emeritus at Patrick Henry College. He has authored over 25 books on Christianity and culture, literature, classical education, and theology. Dr. Veith previously held academic and editorial roles at Concordia University Wisconsin and WORLD Magazine. A respected voice in Lutheran and classical education circles, he holds a Ph.D. in English and several honorary doctorates. He and his wife, Jackquelyn, live in St. Louis and have three children and twelve grandchildren.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gene_Edward_Veith\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/author\/geneveith\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Prodigal Generation","description":"Happiness is down and mental health problems are up, especially among young adults under 30, the so-called Generation Z. But no wonder, according to a writer who cites their lack of religion, their misplaced trust in politics and government, and--with their rejection of marriage and parenthood--their repudiation of the family.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/04\/the-prodigal-generation\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Prodigal Generation","og_description":"Happiness is down and mental health problems are up, especially among young adults under 30, the so-called Generation Z. But no wonder, according to a writer who cites their lack of religion, their misplaced trust in politics and government, and--with their rejection of marriage and parenthood--their repudiation of the family.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/04\/the-prodigal-generation\/","og_site_name":"Cranach","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/","article_published_time":"2024-04-17T10:00:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-04-13T03:24:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":427,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/305\/2024\/04\/depression-5851019_640.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Gene Veith","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gene Veith","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/04\/the-prodigal-generation\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/04\/the-prodigal-generation\/","name":"The Prodigal Generation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-04-17T10:00:54+00:00","dateModified":"2024-04-13T03:24:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1"},"description":"Happiness is down and mental health problems are up, especially among young adults under 30, the so-called Generation Z. But no wonder, according to a writer who cites their lack of religion, their misplaced trust in politics and government, and--with their rejection of marriage and parenthood--their repudiation of the family.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/04\/the-prodigal-generation\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/04\/the-prodigal-generation\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2024\/04\/the-prodigal-generation\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Prodigal Generation"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/","name":"Cranach","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1","name":"Gene Veith","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gene Veith"},"description":"Gene Edward Veith, Jr. is a writer and retired literature professor, serving as Provost Emeritus at Patrick Henry College. He has authored over 25 books on Christianity and culture, literature, classical education, and theology. Dr. Veith previously held academic and editorial roles at Concordia University Wisconsin and WORLD Magazine. A respected voice in Lutheran and classical education circles, he holds a Ph.D. in English and several honorary doctorates. He and his wife, Jackquelyn, live in St. Louis and have three children and twelve grandchildren.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gene_Edward_Veith"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/author\/geneveith\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1281"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}