America is giving up on political parties and organized religion. Thanks, millennials.
America is giving up on political parties and organized religion. Thanks, millennials.By Philip Bump at the Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/05/12/america-is-getting-less-religious-as-it-gives-up-on-political-parties-thanks-millennials/
"SNIP..............
A survey from Pew Research that offers national detail on global religious trends shows that Americans are increasingly identifying themselves as religiously unaffiliated. Since 2007, the number of Americans who don't identify with a religious tradition rose from 16.1 to 22.8 percent -- the biggest change of any group that Pew studied.
The group most likely to identify as unaffiliated? Millennials -- those born after 1980. (Pew's definition of the generations is used below for consistency, but we remind you that the definitions are subjective. They also break out older and younger millennials; the figures are similar enough for the chart below that we just used the former category.)
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The same pattern holds.
There's overlap between the two, as well. In April, Pew found that white evangelical Protestants had grown increasingly Republican, with 68 percent identifying as or leaning Republican. That's a group that fell one percentage point, making up just over a quarter of the population in the new religion survey. The unaffiliated are a slightly smaller segment of the population -- and skew much more heavily Democratic. Sixty-one percent identified or leaned toward the party.
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From the tune in, turn on and drop out generation. The generation that brought us Reagan, the war on drugs, cheap junk from China, debt to maintain middle class lifestyles, student loans for life and massive deficits.
Gen X/Y says thanks boomers!
[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Like every other age group, we've got plenty of good ones, and then we've got the fundies and corporatists. 
As for Gen X/Y, I'm mother to one of each and they're both very progressive and very actively involved, as are their friends - probably the reason why they're friends, not surprisingly. I've also met young canvassers and activists who are absolutely inspiring.
Also, I also know a couple from each age group who are generally oblivious, fatalistic, and seemingly don't give a shit about much beyond their immediate pleasures.
Presumably, the OP knows only the latter sort of Millennials, a very poor representation, but also the very ones who most need to be reached out to, motivated, and mobilized. Putting them all down en masse won't accomplish that for any age group.
JM
