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Church in Politics Turns Off Millennials

An article in The Los Angeles Times by authors and professors Robert D. Putnam and David E. Campbell says twenty-somethings are being alienated from organized religion because of its increasingly conservative politics. Quoting other research, Putnam and Campbell said 17 percent of Americans claim no religious affiliation, and more than 25 percent of young adults say the same, but very few of these call themselves atheists—they simply dislike the church, and evidence is mounting that it’s because the younger generation leans to the left on social issues, particularly homosexuality. “We were initially skeptical about that proposition,” says the authors, “because it seemed implausible that people would make choices that might affect their eternal fate based on how they felt about George W. Bush. But the evidence convinced us that many Americans are now sorting themselves out on Sunday morning on the basis of their political views.” Campbell and Putnam commented that the Church’s current voice in conservative politics is causing young people to see religion as intolerant, hypocritical, judgmental, and homophobic, and it’s driving them away from church attendance. In their new book, American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us, Putnam and Campbell warn the Church that religious affinity tends to solidify during young adulthood, so Millennials who refuse to attend church may never do so as they age. They conclude the article, “Continuing to sound the trumpet for conservative social policy on issues such as homosexuality may or may not be the right thing to do from a theological point of view, but it is likely to mean saving fewer souls.”

What do you think? What responsibility does the Church have in the political arena? How is your church reaching Millennials?