The United States is becoming increasingly secular. Nearly half of all members of Generation Z are nonreligious, with Christian retention rates at less than 50%. These numbers represent our current trends of embracing the comforting logic, rigidity and hardness of modern science, while rejecting the soft arts that don’t offer the same persuasion. The sciences are looked up to, revered as worthwhile careers and the future of modern society. The philosophies are the sciences’ supplement — something to please curious minds or satisfy niche, irrelevant questions. But, this trend away from existential education may guide us away from understanding life, dignity and our purpose.
Where philosophy and existentialism aren’t common in educational curricula, we suffer coldly approaching life and death — stuck in rigid epistemological facts with no footholds to guide us through the inevitably abstract. We should continue our skepticism of the greater religious groups, but that shouldn’t come at the cost of faith as a whole. Religiosity and faith aren’t blinded cult followings aimed at praising an invisible deity — these ways of thinking offer us moral guides, paths to purpose and optimism for a greater end. These make a satisfying life.
Faith is a way to make sense of suffering. It does not deny or turn the eye away from it. Gen Z is caught in the pessimisms of dogmatic religion that paternalistically rule, judge and deceive, such as, the rules of dress and behavior, the limitation of gender roles or the judginess and cliquey aspects of some religious communities. However, this isn’t religion.
We’re right to see these dogmatic rulings negatively. Religion is an individual path — a personal faith and sacrifice rooted in will, truth, thought and love. In fact, those with the strongest faith have asked the most questions against religion. Religion gives such meaning that many actively find ways to make its values compatible with modernity, without abandoning either altogether. Still, I can’t blame generations for seeing religion as archaic; modern leaders who portray religion don’t do a great job of representing it. The majority of followers see religion as finding meaning in suffering, rather than an endless list of rules. It’s rich with intention and accountability within oneself, not just for the sake of a deity. But you don’t have to officially follow a religion to understand these morals — you just have to eliminate the disdain against it.
By inviting modern culture to exist within the existential and the faithful, without abandoning our scientific groundings, we reach greater moral reflection grounded in application and appreciation. By using philosophy and scripture as tools for reflection and not blind mandates, we encourage skepticism, which is a core tenet of scientific methodology. These two worlds are not exclusive opposites. On the contrary, the meaning of science grows with our understanding of its ultimate purpose. Those with existential and religious groundings are reportedly more satisfied and happier in life. The science speaks it. Self-assurance grows exponentially when we use the physical and abstract codependently.
We should abandon the growing Gen Z arrogance of the superiority of science. A philosophical argument can be just as powerful as a scientific. Science is a derivative of philosophy. There is humility and reflection behind religious devotion, and the growing judgment towards it has not only driven others away from the abstract but has made us arrogantly scientific. Now, as we disdain religion, we abandon existential questions and replace them with research studies that fail to offer us meaning. It’s those who place emotion and dignity within the rigid sciences who make life more bearable.
Scientific organizations would not exist without philosophical foundations of ethics, metaphysics and epistemology. There’s a reason you can’t find a research paper that has discovered the secret to happiness. Because that’s an individual path, rooted in introspection and skepticism.
Gen Z may be on to something: they’re questioning the big intimidating religious leaders of the 21st century. But this critical view shouldn’t come at the cost of abandoning existential thought altogether. We shouldn’t toss away the faithful philosophies of the last 1000 years for the sake of so-called modernity. Rather, we should use their teachings to reach greater realization, of both the scientific and metaphysical. I encourage people to entertain intimidating questions that have no right or wrong answers. They’re uncomfortable for sure, but they bring a certainty beyond statistical confidence intervals.
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Zaina Jasser is a junior studying physiology and philosophy with a minor in music at the University of Arizona. She enjoys conversations about ethics, trying new cheeses and metal rock and wants to work in medicine one day.
