Millennials would rather eat pizza, do pushups and preside over social media than go to church.
While the young generation is “just as spiritual” as older ones, according to numbers from the Pew Research Center, they’re relying on fitness classes and Facebook groups to fuel their spirituality.
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About 28 percent of people in their 20s and 30s attend religious services regularly, compared to 38 percent of baby boomers and 51 percent in even older generations, according to Pew.
“But while Millennials are not as religious as older Americans by some measures of religious observance, they are as likely to engage in many spiritual practices,” Pew wrote after the numbers were released in 2015. “For instance, like older Americans, more than four-in-ten of these younger adults (46%) say they feel a deep sense of wonder about the universe at least once a week. Likewise, most also say they think about the meaning and purpose of life on a weekly basis (55%), again, similar to older generations.”
In June, Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerburg wrote that social media was filling the role of organized and religion because it welcomes “people who now need to find a purpose and support.”
Millennials also took to practices such as meditation, video games and unorthodox rituals such as Monday night pizza, the Post reported.
“They were raised to think for themselves,” New York University sociology professor Mike Hout told the New York Post. “Millennials are skeptical of authority, including religious institutions.” They’re also redefining sacred rituals on their own terms, as these stories show.