When young adults first arrive to college they are usually quite overwhelmed by the vast amount of freedom they now have – they no longer have to listen to Mom and Dad everyday, doing as they request.
This new life, these new freedoms, however, are said to have negative effects in the eyes of some people. Upon their arrival to college, for one reason or another, increasing numbers of young adults are abandoning their Christian roots. Some students claim that since they were forced to attend church throughout their childhood, it has a somewhat negative feelings attached to it – they often are bored by the sermons and material.
Another possible reason that students are not going to church is because of the effort required to actually go. As part of a generation graced with the ease and convenience of technology, they are used to the immediate gratification and are unwilling to make the sacrifice of time and energy and thoughts it takes to attend an hour-long church service.
The final, and probably most prominent, reason students give for the decreased interest in religion, more specifically Christianity, is because they often feel judged by the Church for participating in the “typical” activities associate with college life. In a five year study published in the book You Lost Me: Why Young Christians are Leaving Church and Rethinking Faith, the polls found that one out of six students say that they have made mistakes that they feel are judged by the Church. Additionally, 40% of 18-29 year old Catholics believe that the church’s policies regarding sexuality, intercourse and birth control are “out of date.”
As fellow college students, we begin to consider the validity of each of these reasons. For those of us that are followers of the Christian religion, we think if we have stopped attending church at college, why? Are we just uninterested and bored by it? Does it take to much time out of our already busy schedules? Or is because we feel judged and looked down upon because of our desire to take advantage of the ‘best four years of our lives’ in the traditional ways?
