The Millennial Rift of Religion

Millennials are very often associated with “shaking up” many things and have recently been associated with leaving religion entirely, but what has caused them to do so?

Millennials, which is anyone born between the years 1980 and 1999 (according to the United States Chamber Foundation), are starting to turn away from religion for many reasons. Most seemingly returning to a certain religion after having time to settle down with a job and/or settle down with a family. But some are just not returning at all, even with or without any correlating characteristic and/or catalyst causing them to return.

So that raises the question, why are young people/millennials leaving religion and some not coming back?

Theodore Trost, a professor at The University of Alabama, said that young people will always “leave” the church for a time.

“Young people always ‘leave’ the church. Of course, this assumes that they were brought up in, or otherwise intersected with, the church during their childhood; children are introduced to a faith community for a variety of reasons, but the primary one is probably socialization,” Trost said. “Parents want their children to grow up in a safe environment in the company of people who are purportedly going to support them at best and, at least, not harm them.”

Trost also said that some people may find that relief is finally not being able to go to church after being possibly forced to by their parents, in addition to social constructs such as friends or work distracting one from attending a church.

Another reason young people might be leaving the church is that they see it as a set of rules that you have to follow as commanded by whatever document that religion uses as its basis (e.g. the Bible).

Micah Bush, one of the middle school pastors for Oasis of Praise Church, agrees that young people may be seeing any one religion as a “religion” and not a relationship with whatever deity they follow.

“It’s because they look at Christianity as a religion instead of a relationship with the one true God,” Bush said. “So many people look at Christianity as a set of rules that you have to follow, a set of things that you can do, things that you can’t do, things that seem fun in your life and you have to do the things that are boring in your life; and that’s not what Christianity is about.”

Most millennials recently beginning to graduate college, enter the workforce or some entering the workforce directly following high school, may have differing priorities upon reaching such milestones when it pertains to religion.

But some just may have obstacles preventing them from attending church for such a time, and not solely because they are trying to be successful (while that could possibly be a facet as well).

Zac Langer, the pastor of Taylorville United Methodist Church, agrees that a job could be a part of one “leaving” a church; but not be the only reason.

“When people aren’t in church on Sunday, it’s usually because they’re at home sleeping, playing with their kids/pets…If it was just because of work, then services on different days of the week would have grown far more than they have,” Langer said. “More likely, I think the emphasis on work and increasing one’s financial standing may be prompting the growth of a materialist mindset which says that the highest goal of life is to gain more and that if you just had more money you’d be happier.”

Langer emphasized that while focusing on gaining money versus attending church contradicts the message that churches are trying to teach.

Another reason some young people may not be attending church is that they don’t feel the need to, because whatever need they have is potentially filled by something else.

Professor Trost also emphasized the fact that young people may only attend church when it is important for them too.

“I would say that people go to church when it becomes more important for them personally to be in church than to be anywhere else at that particular time,” Trost said.

When millennials don’t attend a church, could they be “making idols” out of something?

Bush said that he believed that by not attending church, doesn’t create a false idol of oneself.

“I don’t believe by not attending church, do you create a false idol for yourself, but I do think putting things ahead of God is what’s creating a false idol for yourself,” Bush said. “God says that he should be the number one in our lives.”

Langer, however, thinks some may be creating idols out of materialistic things.

“We’re also prone to idolize different aspects of ‘identity’ as being the most significant parts of our lives, whether natural traits like race or age or social traits like economic class,” Langer said.

While this is no means of how some millennials will be with religion, as they grow up in life they may begin to return back to church and religion in general.

COVID-19 outbreak results in the cancellation of in-person Easter celebrations all across the south

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - There is no doubt that the recent novel Coronavirus outbreak is affecting many communities nationwide, but it is also affecting holidays and celebrations many religions hold that are revered.

Easter, being the celebration that many Abrahamic religions hold to celebrate the resurrection of Christ after being crucified, has found itself without a formal in-person celebration as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak, and many stay-at-home mandates from local or state governments. While some churches could hold drive-in services at their churches, all of Alabama is under the risk of severe weather Sunday resulting in even the cancellation of those services.

While in-person services are not being held, many churches and families are still finding ways to celebrate the holiday.

In addition, many families might have to review what makes the holiday special to them and its true meaning.

Richard Newton, a professor at the School of Religious Studies at The University Of Alabama, emphasized this point specifically.

“Christians who celebrate communion, especially during Holy Week, are reviewing what makes that meal special,” Newton said. “Denominations, where a priest or pastor consecrates the bread and cup into something more, have been asking whether they are saying the ritual words via Facebook Live get the job done or whether touch remains a vital aspect to the ritual.”

Some church members may have a decreased overall morale since they are not formally able to meet in person to celebrate, but some local pastors have instituted or continued ways to keep in contact with their members and keep morale up.

Scott Green, an associate pastor at Northport Baptist Church, said that his church is continuing the same ways they reached out to their members during this time.

“Worship and sermons are delivered online through YouTube, Facebook, and our church website,” Green said. “We are communicating daily with our members through emails, text, calls, and cards in the mail, and sending words of encouragement, scripture, and prayer.”

Green also said that his church is sending out daily devotionals to their members in an attempt to help church members through this time.

While this time may be tough for all churchgoers, many local pastors said that they hope that formally being out of churches and unable to celebrate Easter in person, will help bolster a religious “reawakening” within their churches.

Scott Moore emphatically agreed to this point, in addition to stating that he thinks a lot of people are seeing symbolic themes throughout the season.

“If you want to see the empty churches in light of the empty tomb the lesson would be there is life and hope even when the churches are empty,” Moore said. “God does surprising things to point people to himself.”

Green also agreed that early indicators show a spike in spiritual interest and pointed to a Fox News article stating that Bible sales are spiking as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.

While most churches in the south are not able to hold any kind of service (drive-in or online), the spirit of Easter lives on through church members.

The Changing Meaning of the Word “Evangelical”

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The word “evangelical” has many meanings and it can vary depending on who is asked; but if it has changed, why?

The word “evangelical” refers to anyone or anything that is committed to spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, ranging from people to organizations such as the Billie Graham Evangelistic Association. But the word truly originated in its Grecian root word in the New Testament describing those involved in the movement spreading the good news, in an attempt to distinguish themselves from the violent Romans who also spread “good news” about their militaristic victories.

Zac Langer, the pastor of Taylorville United Methodist Church, described how the transformational aspect of evangelicals is one reason why they have the name they have now.

“When you look back at church history, what you find is that evangelical traditionally just means groups that place a strong emphasis on having an experiential faith,” Langer said. “That was the defining characteristic of evangelical Christians as opposed to sort of Christians who were brought up in state religions and you know, Lutheranism, or the Church of England or those kinds of things.”

The term evangelical has seemingly changed over time, but why and what has caused it?

In the 1980s, what is described by a New York Times article, as “a new movement of white evangelicalism awakened during [President Carter’s] presidency.” The movement was very anti-Carter and may have been a result of him losing his re-election bid to socially conservative Republican Ronald Reagan.

But, the term has seemingly altered to a more political meaning, alongside its original meaning taking a backslide.

Billy Austin, the director of the Tuscaloosa County Baptist Association, stated that the term has seemingly been recently associated with right-wing ideology in the political realm and provided some insight into how some evangelicals engage in discourse with other non-evangelicals.

“The term has been viewed by some as more closely tied with a right-wing ideology in politics, this is unfortunate as it places evangelicals in the position of opposing those who espouse non-evangelical views,” Austin said. “In actuality, evangelicals do not oppose, but rather engage non-evangelicals in open and free dialogue in an effort to arrive at a common ground of truth and mutual edification.”

While the term “evangelical” still pertains to its original definition, it has evolved into a term describing anyone associated with the right-wing and Republican ideology. More specifically, the term has made a rise back into the spotlight with President Trump’s 2016 campaign and subsequent election.

The schism over “prosperity gospel” in southern churches

The idea of the prosperity gospel has existed for hundreds of years and has recently captivated the attention of southern churches, where “traditional churches” are the dominant base in the region.

Prosperity gospel/feel-good gospel, by definition, has been described as a “modern” telling of the gospel or in the case of ones against it, a perversion of the gospel meant to only preach the goodness of the Christian religion or the perversion of the teachings of Christ.

While attendees of “prosperity gospel” churches only make up about 17% of overall churchgoers according to a TIME magazine study, college students and white evangelicals are a big part of that population.

The whole idea of the prosperity gospel is essentially preaching the good things out of the Bible, hence why it’s “association” with the feel-good church culture.

Theodore Trost, professor of religious studies at The University of Alabama, says the feel-good church culture helps millennials and college students have a place to gather together to escape the hostile nature of the outside world.

“To the extent that ‘feel good’ churches overcome social divisions, are welcoming to all sorts of people, and provide a safe and encouraging environment in which young people can meet one another,” Trost said. “These churches offer an alternative to the hostilities and divisions of contemporary culture.”

Trost agrees that the prosperity gospel church allows people to feel good about themselves is great, but also draws up a concern with the “feel-good” culture; when they feel “good,” will they continue attending a church (feel-good or not?)

“Traditional” and “feel-good” churches have been at odds with each other for many reasons and the traditional population base has been shrinking whilst the feel-good church has been prosperous due to its “feel-good” outreach.

The traditional church contains hymnals and other facets that turn away most millennials and younger generations because those generations were mostly raised on contemporary music and LED lights that are in most modern churches today.

With that said, should traditional churches change with the times and develop more modern traditions?

Zac Langer, the pastor of the Taylorville United Methodist Church, believes that traditionalist churches should be willing to endure some change to attract a younger base.

“As a 26-year-old pastor of a traditional United Methodist church, I am convinced that substance rather than style is what draws younger folks in and that authentic relationships are more valuable for reaching late Millennials and Gen Z than anything else,” Langer said. “The purpose of reaching out to younger folks is not to bolster the population, because the size of the church is never the point; our goal is to change lives.”

Langer also stressed that if electric guitars and synthesizers help reach a younger population vs. the use of hymnals and organs, then it should be that way to further spread the gospel.

The prosperity gospel has been found to avoid negative things the Bible discusses and focuses more on the positives.

With how the Bible states in Revelation 22:19: “and if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City,” could it be said that changing what the Bible states is not following its message?

Scott McCown, a minister at the Central Church of Christ in Tuscaloosa, described that he thinks it is damaging to only focus on the positives of the Bible.

“I think to lead people to think that God’s grace is about this life only and success here is dangerous and damaging to their faith in God,” McCown said.

City leaders start celebrating towns 200th birthday

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – A town in Alabama recently launched a celebration of its 200th birthday, with many events occurring throughout the year featuring many different events transpiring across the county.City leaders kicked off the celebration with the dedication of the pavilion in Government’s Plaza to the observance of Tuscaloosa’s 199th birthday on December 13th 2018.

The Tuscaloosa Bicentennial celebration consists of a whole host of ways to celebrate this milestone in the county’s history, ranging from a concert festival to a living exhibit entitled “Tuscaloosa Through Time” that will take place from April 24th through the 27th in the Bryant Conference Center at The University of Alabama.

Mayor of Tuscaloosa, Walt Maddox, says he wants the celebration to be a “springboard towards a brighter future.”

Teachers in the surrounding school district plan to use the yearlong celebration to further educate local children about their hometown in innovative ways and give the participating schools an opportunity to showcase their talents during the “Tuscaloosa Through Time” exhibit.

With the implemented curricula, Mayor Maddox describes “we live in a community where in many ways is on the forefront of history, [and] something that few people know is that the representatives of Tuscaloosa actually voted against succession at the beginning of the Civil War…it’s just those types of examples of what our community has done that is important to the overall knowledge of our students…”

City leaders also have a interactive app that allows people to experience Tuscaloosa’s history through a driving or walking tour around the city that the bicentennial commission hopes will be “an enduring legacy resource for visitors and home towners alike.”

The bicentennial commission had many artists who wanted to make a quilt featuring many things that gives the viewer a glimpse 200 years into Tuscaloosa’s past. More about the quilt and its creators can be found here.

The Tuscaloosa Bicentennial Commission hopes the yearlong celebration honors Tuscaloosa in “world-class fashion.”

The “Millennial Move Makers Conference” makes moves on University of Alabama campus

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – On March 3rd, The University of Alabama hosted “Millennial Move Makers: The Conference,” an event that focused on educating local entrepreneurs that’s been described as a “first-of-its-kind.”

The main event featured keynote speaker Alicia Gettys, University of Alabama alumni whom was the keynote speaker. Gettys, being a successful social media influencer, spoke on how to create a genuine social media version of yourself.

The event gave students the opportunity to hear from student panel, in addition to a keynote speaker, who already have a form of a small business or were successful in their own way.

The panel featured undergraduate and graduate students that are successful in being an entrepreneur and gave the students attending the opportunity to ask the panelists questions.

Founder and Head of Operations Betty Bowles describes how the event was a place for students to come together, collaborate, and build of one another.

“No matter what point you are [at] in your creative career, each step matters, and it’s important to not to compare your start with someone else’s; or where you are at, with where another person is at,” said Bowles.

Event organizers wanted to create a sense of collaboration where students can come and talk to others about what they are trying to create or have already created.

According to Bowles, this is the first time an event anything like this has occurred on campus.

Photo courtesy of Millennial Move Makers: The Conference

The University of Alabama’s gymnastics team shows the “power” of pink

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama’s gymnastics team hosted the “Power of Pink” meet this past Friday with the intention of raising awareness to breast cancer and the heroic women that have survived the many trials they faced; while honoring those who have sadly died due to the wretched condition.

Former coach of the gymnastics team, Sarah Patterson, set up the event with wishes to raise awareness of the same thing she suffered from not so long ago. Patterson wants people to “think pink, wear pink” when they come to the meet.

Donna Cicero, 19-year breast cancer survivor, describes how the meet means so much when it supports such a worthy cause and how the meet raises the importance of early screening and provides additional awareness to the research in the area. Cicero describes how it is lovely seeing all these sports adopting the same idea that Patterson created many years ago.

“The Power of Pink campaign has meant to me, [to be] a wonderful way to increase the awareness of breast cancer.” Cicero said. “Awareness is key to help the community seek early intervention where breast cancer is concerned.”

Cicero also describes how Patterson should be applauded for creating such an event and describes her as a “true pioneer” for her support in the cause.

The idea of Patterson’s Power of Pink meet has spread throughout the country through many sports, with the university hosting pink events throughout the year representing such a worthy cause.

The DCH Foundation set-up a fund to support Sarah Patterson’s “Power of Pink” initiative in the winter of 2004. Donations can be made to the fund by mailing a check to: DCH Foundation, 809 University Blvd. E., Tuscaloosa, AL 35401. The memo line should denote DCH Breast Cancer Fund.

More about the fund can be found at: thedchfoundation.org

The Electoral College: does it help or hurt?

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – There are many issues that face society today, but one is whether or not to abolish the Electoral College; something that makes our democracy, democratic.  Today, some people feel that with the college in effect, it renders their vote use pointless. The Electoral College is so essential in today’s democratically ambiguous society we have today, so each opinion can be correctly represented in the electoral process. Which is why I thought this was one critical issue that faces society today, because this truly would affect us if it ends up being abolished in the future.

One issue that some may see with the Electoral College, is that they may feel that their vote is isn’t counted in the current system. The college is set up to prevent majority tyranny from deciding the election, which is what the founding fathers wanted to prevent. They of course wanted the people to choose whom should govern them and give them the power to do as much, but they didn’t want the majority deciding what the minority wants in any political process. There are many understandable reasons to why the abolishment of the college. For one, it would help many feel that their vote is actually counted (when it still is in the Electoral College); for in the case of the 2016 presidential election, where Clinton won the popular vote but not the college. So, in the sense that majority tyranny would take over in the case that the college is repealed, it would also take away an exponential amount of representation of the smaller states in elections.         

The abolishment of the college would let the big states (California, New York, etc.) decide the election, since those states contain a big percentage of the total US population. Some situations may arise where a person in a state votes Democrat and the college (with the states overall votes) goes to the Republican candidate; making the voter want the college be repealed because the state did not go to their party. But in that case, the college system still worked. So the Electoral College does have its pros and obviously its cons, but it is palpably needed in a democracy.

Rugby player describes what makes the sport different from others

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama Women’s Rugby Team was founded in 2009 with a small number of players on the roster. That changed in the many years which followed with the team winning the Southern Independence Rugby Conference Division II championship in 2015 and many successes have recently followed. 1st year player Cierra Loomis described the many experiences that has been had so far on the team.

Loomis described that joining the team brought more friends and an exciting experience. She also described what makes rugby differentiate from other similar sports.

Rugby, like many other sports involves physical contact; but in rugby’s case, it requires some to no padding or protection. But with that said, there are extra rules in place to protect the players from serious harm. For instance, players are restricted from tackling above the shoulders to protect the facial area.

“In rugby, all you have is a pair of cleats and a mouthguard,” said Loomis. “And even the mouth guard is optional.”

“There were some matches where we had no injuries and no-one was seriously hurt” Loomis said. “But there was this one match, where I had broken my fingers, my teammate blacked out on the field and got a severe concussion, and my friend tore her ACL; all in one game.”

At the university, Rugby is a club sport that welcomes any and all who want to participate. They practice Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 7-9 p.m. on the recreational fields.

How the Film “Hereditary” Transformed the Horror Genre

We all have ideas on how a scary or “horror” movie should be. It should be chock full of jump-scares and the such, correct? Wrong. In his film “Hereditary,” Ari Aster produced and directed a horror film that would change the genre as we see it. Most horror movies portray almost simple events and situations that may or may not affect the audience in any way. “Hereditary” brought forth existential issues concerning a family whose mother suffers from certain problems that affects how the acts throughout the story. The film puts forth visual and auditory nuances that affect the audience, whether it be the score so well-orchestrated that it makes the audience feel uneasy; or the isolationistic visuals that the film portrays so well. In his film “Hereditary,” Ari Aster had a vision on how he wanted the film to follow and how the characters to change and subsequently affect the story.

To begin, Ari Aster had a certain vision on how he wanted “Hereditary” to pan out; which very much shows in the script. Aster describes how he was “[very] inspired by the baffled misery that humans can feel when confronted by unexpected tragedy,” regarding to the events that following suit after the death of the grandmother and Charlie (Hawkes 1). When a horror movie is made, a director should have an idea or “vision” pertaining to how he wants to get under the audience’s skin. Aster wholly did just that. No horror movie had ever emotionally disturbed me as much as this one did. It took me days to get over how disturbing and psychologically abhorrent the movie is. But it is an absolute masterpiece and (to me) the textbook definition of a “horror film.” Ari Aster envisioned the movie to “slowly unravel” or be a slow burner, because in my opinion; that’s the best way to produce a horror film. In a horror film, you want to slowly-burn the plot to keep your audience engaged, keep them wanting to care about the characters (if they even do care) and Aster set out to do just that. In the script, Aster intelligently wrote out a certain scene that existentially shocked the audience and Peter when Charlie is sadly decapitated on the way to the hospital. After Charlie is decapitated the script describes how in the car “Peter sits motionless…Paralyzed,” showing us the same amount of shock and unsettlement between the audience and Peter. As Aster stated that he knows that the audience is shocked by unexpected events, he gives us just that in that specific scene. We don’t know at the time that Charlie is about to die in that way, of course we assume that they are going to make it to the hospital in time so Charlie can get treated and go along with her life. But in that specific scene, especially when the shot transitions to that of the telephone poll; it hits us (literally). We sit there in arrant and unmitigated shock as to what has just occurred, just as Peter does in that scene. Just as we are in shock, we don’t know how to feel, how to react to what we have just witnessed, so is Peter. This is exactly what Ari Aster visualized/set-out to do, he wanted to use this unfortunate event to set off a chain reaction of events to follow in the movie. A director’s vision in a horror film is everything, it can absolutely ruin it if not executed well; but in the case of “Hereditary,” absolutely terrify.

In the same way, Ari Aster developed his characters a certain way so the audience would feel attached to them and as a result feel impacted by what occurs in the story. Characters are always essential to any story, especially horror films. They can tell the story in many ways, such as how it is affecting them, the environment, or things around them. In “Hereditary,” Aster developed his characters to where they had an immense amount of backstory, with most if not all of that backstory affecting the other characters. For instance, Annie’s mother suffered from disorders that affected her whole family at the time; and this subsequently affecting Annie’s own family further down the line. Aster described how “[the family is] ‘being manipulated by outside forces,’” showing us that in this movie the characters do indeed change, but do not really have any amount of free-will in those decisions. In the script, Annie describes how she “’made a pact with something’” when they attempted to bring back Charlie via a séance; but incidentally brought the evil into their home by doing so (thus changing the story) (Aster 108). Regarding the doll house/art exhibit that Annie creates slowly “become[s] a motif” in the story. When Annie is working on her art pieces, she obviously is and feels in control, since she is controlling every movement and artistic style that is put into it. With that being said, it can be speculated that Annie wants to feel in control of her own life/family just as she is in her art pieces; leading to the eventual collapse of her family as a result of the cult’s infernal coercion on everyone involved. Ari Aster wanted to develop the characters in a way where they so ultimately affect the story in many ways and/or wrote them so well that we cared about them and when something happens to them, we are in disbelief.

Hereditary (R) is now out on DVD.

Some quotes obtained from the Hereditary script by Ari Aster.

Image obtained from: A24