Growing up in a very Catholic school system all the way from year one to year thirteen, learning about religion was more of an obligation than a choice, though I will admit, it wasn’t all that bad. I was surrounded by classmates who had very differing opinions on the topic: some hated it with a passion and would play games on their computer through every class, some would sit through it indifferently, and some would eagerly engage with the content. Admittedly, I was part of the student body that had no interest and would only participate when needed, but I think that was more to do with my experience sorrounding religion at school rather than the wider world. The stigma of the younger generation is that we ‘don’t care’ as much about religion as the generations before us, but is that really the case, or does it have to do with how religion is being presented to us as we grow up?
To get a broader scope of how religion is viewed, I asked a few different people about their experiences.
Person A: I feel personally like religion specifically, Christianity had an impact on me because my dad’s side of the family are Catholic (I was baptised because of this) and when I was younger I always thought that’s just the way it was, that’s how it had to be and those were the rules I had to follow. I wasn’t fully aware about other religions or other options, just that I was catholic, a lot of my family was catholic, and that was it.
Person B: I grew up Catholic. It impacted the way I saw other people and the values and principles I live by as a person, kinda forming my general view of people rather than a view on the world.
Person C: I didn’t have any impact from religion as my parents weren’t religious so I never learnt about it.
Person D: Religion definitely made me more disciplined having to sit and understand something you might not 100% agree with. It puts you through the opportunity to learn and view different perspectives which help you in life further on. Plus, I think by growing up in a religion, I felt more able to join another religion that aligned more with my beliefs.
Person E: My faith has taught me to have faith even when times get tough. Still continues to teach me to stand on Gods truth about me and for me.
Person A: I don’t think it’s a big important factor in my life now because I don’t personally align with any religion specifically, but I do think it’s an important factor because of how strongly some other people follow their religions that it’s actually having an effect on everyone else, so I think in that aspect it is because there are people that follow it so strongly that it’s changing laws.
Person B: I wouldn’t say it’s super important to me in my daily life.
Person C: I would say it is an important part of my life however I know it had significant importance to other people and I’m definitely not against anyone that is religious.
Person D: It’s definitely an important part because I believe that God is real and it guides my actions. I think probably the most powerful thing is believing life is in God’s hands, so I don’t worry so much.
Person E: Absolutely, I can’t imagine where I’d be if it wasn’t for the grace of God and for how much He loves me.
Person A: Yes, I know now that I don’t have to follow one, and I have a choice.
Person B: And yes, as a child I believed in Jesus and God but as I grew up I did not believe in them anymore, however the values and teachings the religion has are still in effect to my everyday life. I couldn’t believe the stories I heard and never felt ‘connected to Him’ like He was just a story to try to bring us comfort around death. It just didn’t make sense to me and so I started to not believe in Him, but I still value the teachings from the religion and do put them into my actions.
Person C: I would say my view has changed because when I was little I didn’t know anything about it or how many people are religious, however having friends or work colleagues that are has helped me to have a better understanding how important it is to some people so I definitely have much more respect for religion.
Person D: It has changed since I was younger because of disagreements I have had with authority figures overusing historical systems and losing view of the important and simple things.
Person E: I reckon it has – growing up I absolutely used to love going to Sunday school and learning more about Jesus but when I became older, I started drifting away – not intentionally but it did happen. My faith sort of seemed like it was more of my parents’ faith, rather than mine. It wasn’t until I experienced God’s power and presence and I knew God was real and that I had to pursue Him intentionally
The 2023 census exploring religious affiliations among New Zealanders aged 15 to 19 showed that out of the response rate, over 61% of people didn’t associate themselves with any religion at all. Christianity had the highest rate of affiliations at 29%, followed by Hinduism, Islam, Māori religion, Buddhism, Spiritualism, and Judaism all under 3% each. I really saw how Christianity dominated the responses I got when asking my peers about their experiences with religion, and how other religions weren’t mentioned when they reflected on their childhood and present life. When discussing how views changed, I noticed that some responses mentioned religion not aligning with their beliefs or struggling with faith for different reasons, suggesting that while it is a good thing that religion is taught in schools, it could greatly benefit from a little more diversity.
Christianity is the most commonly taught religion in New Zealand schools, and I personally can’t remember a time in my classes where we focused on any other religion for enough time to grasp a true understanding. While my high school heavily promoted inclusion and representation, I didn’t think that truly came through when teaching us about religion, and maybe this kind of thing is why it seems like young people don’t care as much about religion in this day and age, when really it looks like it stems from a problem of what we’re being taught.
