Christians often perceive younger generations to be increasingly secular, socially liberal and even hostile to the gospel, especially since the radical "social justice" movements supporting gay and transgender people and abortion have grown and become popular with the young.
However there is growing evidence that an increasing number of younger adults are rejecting these views and adopting more conservative values – and converting to a more traditional style of Christian faith.
Perhaps typical of the new young social conservative is Isabel Brown, a US-based online influencer, whose book "The End of the Alphabet: How Gen Z Can Save America" argues that her generation can and should turn away from progressive "woke" ethics. "I feel like our generation... has just been so alienated and deeply misunderstood by those who come before us," she said in an interview with conservative pundit Michael Knowles that is available on YouTube. "We've been written off as hopeless, as socialists, as entitled crybabies with no hope for the future, but the truth is all of the data in polling suggests Gen Z is actually the most conservative generation America has seen since World War II."
Actual survey data is conflicting, however. A recent US survey concluded there is a 'gender gap' in Gen Z with women more liberal than men, but according to Gallup young men's conservativism in the US hasn't changed a lot, it is instead young women who have become more progressive. However Professor Jen Twenge, author of multiple books on the differences between generations, believes that there has been a big increase in conservatism in US high school students, and that double the number of people in Gen Z identify as very conservative compared to school pupils in the late 1980s.
In the UK, a 2022 study by Ipsos concluded that Gen Z are more liberal than previous generations, with some exceptions. However there is enough 'on the ground' evidence of a swing to conservatism to prompt the left-leaning New Statesman UK magazine to ask: "Is Gen Z the most conservative generation in history?" in a 2023 article. Its evidence painted a mixed picture, and author Pravina Rudra concluded: "unalloyed social conservatism, with its associated [traditionalist] attitudes to women, LGBTQ+ rights, and political beliefs is a minority view among Gen Z. But it is there."
Perhaps we are at the start of the cultural trend, which is why the data is conflicting? But even if overall trends are not dramatic, there are many personal stories of young people turning towards faith and traditional morality.
"Sometimes during our 30s, when the baggage of modern life is simply too heavy to drag around, many find themselves embracing the tradition of the religion they left behind," says the narrator of a tradition-promoting video on YouTube channel, 'One of nine'. "There is a new trend, small now but growing, where young people after having surveyed the world around them, are saying no to: broken relationships, STDs, big government wisdom, the pill, the wrong symbols on doors, the prospect of divorce, and endless appeals to their happiness and comfort. They are while still young, giving their youth to God."
Reversing the "sexual revolution"
The rapid liberalisation of sexual morals in the 1960s is a common target for the new traditionalists. Some younger feminists are starting to argue that sexual liberalism has harmed everyone in society, especially women, and speak in favour of Christian family values. The best known is the journalist Louise Perry who makes a secular case in her book The case against the sexual revolution.
Young men are also speaking in favour of traditional Christian morality. "The boomer ideology of the sexual revolution is that one should 'take your desires for reality,' and the lie of liberalism that the good life and freedom consist in being unconstrained," said Paul Sapper, a 26-year-old communications officer for faith-based advocacy organisation ADF International. "Young people, having grown up in the world created by that ideology, are realising it's a lie and that living that way does not lead to fulfilment."
Sapper's own personal story is indicative of this trend. "In 2017, while an undergraduate at Oxford University, I prayed with the Christian Union and had an experience of God's love for me," he says. "After that I started praying regularly, reading the Bible and attending evangelical churches. Up till that point I was nominally Christian and was living a very worldly life."
He was then drawn to the much stricter sexual ethics in the Catholic Church on contraception, and he now attends the Traditional Latin Mass. He is not alone – the TLM has become increasingly popular with young people in Western countries.
Opposing abortion and contraception
As well as increased scepticism about liberal sexual ethics, there has been considerable change in the demographic of the pro-life movement over the past 10 years. People attending the March for Life are noticeably younger, there are a number of new youth movements such as Abortion Resistance and SPUC's Project Truth, as well as many new university societies. Eden McCourt, one of the co-founders of Abortion Resistance and 26 years old herself, said: "We have an ever-growing group of young people willing to stand up and speak out against abortion despite the backlash they may receive."
Theo Wilmot, 28 and a support worker, recently converted to the Christian faith after rejecting his experience in far-right politics, and now campaigns against abortion due to his own difficult personal experiences. "I do find Gen Z to be generally more open to pro-life apologetics, people in their lower twenties even more so than people around my age, which is a promising sign," he said. "I tend to put this down largely to the fact that Gen Z grew up with fast paced internet culture - they are comfortable doing their own investigations, going down a rabbit hole if need be, and getting to the bottom of things. With the online culture today, no amount of propaganda can keep savvy youngsters in the dark for long, they pick apart falsehoods and fallacies with glee."
Honor Roberts, a 23-year-old pro-life activist, also believes that the increasing numbers of young conservative men is due to a reaction against the extremes that sexual liberalism has reached in our society. "It may be that men are generally more ready to take up conservative values (by which I mean Judaeo-Christian values) than women today," she said. "If so, I believe this is because our culture has reached such absurd levels of depravity in sexual morality (or lack of it) that men feel an inherent call to step up, to protect human dignity and set the boundaries straight again."
While the headlines may focus on increasingly authoritarian liberal attitudes about gender, sexuality and other liberal causes in the young – that is only part of the story. It appears that the excesses of modern progressivism are inspiring more young adults to reject the liberal social norms of the past 50 years and turn to the traditional morals and beliefs of the Christian faith.
Heather Tomlinson is a freelance Christian writer. Find more of her work at heathertomlinson.substack.com or via X (twitter) @heathertomli
