I found this article very interesting, it addresses the synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh on Oct 27th in a new light. As a result of this tragic event, most reporters are choosing to focus simply on the news and details of the event, while this article looks deeper and offers a unique perspective. While not ignoring the severity and grief of this shooting, the author focuses on the fact that there were no young people injured in this horrific event, simply because they weren’t in attendance. While this can be seen as a blessing that no children were slain, the author found this concerning for the sake of the Jewish religion.
The author makes the statement: “Where were the millennials? They’re gone. From temple, from church. From the community of faith” (Graham 2). He describes this as more horrific than the hate crimes that exist against the Jewish community because it it may mean that the Jewish faith among others, is slowly dying due to lack of new young followers that can continue the practice of these religions. Graham argues that the rise in ‘nones’ (people with no religious affiliation) correlates to the presence and rise in religious hate crimes. According to the author, as many as 35% of people now identify as ‘nones’ (Graham 6). This concerns him because young people of today are responsible for continuing traditions and religion. He also addresses the presence of hate that is unfortunately becoming more common surrounding religious settings. I have to say I disagree with the point the author is making. While yes, the amount of people who identify as ‘unaffiliated’ may be on the rise, I do not think it is related to the amount of religion based hate crimes.
Reading this article about a religious hate crime made me think of the piece by Thomas Merton, and his claims that alienation leads to violence. These ideas didn’t seem to be too far away from Graham’s thoughts that religious ‘nones’ have something to do with the rise in religious hate crimes we see in the United States. Merton states “as long as we are not purified…by the union of pure sanctity, we will remain apart from one another, opposed to one another” (Merton 453). This idea of unification through religion mirrors the ideas that Graham writes about in his article. His ideas about religious nones lacking unity with communities of faith are very similar to the themes of love and hate found within Merton’s writing. Graham’s final statement is: ” Faith didn’t divide. It united. Is this a message about to be lost on an entire generation of millennials?”. He is referring to the unity that was created between various believers during the time following the shooting, and the fact that this community may eventually cease to exist if the rise of ‘nones’ is to continue and contribute to hateful events and crimes. This is related to Merton’s quote,”hatred tries to cure disunion by annihilating those who are not united with us” (Merton 545). Both authors find power in unity through religion.
Graham, Michael. “As Religion Wanes, ‘Religious’ Hatred Grows.” Boston Herald, 30 Oct. 2018, http://www.bostonherald.com/opinion/op_ed/2018/10/as_religion_wanes_religious_hatred_grows.\
http://www.bostonherald.com/opinion/op_ed/2018/10/as_religion_wanes_religious_hatred_grows
Merton, Thomas. “From New Seeds of Contemplation.” American Religions: a Documentary History, by R. Marie Griffith, Oxford University Press, 2008, pp. 448–461.
contemporaryamericanreligion 
It’s remarkable that in a time of such political divisiveness we manage to find the deeper religious meaning behind the shooting. With Judaism being among the lowest in rates of participation for young people its tragedies like this that usually prevent us from diving deeper into the religious aspect and acknowledging facts as such. I am curious as to what effect if any, this will have on Judaisms engagement with younger populations?
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I think that this article brings up many interesting points about younger generations’ attendance in religious gatherings. The observation of religions losing more young followers is very interesting and raises concerns for the preservation of religions. I also think that it is very interesting how to author of this article was able to look past this tragedy and see how the religion itself is slowly beginning to fade. The connection to Thomas Merton’s piece is very insightful, there are many parallels of disunity between people that can be seen in both writings.
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I agree with you that a rise in nones is probably not linked to the rise in religious crimes. I don’t know of many or any religious crimes that were committed by people of no religion, but I remember quite few that were committed by those that belonged to a religion. I do agree, however, that the lack of young people could have a negative effect on religions, possibly making religion take a back seat in the coming generations.
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I do agree with you on the fact that the rise in nones is not necessarily linked to the rise in religious crimes; however, I do see where the author is coming from. I think the author took a different take on this event that not many people would really look to in this time of devastation. I do think that not having many young people in the church will eventually hurt the church because who’s going to continue the traditions and tell the next generation of the religion? I do believe though that if this becomes a bigger problem, hopefully the church and people of the religion will try to mend the break between millennials and the church.
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This is a very interesting point of view for this specific event. I think it is very interesting for someone to come out and openly talk about this in the aftermath of such a horrific shooting, yet I think there was also no better time to point it out. Though I don’t know that the two are directly related, religious institutions in America need to start getting younger generations to be religious if they want to survive.
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I think the author’s evaluation of “nones” is a threat that many religions are seeing in this era. Your comparison to the author of the article and Merton is very applicable. I also disagree with the author’s notion that the decrease in young peoples’ affiliation with religious institutions is correlated with hate crimes. I do think that the decrease in religion as America as a whole makes perpetrators of hate see them as an appropriate target, but I do not think you can blame the religious population for the hate crime that is committed upon them.
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I also disagree with the author. I would be classified as one of these nones, but I by no means hate religion or its aspects. I also do not believe that, because fewer are practicing that traditions are dying. They just may become more sacred to the individuals that continue to follow. Great integration of class notes!
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