Ken Ham Says America's 20-Somethings Are Leading Country Into Downward Spiral, Blames Belief in Evolution
Answers in Genesis CEO and President Ken Ham has said America is heading into a downward spiral, after taking a look at recent surveys pointing out the beliefs of the 20-somethings age group. The creationist blamed the belief in evolution for undermining the Bible.
"As part of the America's Research Group research, we wanted to gauge the spiritual state of the general population. When you specifically consider the 20 somethings (ages 20–29), you can get a glimpse of what the 'new America' will be if this culture continues on the same downward spiral," Ham wrote in an AiG blog on Monday, commenting on the major Pew Research Study on America's changing religious landscape released in May, and further studies AiG has requested.
"As Scripture reveals, it can take only one generation to lose a culture. Today, we certainly witness the loss of the once predominantly Christianized worldview in our society. The detailed research we conducted through ARG (and which confirms studies by other groups) makes it very clear that the beliefs of the 20s age group have created a tipping point in the culture," he added.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Ham analyzed the results of the Pew poll, which found that the percentage of American adults who identify as Christians has dropped by nearly 8 percentage points in the past seven years. And in 2014 only 70.6 percent of the population identifies as Christian.
Additionaly, AiG noted that it asked America's Research Group toward the end of 2014 to conduct research on the state of regular church goers in their 20s, and found that over 40 percent of respondents said they are not born again.
Another 35 percent said that the Bible could have errors, and 65 percent suggested that a good person can go to heaven.
"Now, our research also showed conclusively that the issue of the age of the Earth/universe was one of the major factors causing this generation to doubt that the Bible can be trusted," Ham added.
"Don't you just sigh when you read statistics like the ones above? Aren't you deeply troubled and tremendously burdened about the Millennials who attend our churches?"
Further statistics found that while 86 percent of church goers in their 60s believe that Noah's Ark was actually built, only 52 percent of those in their 20s agreed. Furthermore, only 34 percent of those in their 20s believe that the Christian faith is under attack in America today.
"There is much more revealing data that offer sad results that came out of this national study. There is no doubt that those in their 20s — both inside the church and out — are much more secular in their thinking and actions than previous generations," Ham said.
Other evangelical leaders, such as Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, have said that surveys of Christian decline in America could actually be "good news" for the church.
"Christianity isn't normal anymore. It never should have been. The increasing strangeness of Christianity might be bad news for America, but it's good news for the church. The major newspapers are telling us today that Christianity is dying, according to this new study, but what is clear from this study is exactly the opposite: while mainline traditions plummet, evangelical churches are remaining remarkably steady," Moore said in May, referring to the Pew study.
