Talbot School of Theology philosophy professor Timothy Pickavance sees the growth in the “nothing in particular” category as an indicator of Gen Z’s open posture toward spirituality rather than a cynical atheistic one.
“This data points to Gen Z’s sensitivity to spiritual things and their longing for a deep spiritual life,” he said in an interview.
Gen Z’s participation in religion can be encapsulated by the term faith unbundled, coined by Springtide Research Institute, which describes the way people construct faith by combining elements such as beliefs, identity, practices, and community from a variety of religious and nonreligious sources, rather than receiving these things from a single system.