Free Republic

One of the most important cyclical events in my life as a data analyst of American religion is the semi-regular release of the General Social Survey.... I was more than pleased that the Association of Religion Data Archives had already managed to upload the 2024 General Social Survey to their website... I wanted to do a really tight “zoom in” on the changes in the religious composition of the GSS before the pandemic and then in the 2024 data. So, here’s how things have shifted since 2016.... You can see some really significant swings in these figures from 2018. For...

Key Points and Summary – For a generation, America’s biggest weapons programs have delivered more delay than deterrence. -The M10 Booker, Zumwalt-class destroyer, Littoral Combat Ship, and Constellation-class frigate all started with clear operational needs and bold promises, then sank under shifting requirements, immature technology, and an overstretched industrial base... -As China cranks out ships and missiles at scale, Washington’s acquisition system is struggling to field replacements for aging platforms. -Unless the Pentagon is forced to simplify, stabilize, and speed procurement, the U.S. edge will erode. Why Can’t America Build A Military?.. he M10 Booker light tank, the Zumwalt-class destroyer,...

The number of Gen Z college freshmen who are entering universities without high school math skills is skyrocketing — as SAT scores are plummeting, a stunning new report has found. Even more shocking — many of the students can’t even do middle-school level math, meaning their skills are fifth grade or below. Experts say this phenomenon, combined with steadily rising high school graduate rates, show that the country is suffering a massive grade inflation problem. The University of California San Diego, for instance, has reported a staggering 30-fold increase in the number of students unable to do basic arithmetic over...

High-profile conversions from figures like Shia LeBeouf, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Russell Brand followed by findings--church attendance picking up has led to stunned reaction from the commentariat press. In Britain, for example, Pentecostalism and Catholicism have been found to have reversed decades of decline and grown remarkably from 2018 to 2025 – drawing intrigue from the likes of the Guardian and Reuters. In France, since 2020, the bishops’ conference (typically assiduous in collecting and releasing data) have confirmed consistently remarkable and accelerating year-on-year increases in the number of adult converts they are drawing in and baptising – many from irreligion...

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley's son Nalin Haley on Monday accused Republicans of failing to acknowledge disillusioned Gen Z voters' struggles with unemployment and affordability. The first step our leaders need to do is admit that we have a problem. And right now I haven't heard any Republican leaders talk about the issues that young people are facing," Haley told "Fox & Friends."

Gen Z is hopping on planes for more than adventure—they’re doing it to have babies. A growing number of young American parents are choosing to give birth outside the U.S., often in countries with better healthcare, more generous parental leave, and cheaper delivery costs. According to a new survey from Greenback Expat Tax Services, more than one in four Gen Z expats have already given birth abroad—and nearly two-thirds say they’re planning to. Among all U.S. expats surveyed, 54% had already had a child while living abroad. Millennials lead the charge with nearly 3 in 5 reporting overseas births, but...

Gen Z and Millennials will make up 60% of the votes in upcoming elections. The successful leaders will have done the work and articulated the principles that motivate this up-and-coming group. The old platitudes will not work. Neither will the old political parties. These younger citizens reject the petulant Baby-Boomers’ vitriol and want answers to hard questions. These are the same questions every generation asks. It’s just gotten very real for this generation, and they want workable answers, not platitudes. The excesses of past generations have finally come home to roost. The national debt crushes the younger generation’s ability to...

When it comes to talking to Gen Z men the right is beginning to sound a bit like the left: You can’t get ahead. The whole world is stacked against you. You’re the real victim here. Podcaster Ben Shapiro recently said as much at a recent event, when he called out conservatives for inculcating young men with a “nihilistic” worldview rather than giving them the “tough talk” they need. “I think that the right is actually weirdly feminizing young men by giving them a victimology to buy into,” Shapiro said at the Jewish Leadership Conference. “This notion that you, as...

One of the most notable and puzzling factors is the lack of young people. If you have participated in a No Kings protest or seen one in person, you have surely noticed the upward skew in the age of participants. Only 8 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 say they took part in the protests in October, compared with 13 percent of those age 65 and older, according to YouGov. Students are most conspicuous in their absence. The Rice University student newspaper counted only “about 30” students out of a crowd of more than 13,000 at...

The Radicalization of Gen ZA rootless generation looks for home in dark places.A friend who works with high school students recently said to me, “I overheard a group of boys talking about ‘international Jewry.’” He was in disbelief to hear these seemingly mild-mannered kids express views that, not 20 years ago, would have been considered taboo.What is going on with Gen Z?I’ve written elsewhere that Gen Z is experiencing a kind of church resurgence. That remains true. But at the same time, Gen Z is one of the most polarized generations in American history.In 2024, Gen Z—led in part by...

[ CYPHER CODE #317 ] Gen Z is missing nearly a third of its generation, and no one in power calls it what it is. [ CYPHER CODE #318 ] Abortion didn’t remain “rare.” It became routine, industrialized, and celebrated. [ CYPHER CODE #319 ] The empty classrooms aren’t a mystery. They’re the receipts.

An overwhelming 84 percent of Gen Z women voted for socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani in Tuesday’s election, while white men were the only demographic to vote against him. According to NBC News exit polling, among women ages 18-29, 84 percent supported Mamdani. 67 percent of men in the same age group also voted for him. Overall, voters under 50 heavily backed Mamdani, while those over 50 broke for his opponent, former Governor Andrew Cuomo. Mamdani won across most demographics, leading among both men and women overall, as well as voters identifying as “very liberal,” 84 percent...

AUSTIN, Texas - The Austin Police Department Dive Team spent the morning pulling scooters out of Lady Bird Lake. This is their first time doing a cleanup, and they expect to find several dozen scooters underwater. What they're saying: "Recently, our team got some new equipment, some new dive suits and we wanted to just give back a little bit to the community by cleaning up some of the scooters," Sgt. Issa Kafena with the Austin Police Bomb Squad & Dive Team, said.

We don’t blame them: Pull into any parking lot and it’s a sea of grayscale SUVs with the same sweeping LED eyebrows and bloated body lines.By any measure, modern cars are starting to look a little too much alike. A Honda CR-V looks like a Hyundai Tucson. A BMW X5 looks like an Alfa Romeo SUV. Maybe that’s why the next wave of car enthusiasts, Gen Z, is quietly falling for the classics instead. According to Hagerty’s 2024 “Future of Driving” survey, 60% of Gen Z respondents said they’re interested in owning a classic car. That’s nearly double the rate...

Gen Z is cringing at the prospect of working with other Gen Z-ers, continuing a trend among some workers in which they dislike working with the younger generation, according to a new report. An Edubirdie survey of 2,000 Gen Z-ers found that 31 percent feel they’re the most annoying to work with. That was compared to just 20 percent who said baby boomers were the worst. Why It Matters Gen Z has developed a reputation for being difficult to work with. A recent Intelligent.com survey found that one in six businesses said they were hesitant to hire recent college graduates...

While young men across the United States are trending to be more conservative than ever before, young women continue to trend towards being more liberal, with nearly 40 percent of Gen Z women identifying as such. A new podcast, called Sincerely American, is aiming to change that. Co-hosts Jayme Franklin and Camryn Kinsey launched their show after realizing that most major podcasts aimed at young women often promote progressivism, both socially and politically. They seek to chart new territory, focusing on a faith and fashion-based alternative podcast, while promising to discuss topics that actually matter to young women: fashion, beauty,...

As they grapple with a profound disconnection from their parents and older adults in general, nearly 40% of young adult women in Generation Z — those born between 1999 and 2015 — now identify as religiously unaffiliated, according to new data released by Barna Research. The data from 2,000 adults and teenagers between the ages of 13 and 24 shows that 38% of Gen Z women (ages 18 to 24) currently identify as atheist, agnostic or say they have no faith at all. This is higher than the 32% of men in the same age group who said they are...

The title to this essay is a line from Tolkien. But I'm also reminded of two distinct lines from Star Wars, paired:If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.I dunno, I can imagine an awful lot.Charlie Kirk was a powerful force. He went from campus to campus and he talked to people. Generally when he was debating, he would put his microphone down, to reassure his partner that he wasn’t going to talk over them. He was respectful, and he was highly effective. He played a major role in winning over Gen Z...

“A substantial” number of Gen Z voters supporting socialist NYC mayoral frontrunner Zhoran Mamdani have been brainwashed by leftist ideology into an army of “nasty,” USA-hating radicals — who routinely accost rival Mayor Eric Adams on the campaign trail, Hizzoner revealed to The Post. “I have never witnessed a more mean and angry and nasty electoral season — and not all of Zohran’s voters are, but a substantial number of them,” Adams said during an exclusive 20-minute sitdown at Gracie Mansion. “You know, when you sit in a restaurant with a family, a family restaurant, children are there, and you’re...

Nepal’s government responded to escalating violent protests over a ban on popular social media platforms with deadly force. The public outrage over the ban and the deaths of 19 protesters on Monday led to the resignation of the prime minister and exposed deep discontent over corruption. Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli also rolled backed the short-lived ban after protesters turned their anger on politicians by setting fire to homes of some of the country’s top leaders. Led by mostly teenagers and young adults, the protests revealed a broader resentment in Nepal, where many people have increasingly become angry with the...