Nick Bogardus

Breaking Radio Silence

I haven’t posted anything in over a month because, in addition to planting Mars Hill Orange County, I had the opportunity to join a church planting cohort with six other pastors from all corners of the US. It has been brutal in terms of traveling - if anyone has any travel health tips I welcome them! - but it has been a great experience and I’m grateful to be in the company of great men with passions for Jesus, their families, and their cities. Actually, I’m on a plane heading home now and am about to jump out of my seat with excitement to see Kim and Eva.

MTD & Liberal Whateverism

Anyway, I’m happy to break the radio silence for Christian Smith. His book, Souls in Transition, was incredibly helpful for me in understanding the Millennial generation and still serves as a oft-referenced resource. From that research, Smith helpfully diagnosed the spiritual malaise of America as “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism”. Smith is back with another helpful term to describe an aspect of American spirituality, “Liberal Whateverism”.

I have been studying the lives of American teenagers and emerging adults for the past decade. In our recently published book, “Lost in Transition: The Dark Side of Emerging Adulthood,” my co-authors and I describe the larger world in which liberal whateverism makes sense. Many emerging adults have few considered moral bearings, are devoted to mass consumerism, routinely become intoxicated and engage in casual sexual hook-ups, are civically and politically uninformed and alienated. Our story is not a tirade against “kids these days.” It is about wider, deeper problems in American society and culture — concerns that should trouble liberals and conservatives — which show up in disquieting ways in the lives of youth.

Be sure to read the rest of the article here.

[H/T Justin Holcomb]