Throughout the past few years, our generation has witnessed first-hand an increase in the discussion of often marginalized identities in the United States. From news stories like the Occupy Wall Street movement, to legalizing same-sex marriage in a few states and even the recent Trayvon Martin verdict, these conversations have been brought to the forefront.

Yet in the midst of these dialogues, one identity that seems to have been left out of the mix is religion.

As a generation, we have to come to a point where we no longer view religion, faith or spirituality as a subject that is off limits. As young adults, we should be able to engage one another in conversations about our personal backgrounds without feeling like someone else’s beliefs are being forced upon us, or even that we are the ones doing the forcing.

A recent article published on Oct. 2 by USA Today College entitled, “What do millennials really seek from religion?” explored the growing interest among researchers to determine what college students seek from spirituality. A student at Miami University, Luke Hall, touches on the shift in perspective that most college students often go through. “College is a period of self-discovery, exploration and reflection, which is why it’s pretty common to see large ideological and philosophical shifts among students,” he said.

College can bring just as many moments of defeat as it can triumph, that can cause anyone to question their beliefs.

For example, it has become even more difficult to hold on to the beliefs I was taught growing up in the Baptist church and under the roof of a mother who is also a spiritual life coach. Although I’ve been stretched, I think that by the end of my four years of undergrad, I’ll have a much better understanding of what these principles and beliefs truly mean to me.

But meaningful discussions surrounding religion rarely take place. It seems as if forums, student panels and lectures seldom open up about the reality that 52 percent of millennials who have left the church and their original faiths, signifying a lack of interest in religion altogether. This shows that religion has become a taboo-like discussion topic — we can’t open up about it without the fear of stepping on someone else’s toes.

A popular blog entry published over the summer on CNN.com entitled, “Why Millennials are Leaving the Church,” and written by Rachel Held Evans, explored some of the reasons why this generation seems to have been turned off from many aspects of religion and may perceive it as off-limits.

Evans explains in her piece that, “…young adults perceive evangelical Christianity to be too political, too exclusive, old-fashioned, unconcerned with social justice and hostile to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.” That assessment extends far beyond the realm of Christianity and can apply to any other religion or faith tradition.

Religion intersects and is intertwined within other personal identifiers — to leave faith out of our conversations in regards to our interactions with the world is to leave out a central element. Syracuse University does offer us a unique foundation and space for having open dialogues about faith and tradition. Hendricks Chapel itself is a place for all backgrounds and is symbolic of the diverse faith backgrounds represented here on campus. That same sense of inclusion should be brought to our lecture halls, classrooms and discussion sections.

No matter the religious identity you were or were not raised under, the goal as a millennial in college now is to leave this campus with a knowledge and acceptance of religious identities. This alone will enable you to sit in the company of anyone and have some type of understanding about their background.

Nina Rodgers is a sophomore sociology major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at nmrodger@syr.edu.

Published on October 8, 2013 at 2:58 am