Man s Search for Marriage – Public Discourse

A recent American Enterprise Institute (AEI) study indicates that, for the first time on record, more young men than women are attending church. The difference, while unprecedented, is small: 34 percent of Gen Z men are religiously unaffiliated, as opposed to 40 percent of Gen Z women. But commentators are united in befuddlement about why this reversal has taken place. They worry that this could point to and exacerbate a growing masculinization of churches, rather than a healthy increase in religious parity between men and women. In the New York Times, Ruth Graham reflected on the impact of education and income disparities on men; her colleague Ross Douthat speculated about the effect of masculine influencers or structural socioeconomic forces like deindustrialization and stagnating male wages ; and others, like Ed Kilgore, think power-hungry young men are seeking divine sanction.

This turn toward church may be unexpected, but it is actually rooted in the most natural drive of all: a desire for marriage and family. Young men are looking for truth and responsibility and, ultimately, meaning. For most men, throughout history, a primary source of meaning has been marriage and children. And as a result, Gen Z is also returning to marriage: Newsweek reported that 93 percent of Gen Z youth are interested in mar

via www.thepublicdiscourse.com

Darren Geist.