Family Interview Paper

Religion has always been a vital exercise in my life. Whether it was going to a private catholic school, or attending church every Friday and Saturday, religion consumed my family's everyday lives. My mother was the main reason for the huge presence of religion. She grew up with father who doubled as her pastor. This naturally influenced her beliefs, actions, and decisions. I chose to interview my mother simply because I was curious to see how having a pastor as a father molded her into the person she is today.

My grandfather is a Missouri Synod pastor. Missouri Synod is a branch of Lutheranism. “Lutheranism is one of the largest Protestant Christian denominations today, with 66 million Lutherans worldwide” (ReligionFacts). Lutheranisms is based off of a German monks teachings, Martin Luther. Luther’s main teachings emphasized following scripture, faith alone, and criticized indulgences. This sparked tension, but Luther also gained multiple followers. The Missouri Synod branch tends to be more conservative than the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. LCMS does not tolerate abortion, women pastors, non-members taking communion, or homesexualtiy. Most

ELCA congregations have a more liberal approach to these social issues. Some ELCA communities even go as far as accepting, and allowing homosexual clergy members (stjohnhubbard).
Being that my grandfather was a Missouri Synod pastor, my mother’s whole family was incredibly conservative. I had invariably assumed that because my mom grew up conservative that she would remain that way. To my complete and utter surprise, when asking her a couple of follow-up questions to the interview, she showed me a brand new side of her that I didn’t know existed. Her answer to my question about her feelings on homosexualty captivated me. Instead of being close-minded and automatically referring to how the bible clearly states it’s a sin, she voiced her own opinion on the matter. She stated that she did not necessarily agree with their lifestyle; however, everyone deserves to spend the rest of their life with the person that they love, and who are we to judge. I was wholly dumbfounded and proud of her, but i felt a slight twinge of guilt for assuming. After expressing my surprise to her openness, I asked why she felt the way she did. She than proceeded to tell me that growing up a pastor’s kid influenced her both negatively and positively. In the case of social issues, she did not agree with her parents.
This brings me to my first theme of the paper, which is how family and tradition can impact one’s beliefs and ideals.

Many individuals state that it was their family that either pushed them away from religion, helped enrich their spirituality, or made them choose another faith. One way or another, family and traditions have a vast impact on people. Despite current social changes, “over half of young adult children are following in their parents footsteps, in that they are affiliated with the parents’ religious traditions” (Christianity today). Studies have shown that the overall quality of the relationship between parents and children affects the success or failure of transmission. Research has also revealed that “flexibility and tolerance play a big role in successful transmission of faith”(Christianity

today).
Family can have a positive impact; however, it can also have negative effect as well. In some cases the constant badgering and forcefulness makes an individual rebel. This rebellion can resort to the individual turning to another religion, or renouncing all religions in general. In most cases this causes tension in the household. Often this tension creates problems that may last for a long time, or cause detrimental issues. In some cases, family has nothing to do with the individual's choice in religion. They may just believe in something that is completely different than their families beliefs. Whether it is for the better or the worse, family does play a colossal role in children's, and adults lives.
Another part of the interview that stood out to me was when I asked my mom the question if she had any fears for my future or my generation's future. Her response was that she didn’t have any fears for my future because she believed that she had instilled a solid base in me. She did avoid answering the question when I referred to my generation’s future. After the interview, she admitted to me that she was quite fearful for the future of my generation. Her biggest fear is how fast religion is fading within us.
With our society continually changing, and evolving it is not out of the question to think that religion could potentially be dying. Science is becoming increasingly popular, and nowadays society is more accepting of different beliefs. This makes for new opportunities to explore other faiths. “Between 2007 and 2014, the Christian share of the population fell between 78.4% to 70.6%” (pewresearch). Although the Christian population in the United States dropped, the group that identifies as Unaffiliated (atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular”) rose by 6.7%. This drop was present throughout the entire population. So the trends were the same among young adults, adults, whites, blacks, Latinos, women, and men. The main decline came from Catholics and mainline Protestants, which includes United Methodist Church, American Baptist Churches USA, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church, and the Episcopal Church. Both of these groups have been shrinking by three percentage points since 2007. The Non-Christian faiths such as: Muslim, Hindus, Buddhists, etc. rose as well; however, this group only rose by 1.2%. “This growth has been especially great among Muslims and Hindus, albeit from a very low base” (pew research).
One of the main reasons for the jump in Unaffiliated group is due to the fact that “intermarriages have risen by 39% since 2010” (pew research). This means that while most of the other religions are aging, the Unaffiliated are young and rapidly growing. Another reason as to why the Unaffiliated group has grown could simply be the fact that people don’t like to identify with one religion. Their beliefs may incorporate bits and pieces from multiple different religions, or they may just not want to identify themselves as anything. Switching religion is quite common, especially in the U.S. because we are more so accepting than other countries.
It is believed that one of the main causes for the drop in Christianity is that “the growth of the “nones” is generational replacement” (pew research). The Millennial generation is entering adulthood, and the citizens exhibit low levels of religious affiliation. This means that they have less involvement with Christian Churches then what other older generations had. According to Pew Research, “fewer than six-in-ten Millennials identify with any branch of Christianity, compared with the seven-in-ten or more among older generations, including the Baby Boomers, and Gen-Xers” (pew research).
After the interview with my mother, it required me to ponder what she had said about my generation. I realized that I did not agree with her. I think that religion isn’t dying in my generation, I believe that we just don’t like to categorize ourselves. That would explain the drop in Christianity and the jump in Unaffiliated. Not because faith is fading, but the fact that we do not like to associate with one definite group. I also feel that I came to better understand my mother and myself after the interview. Just like my mom, my parents have influenced my beliefs in two ways. The first way is the fact that they have instilled a solid base of beliefs in me. The last way is that they have made me question some of my beliefs; however, I think that that is a good thing. By them making me question, it has forced me to truly evaluate and arbitrate my own faith.