Dear Focus on the Family: You are a big reason why millennials are abandoning faith!

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06/21/2012

by Jeremy Hooper

In a post to its Citizenlink blog, Focus on the Family is reporting on new findings that shows the so-called millennial generation becoming more secular (among other things):

Sobering News for Millennials [Focus on the Family]

What Focus on the Family doesn't realize or isn't self-reflective enough to admit? That aggressive "pro-family" organizations like theirs is a major—MAJOR!!—reason why younger American are turned off by religious life in this country! For the past third years or so, the religious conversation in this nation has been totally and utterly hijacked by the self-appointed voices of the religious right. And right there, front and center, during this Falwellian–>Rick Warren rise? Focus on the Family, an organization that has been telling Americans how to live, vote, think, and pray (with LGBT people always on the shunned bottom of any of that advice-giving).

Jut look at the above-linked piece. Focus on the Family uses Glenn Stanton in it, as if he has some deep insight into the situation. That would be the very same Glenn Stanton who describes homosexuality as a "particularly evil lie of Satan." That is PRECISELY the sort of thing that makes millennial Americans look at evangelical Christianity and say, "yeah, no—I'm good!"

Or look at FoTF's Rising Voice program, which the above-linked piece presents as a way for younger evangelicals to deepen their faith. That program is headed by Esther Fleece, a young Christian who is quite eager to defending her movement against scrutiny, yet never takes even an ounce of responsibility for the actual rhetoric, actions, and programs (like "ex-gay" programs) attached to the house that pays her bills. Last year, the company that manufacturers the trendy Toms shoes apologized for lending credence to Focus on the Family once the head of that company realized what Focus on the Family is actually pushing against LGBT people (for one). Many millenials feel the exact same way, which is why programs like the youth-focused "Day of Dialogue" (anther "ex-gay" advocacy program) are miserable failures every single year.

As I've said before: Focus on the Family has the exact same practical mission it had during the more aggressive James Dobson years, even if the staffers talk softer and wear DSqaured2. This organization has tried to woo in younger supporters in a number of cosmetic ways. The problem? They've made no substantive changes! And the cold, hard truth for this Colorado Springs mega organization is that you can't push a hashtag on a face-punch and instantly turn it into a sweet, blooming, youth-friendly #rose. You gotta stop punching first!