SpiritualGroundZero

The Pop Cult’s Pyrrhic Victory

  Something unprecedented happened in America in the years between 1991 and 1998. Christian religious affiliation fell from around 90 percent to 75 percent among young adults of ages 18-35. As frequent readers know, something noteworthy happened around the same time. If you take the average of people who were…
January 31, 202410 Comments
Gen Y More Millennial

More Millennial Than Millennials

This blog's ongoing project to beat the boundaries of forgotten generations has drawn a surprising amount of interest. Especially posts dealing with Gen Y and Millennials. You would think these observations self-evident, but Madison Avenue has consigned these cohorts to the memory hole since they're not longer profitable to ad…
January 24, 20249 Comments
nostalgia jukebox

The Nostalgia Jukebox Effect

Nostalgia for pre-Ground Zero pop culture is a subject that comes up a lot on this blog. Pining for the awesome 80s and rad 90s is such a defining feature of Generation Y that this cohort is almost solely responsible for the glut of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles retro action…
January 18, 202416 Comments
Millennial in Hall of Mirrors

Millennial Hall of Mirrors

Talk to Millennials long enough, and they'll turn the topic of conversation to their preferred pop culture brands. Discussing these corporate IPs with them for any length of time will give you the definite impression that this generation doesn't just consume these entertainment products, they project themselves into them. To…
January 15, 20249 Comments
Pandora Hope

The Responsibility of Hope

This week's posts on the challenges faced by the Millennial generation and ideas for how to help them meet those challenges sparked a lively discussion that ranged across multiple posts. Being an editor, I have spliced a selection of comments on related themes into the following dialogue. Author JD Cowan…
January 11, 202417 Comments
Japan Childlessness Crisis

Japan’s Childlessness Crisis

The Land of the Rising Sun may have no tomorrow if a solution to the economically advanced but spiritually demoralized nation's fertility woes isn't found. Japan's childlessness crisis has gained international notoriety over the past several years. But the crisis goes beyond the much-discussed "herbivore" phenomenon of young men withdrawing…
January 10, 202427 Comments
help millennials

How We Can Help Millennials

We talk about generations as if they're clearly defined categories, but in reality the gaps between generational cohorts are pretty ambiguous. Being Gen Y, my perspective on current intergenerational conflicts is as close to objective as anyone but a member of the dwindling Greatest Generation. If you've been paying even…
January 9, 202412 Comments
Depressed Millennial

Millennials: Depressed and Disordered

Men, what does it mean to be happy? According to Mammon and Moloch, it means making as much money and sleeping with as many high-value women as possible. But in the Christian tradition, happiness comes from living in harmony with God, neighbor, nature, and yourself. By that standard, Millennials might…
January 8, 20248 Comments
Pizza Hut Classic 1

Generation Y’s Real Café 80s

Most people reading this will be familiar with the 50s retro diner, in concept if not by firsthand experience. This style of restaurant gained popularity in the 1980s as Baby Boomers neared middle age. Savvy restaurateurs figured out that appealing to that generation's nostalgia for the 1950s culture they dismantled…
December 29, 20236 Comments
Break Down

The Break Down

Reader Rudolph Harrier comments on a previous post: What makes things worse is that Zoomers have only learned how to deal with existing services. Music sites everywhere are littered with comments of “I heard a song I liked but it’s not on Spotify so how can I listen to it…
December 12, 202313 Comments