The Kids Are Alright 

On November 26, 2014, a post was made on what was then Twitter by the user @dril (one of the individuals at the forefront of what was affectionately referred to as “weird Twitter”): “my big sons have made a mess of the garage again after being riled up by the good word of the Lord.”

Truly, is there any simpler way to sum up the burgeoning influence of Gen Z (the “Zoomers”) on culture, economics, society, and religion? 

Gen Z—in addition to (admittedly) spending too much time on that damn phone—is toppling regimes, questioning heretofore uncontested socioeconomic norms, and flocking in droves to the Christian faith. To some, this may be surprising. But to me, Zoomer that I am, it comes as no surprise given a brief consideration of some of the hallmarks of my generation.

Gen Z is serious about authenticity. We can, in many cases, spot a fake from a mile away. This has proven to be true recently in the political sphere—we’re quick to detect when someone’s sidestepping an issue, dodging a question, or trying to bury legitimate criticism; conversely, this is why we’re drawn to people who pull no punches, who consider all perspectives without censorship. We like people who are real. 

This is why people like Nick Fuentes are especially popular with Gen Z at the moment. Love him or hate him, you can’t help but get him. He talks about economic, social, political, and religious issues important to Zoomers—important to everyone, for that matter—that would otherwise go unaddressed or get buried by various figures in the establishment for a multitude of reasons. Gen Z likes him because he’s real—in contrast to other bought-and-paid-for figures in media.

Of course, this desire for the real, taken by itself, can easily misguide us: this is also partially why someone like Zohran Mamdani was able to win the New York City mayoral election. He was incredibly good at reaching Gen Z (through social media campaigns, rhetoric, etc.), being ostensibly “real,” and talking about issues that resonate with many of us (affordability of housing and other various goods being close to the top of the list). None of this changes the fact that he is a liberal socialist with a bunch of extremely bad ideas and immoral positions.

Nonetheless, Gen Z’s desire for authenticity and truth remains a salient point, at least to understand where we come from and where we are going. It has also provided us with a surprising degree of commonality among ourselves.

As an example: It seems hard to believe that people like Mamdani and Fuentes would have any common ground, and yet they do. They have both addressed, to varying extents, one of the biggest bipartisan issues of our time: namely, Israel’s involvement in U.S. politics and their actions in Gaza. 

Other pertinent examples of Gen Z finding common ground on particular issues include our overwhelming suspicion of corporate hegemony and monopoly in America and our (not entirely unrelated) opposition to AI’s growing influence and popularity in every facet of culture.

Through these considerations, another of Gen Z’s distinctive features becomes apparent: a desire for unity in truth. Obviously, not every member of Gen Z knows or has the truth, but it is at least clear that the two-party system and classic political dichotomy is losing its foothold among Zoomers, despite efforts by elites to artificially divide us—such as attempting to make the Israel issue a “Left vs. Right” thing.

Given these desires for authenticity, truth, and unity, it begins to be easy to see why Christianity (and the Catholic Church in particular) is drawing many converts and/or reverts from my generation. It is also easy to see why we are attracted to more traditional forms of Christianity, with beautiful liturgies, orthodox catechesis, and ancient hymns and devotions. Many so-called “reforms” and “improvements” have run their course and borne bad fruit. Much of this is, by definition, forced and artificial, and Gen Z wants no part of it. 

At the same time, as Eric Sammons pointed out in a recent article, Gen Z increasingly also wants no part of “Doomer” culture—a depressing, hopeless perspective—especially given the current, and easily observable, often dismal state of the world and the Church. We love beautiful liturgies; not so much liturgy wars. We’re interested in current events; we’re far less interested in end-time predictions. 

Lightheartedness is another hallmark of our generation; it is why humor (particularly irony) is so extremely important to us. We’re one of the loneliest generations. Generally speaking, we want laughter, community, family, joy, and peace; we do not want endless debates about the minutiae of which particular cult is going to destroy the world first, or which early 1900s missal is best suited for the celebration of the Latin Mass (though I must admit I have been guilty of the latter). We have enough to deal with as it stands.

Humor, unity, authenticity—all of this is ultimately only the desire for the True, the Good, and the Beautiful that dwells in the depths of every human heart. Gen Z happens to be feeling it all particularly strongly at this moment in time, and I am optimistic for our future. We have indeed been riled up by the Good Word. We are making a mess of the metaphorical garage.

Now if only we would spend less time on that damn phone.