When I commissioned a national poll to find out how many Americans believe that God is real, I expected to find that young people would be among the most skeptical. While that turned out to be true, I was shocked to discover that their spiritual doubts are matched—or even exceeded—by the oldest Americans.
The survey, taken in conjunction with my new book Is God Real? Exploring the Ultimate Question of Life, disclosed that only half of seniors (51%) strongly believe that God is real, which is the lowest among any American age group.
Spiritual skepticism might be expected among Gen Z (born 1995-2009), which has been called the first post-Christian generation in America—and the survey bears that out. One-third of Gen Z doubt that God is real, with 10% expressing strong doubt and 24% indicating they’re somewhat doubtful. Just 66% of Gen Z somewhat or strongly believe that God exists.