By Jonny Vu
Being raised religious is awful. I guess I should replace is with “was” now. I was raised as a Catholic by my parents. I attended church every Sunday and went to a Catholic Saturday school. It went from first to eighth-grade. I completely hated it.
I don’t remember anything from Saturday school. My parents reasons for sending me there was to take communion as well as learn Vietnamese. All this did was add more stress and gave me more homework. My sister who also went to Saturday school with me said: “It’s honestly so pointless since I don’t remember the stuff I learn from there.”
I remember a time in fifth grade when this teacher taught us about God. He stated that God made Earth and whatnot. When my classmates brought up the Big Bang theory, he immediately dismissed it and anything science-related.
I do understand why he would believe that, but at the time it just left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I can’t stand people who are close minded. Even if they personally don’t agree with certain ideas, understanding why a person might believe so would be considerate.
I can’t exactly pinpoint when I didn’t want to be religious, but I do remember it being early on. It began with going to church. As I grew older I decided that going to church wasn’t for me. I don’t hate church in itself, but didn’t want to spend an hour or so listening to sermons and preaches.
My mom still forced me to go saying; “You still have to,” or “It is your duty to do so.”
This is why my dislike towards religion began.
My dislike grew even more with how skewed my parents perspective on certain matters were because of religion. A major component was the LGBTQ+ community. I know not all religious people have the same view points, but my parents are very traditional so their thoughts align with conservatives. Let’s just say they weren’t here for it.
As a person who is a part of the LGBTQ+ community, it definitely was a punch to the gut. I felt a strong disconnect with them for a long time. I couldn’t be as open with them as much. I didn’t mind telling my sexuality to my friends or at school, but I had to keep a secret about it to my parents.
It took a couple of years until they changed their opinion on the matter. It was a bit difficult coming out to them, but after I did I felt so much better about myself. They were welcoming and pleasant about it. I still disagree with some of their opinions, but I can hope that they will better themselves in the future.
My friend Vivian Nguyen, who is also Catholic, shares the same experience with her parents. She says, “Though my parents have gotten more lenient when it comes to going to Church, I still have to pray with them every night. It’s so tiring to be honest.”
“I just simply don’t believe in god. Simple as that,” said my friend Andy Trinh, who also has Catholic parents.
I asked if he told his parents and he said: “I brought it up like a long time ago. They were mad and kept telling me that because they were Catholic I had to be Catholic as well.”
The amount of people that aren’t religious nowadays is growing with each generation. According to the Pew Research Center, Generation Z is the least religious generation. About one third have no religion which is about the same proportion as Millenials. Generation X, Baby Boomers, and the Silent Generation only have 23%, 17%, 11% respectively.
Another study also suggests that young people raised without religion are more resistant to peer pressure and more tolerant of diversity than their religious peers.
This isn’t to say religion is bad—far from it. Religion has helped so many people and there are studies that suggest there are benefits in it. According to the University of Texas at San Antonio, they found that “third-graders' psychological adjustment and social competence were positively correlated with various religious factors.”
I have no problems with people who are religious. Just don’t force those beliefs onto others.
"Millennials increasingly are driving growth of 'nones' | Pew ...." 12 May. 2015, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/05/12/millennials-increasingly-are-driving-growth-of-nones/. Accessed 25 Nov. 2019.
"How secular family values stack up - Los Angeles Times." 14 Jan. 2015, https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-oe-0115-zuckerman-secular-parenting-20150115-story.html. Accessed 25 Nov. 2019.
"Sociologists study the impact religion has on child development." 7 Feb. 2019, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190207123220.htm. Accessed 25 Nov. 2019.
4 "Gen Z Is the Least Religious Generation. Here's Why That ...." 6 May. 2019,
https://psmag.com/ideas/gen-z-is-the-least-religious-generation-heres-why-that-could-be-a-good-thing. Accessed 25 Nov. 2019.
Being raised religious is awful. I guess I should replace is with “was” now. I was raised as a Catholic by my parents. I attended church every Sunday and went to a Catholic Saturday school. It went from first to eighth-grade. I completely hated it.
I don’t remember anything from Saturday school. My parents reasons for sending me there was to take communion as well as learn Vietnamese. All this did was add more stress and gave me more homework. My sister who also went to Saturday school with me said: “It’s honestly so pointless since I don’t remember the stuff I learn from there.”
I remember a time in fifth grade when this teacher taught us about God. He stated that God made Earth and whatnot. When my classmates brought up the Big Bang theory, he immediately dismissed it and anything science-related.
I do understand why he would believe that, but at the time it just left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I can’t stand people who are close minded. Even if they personally don’t agree with certain ideas, understanding why a person might believe so would be considerate.
I can’t exactly pinpoint when I didn’t want to be religious, but I do remember it being early on. It began with going to church. As I grew older I decided that going to church wasn’t for me. I don’t hate church in itself, but didn’t want to spend an hour or so listening to sermons and preaches.
My mom still forced me to go saying; “You still have to,” or “It is your duty to do so.”
This is why my dislike towards religion began.
My dislike grew even more with how skewed my parents perspective on certain matters were because of religion. A major component was the LGBTQ+ community. I know not all religious people have the same view points, but my parents are very traditional so their thoughts align with conservatives. Let’s just say they weren’t here for it.
As a person who is a part of the LGBTQ+ community, it definitely was a punch to the gut. I felt a strong disconnect with them for a long time. I couldn’t be as open with them as much. I didn’t mind telling my sexuality to my friends or at school, but I had to keep a secret about it to my parents.
It took a couple of years until they changed their opinion on the matter. It was a bit difficult coming out to them, but after I did I felt so much better about myself. They were welcoming and pleasant about it. I still disagree with some of their opinions, but I can hope that they will better themselves in the future.
My friend Vivian Nguyen, who is also Catholic, shares the same experience with her parents. She says, “Though my parents have gotten more lenient when it comes to going to Church, I still have to pray with them every night. It’s so tiring to be honest.”
“I just simply don’t believe in god. Simple as that,” said my friend Andy Trinh, who also has Catholic parents.
I asked if he told his parents and he said: “I brought it up like a long time ago. They were mad and kept telling me that because they were Catholic I had to be Catholic as well.”
The amount of people that aren’t religious nowadays is growing with each generation. According to the Pew Research Center, Generation Z is the least religious generation. About one third have no religion which is about the same proportion as Millenials. Generation X, Baby Boomers, and the Silent Generation only have 23%, 17%, 11% respectively.
Another study also suggests that young people raised without religion are more resistant to peer pressure and more tolerant of diversity than their religious peers.
This isn’t to say religion is bad—far from it. Religion has helped so many people and there are studies that suggest there are benefits in it. According to the University of Texas at San Antonio, they found that “third-graders' psychological adjustment and social competence were positively correlated with various religious factors.”
I have no problems with people who are religious. Just don’t force those beliefs onto others.
"Millennials increasingly are driving growth of 'nones' | Pew ...." 12 May. 2015, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/05/12/millennials-increasingly-are-driving-growth-of-nones/. Accessed 25 Nov. 2019.
"How secular family values stack up - Los Angeles Times." 14 Jan. 2015, https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-oe-0115-zuckerman-secular-parenting-20150115-story.html. Accessed 25 Nov. 2019.
"Sociologists study the impact religion has on child development." 7 Feb. 2019, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190207123220.htm. Accessed 25 Nov. 2019.
4 "Gen Z Is the Least Religious Generation. Here's Why That ...." 6 May. 2019,
https://psmag.com/ideas/gen-z-is-the-least-religious-generation-heres-why-that-could-be-a-good-thing. Accessed 25 Nov. 2019.