Gen Me & No Religion

The book “Generation Me” by Jean Twenge did not include religion, which I think is the downfall of this book. There were many true views that Jean stated in her book, but I believe religion plays a large role in our generation and in past generations. To me this book was all about comparison. In some parts Jean makes it seem like our generation is not what it should be. For example she says “ ‘[S]tudents learn that they do not need to respect their teachers or even earn their grades, so they begin to believe that they are entitled to grades, respect, or anything else … just for asking.’ I do not think it is just our generation who acts this way. Most people want respect and some think they deserve it, but I don’t think we assume we have respect. Our generation is more accepting; we try our best to gain respect. Working to gain a persons respect takes time and is totally different than asking for respect. Jean Twenge says,” Some teens find their experiences at odds with their religious upbringing. For many, this means that they see gays as sinners, and/or believe that gays can change to be straight. Others find themselves questioning their beliefs.” 9p. 209). This relates to religion because in some religions they think gay people are bad. Our generation should not feel ashamed or uncomfortable for what we believe or what we do.

Jean Twenge points out that our generation doesn’t care how others perceive us. We do care, we just have been taught to be individuals. Religion plays into this topic because as individuals we believe what we want not what we are told. If our parents are Catholic, that doesn’t necessarily mean we need to follow their religious views. If Jean included religion there would be more substance to her views. The lack of religion does alter my opinion of the book. Even though our generation may decide not to stick with our family’s religion it is still a large part of who we are and how we act. Today many parents take a back seat on MAKING their children believe in a certain religion. Adding this to the book can show the different communication and values our generation has. I would want to add religion to the entire book, but one specific place would be chapter 6. In this chapter they talk about our generations views on premarital sex. Some religions view premarital sex as a sin and that couples should wait till they are in a married committed relationship. It may be controversial to add religious views on sex to the book, but I feel as though Jean just leaves out a big chunk of what really matters. Jean Twenge may have left out religion so she didn’t have to deal with the good and bad comments people have about her book, but like i stated earlier it made the book boring. Despite the lack of religion I think half of the stuff Jean talked about it just bashing our generation and doesn’t say much about previous generations.