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The Stream - The young and the faithfulCan you be young and religious? Depends who you ask.According to the Pew Research Center American millennials are less religious than previous generations. But there are many young people, like Hannah Spiro, who don’t embody that statistic.Spiro, who recently became a rabbi, says: “There is a really vibrant youth group culture in reform Judaism and it has figured out that ‘being part of the religion’ is cool.”A recent episode of Aziz Ansari’s blockbuster Netflix show, Master of None, explored the generational divide when it comes to religion. In the episode Aziz, who’s Muslim, secretly eats pork, something practicing Muslims do not do.“I’m not that religious,” he tells his parents in the episode. “And I eat pork. But it’s OK because I’m a good person and I’m 33 years old and I can make those decisions. I eat what I want. And I want to eat the crispy pork with broccoli.”Theologian Alex McFarland says it’s that sort of tolerance that has many millennials turning their back on God.“Because my truth is, well, my truth, no one may ever question any behavior or belief I hold”, McFarland says. “This “standard” has become so ingrained that it is now impossible to rationally critique any belief or behavior without a backlash of criticism.”So how do faithful millennials navigate growing secularism among their peers? We find out when we ask them what it means to be young and religious in the United States.On this episode of The Stream, we're joined by:Hannah Spiro @hannah18spiroRabbi, Hill Havurahhillhavurah.orgSabina Khan-Ibarra @MuslimahMontageWritermuslimahmontage.comIshani Nath @ishaninathJournalistflare.comChristian Chiakulas @ChrisChiakulasWriterpatheos.comThis episode’s story: http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/201... Follow The Stream and join Al Jazeera’s social media community: FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/AJStream TWITTER: https://twitter.com/AJStream GOOGLE+: http://google.com/+TheStream **************************************************** On The Stream: Why are millennials in the US turning away from religion? Thumbnail: Pope Francis poses for a selfie during a special audience with members of Eucharist Youth Movement at the Vatican on August 7, 2015. (REUTERS/TONY GENTILE)
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master of none Jewish christian Catholic christianity Islam faith Muslim Millennial Atheism millennials youth hinduism religion hindu thestream Aziz Ansari evangelical secularism spirituality agnostic aljazeera atheist secular judaism religious jesus stream pope and faith pope faith and morals pope faith and reason pope francis and faith vatican francis pope holy see pope francis jorge bergoglio church basilica rome reports batican saint peter vatican city jesus christ