A new report from Arizona Christian University’s Cultural Research Center found more young adults identifying with Christianity while support for socialism sharply increased among the same age group.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A new study on Generation Z’s worldview found that more young adults are identifying as Christians and reporting stronger religious commitment, even as the same group shows rapidly increasing support for socialism.
The findings were detailed in a Newsmax report citing the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University and its 2026 American Worldview Inventory report, led by Christian researcher Dr. George Barna. The report examined survey responses from people ages 18 to 23 between 2022 and 2026.
AWVI 2026 Report 3 Progress and Regress of Gen Z by yourNEWS Media
Researchers compared data collected in May 2025, four months before the murder of Christian leader Charlie Kirk, with data gathered in January, four months afterward. The report said it was examining claims that a spiritual revival had begun among the nation’s youngest adults since Kirk’s death.
The study found several signs of religious movement among Gen Z adults. The share who described themselves as having a “deep commitment to practicing religious faith” increased by 17 percentage points. The percentage identifying as Christian rose from 49% to 54%.
At the same time, the report found a sharp political and economic shift. Gen Z adults who said they preferred socialism over capitalism increased from 22% to 39% over four years. The study said the rise included a 21-point jump during the eight months from May 2025 to January 2026.
The report identified that movement as one of the most significant “biblically negative” changes it tracked.
The findings arrive as younger voters play an expanding role in elections. The submitted material cited recent victories by democratic socialists in November elections, including Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialists of America member who became New York City’s youngest mayor in more than a century. Mamdani campaigned on proposals including free public transit, free childcare, rent freezes and higher taxes on corporations and wealthy residents.
Socialist-backed candidates also won races in Seattle and city councils across the country, underscoring the growing political influence of young voters who support left-wing economic policies.
Dr. Alex McFarland, a Christian author and speaker who has worked with young people for decades, told Newsmax that he sees the data as evidence of what he called “toxic empathy.” He attributed the trend to years of education that portrayed free markets, profits and personal initiative negatively while presenting socialism as compassionate.
McFarland has written more than 20 books and spoken to 250,000 young people through camps and conferences. He said the data suggests many young adults are becoming more open to Christianity while remaining influenced by political and economic ideas that he believes conflict with Scripture.
McFarland said young Christians often have not been taught to appreciate the United States or understand how capitalism, when shaped by Judeo-Christian values, can encourage innovation, generate wealth and improve living standards. He said K-12 public schools and secular universities have attacked capitalism for generations but added that churches have also failed to address economic and civic issues from a biblical perspective.
“If a man will not work, he shall not eat,” McFarland said, quoting 2 Thessalonians 3:10.
He said Scripture affirms private property, personal initiative and honest work rather than centralized welfare systems. He also said churches should emphasize voluntary charity instead of government-enforced redistribution.
McFarland argued that many pastors avoid preaching about America, free enterprise or the principles behind the country’s founding. He criticized denominations including the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Methodist Church, saying they have moved toward what he described as woke and anti-American messaging.
He said some churches promote “faux compassion” through support for open borders, free health care and broad government services without addressing whether those programs work as promised or are vulnerable to fraud and abuse.
“There’s no way to legitimately reconcile a welfare state with the principles of scripture,” McFarland told Newsmax.
He said many pastors who are willing to preach woke-socialist themes would not speak positively about President Donald Trump or openly support patriotism from the pulpit.
McFarland said many young people have not been taught the moral argument against socialism, including the claim that it discourages enterprise, punishes success and weakens personal character. He also cited Margaret Thatcher’s observation that socialism ultimately runs out of other people’s money.
McFarland described a recent exchange with a Christian college student who called Ford Motor Company’s quarterly profits “obscene.” McFarland said he responded by explaining that profits help fund jobs, paychecks, housing and innovation that have raised living standards globally. He said capitalism grounded in principle can build self-worth, while socialism promises ideal outcomes but produces hardship.
“They’ve been told that the early church, 50 years after the cross, practiced a form of communism, and that is absolutely false,” McFarland said. “We have to teach a fully orbed Biblical view, including what God has to say about citizenship, economics, government, education, business.”
The Barna report also found that only 1% of Gen Z adults hold consistently scriptural views on major life questions, the lowest rate of any generation measured and unchanged over four years.
Several beliefs moved further from traditional biblical positions, according to the study. Support for the view that marriage is “one possible choice among many,” rather than God’s design for one man and one woman, rose 18 percentage points. Rejection of absolute moral truth in favor of truth determined by each person increased by 10 points. The belief that there is no life after death rose by 6 points.
The findings show a generation moving in two directions at once: more young adults are embracing Christian identity and religious commitment, while many are also adopting political and moral views that Christian conservatives say conflict with biblical teaching. The study’s authors and commentators said the result raises questions for churches, educators and families about whether Gen Z’s renewed spiritual interest will be matched by deeper biblical formation.
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