Firestorm: New York City's First Marxist Mayor Speaks

In his inaugural address, Mamdani states he wants to replace "rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism." Anyone who follows the Marxist efforts of Critical Theory knows that this is simply another way of saying replace the Constitution with Communism/Socialism.

Latter-day Saints, while losing Gen Z and Millennials, are losing fewer than other denominations.

Nick Shirley on the PBD podcast promotes the church.

 Raw Transcript

All right, quick show today. Today is January 2nd, 2026. Happy New Year,
everyone. Uh we are covering a few different topics today. First, we're talking about Mamani, the first ever
socialist, which really means Marxist communist um mayor of a major city, the largest
city in the United States, New York City. and his inaugural speech talking about collectivism over individualism.
This is a very important comparison, a very important issue that is being discussed oftentimes in academia and
among those that want to break down the American values and mom Donnie certainly fits into this. Secondly, we're going to
be covering a new story from BYU, a paper that was put out talking about
religious uh retention within the the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as
compared to other religions. I want to go over this a little bit. We've got some graphs I want to show you. Yes,
Latter-day Saints are better at retention than about any other denomination out there, which is
fabulous news, and it's not surprising. But I want to discuss this a little bit and to look at the nuances of who we're
actually losing still. And even though we are retaining more, we are still
following the trend of the rest of Christianity currently, which is not good. Yes, we're baptizing a lot around
the world. I'm talking about the US here as far as retention goes. We're baptizing a lot around the world. Even
in the US, our baptisms are going up, but we are losing especially Gen Z and
millennials and especially women in those two uh demographics and in all age
groups, right? We're losing women quite a bit. Uh so I want to discuss that. And then third, we're going to go back to
Nick Shirley again, who is completely defying the spiral of silence. A lot of these new members of the church, these
young members of the church that are strong members of the church and have strong testimonies are defying the
spiral of silence and are going out there leaning into their beliefs. And this is an amazing example. It is
essentially, I believe, them calling out that the emperor has no clothes. Because
in our neness culture among Latter-day Saints, we sit there and we try to be polite and nice and never bring these
things up because the world doesn't really want to hear them. And and yet here we have some young examples of
those that are leaning into their beliefs and putting it out there. And thank goodness uh this is starting to
break the ice somewhat in of course you know podcast has been doing this for several years now but but those that are
getting national attention are starting to lean into their beliefs and and have
no shame in bringing up the fact that they are Latter-day Saints and in the
things that they believe in. And it is going fabulously well as they do this.
All right. So, those are our three topics for today, January 2nd, 2026. This episode is brought to you by Cardio
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All right. Well, here we go with quick show today. Uh, Zoron Mandani.
Uh, let me just show you a little image here that I've got. Here he is. He's got a D next to his name in the parenthesis,
which typically means Democrat. Now, technically, that is his affiliation as
a member of the Democrat party. But that could just as easily be an M for Marxist
or a C for communist. Well, Greg, you're a radical and you know what are you talking No, I mean this guy is as
blatantly a socialist communist Marxist as anybody I've ever
seen run. Even beyond a Bernie Sanders or an AOC, it's very obvious what his
background is. Uh this is who he is and he won because of it, right? He won
because of the fact that he is what he calls a Democrat socialist. uh he's part
of the organization called I think it's DSA de Democrat Socialist of America along with AOC and other Congress women
uh that are a part of that that organization that is now national and about 80,000 strong. It's not that big
but they've got some key members in it. Uh he says he's going to run and rule so
to speak. He's going to govern as a democratic socialist which means he's
going to run as a Marxist. he's going to run New York as a Marxist
uh mayor in that city. And he says these things over and over again. It's not
that he this is, you know, you there's always going to be push back from people on the left that are going to say, "Stop
with what you're saying. This is rhetoric that is uh flammable rhetoric and and it's it's not peacemaking or
whatever." No, we're going to call it out for what it is. It is what it is. Period. The fruit is what it is. Right?
He is a Marxist. He is a uh uh he he puts a flowery image of socialist
democrat uh as a a democratic socialist, whatever
he calls it. This is what he is and this is how he's
going to govern. and and putting that name of a democratic socialist over the the the teeth of the wolf of Marxism
is just a way to get yourself in the door with some people to soften it up a little bit with a label. Labels are
important unfortunately and and and we don't look deeper into things uh than sometimes just a label and this is
something that has helped him get elected. But really the juice behind this, let's be honest, the juice behind this is he simply ran as a Marxist and
putting out Marxist policies and people are very very excited about this. What's really interesting is that you have, for
example, the mainstream media that is all they're all supporting him. They think this is great. They have a huge
issue with someone like Trump and the way that he governs, but they don't have a problem checking the left, right, at
all. they they don't have a problem in in in supporting this guy. And and I'm going to show you a couple clips here
that are very surprising. One of the things, the Firestorm quote that came
out of his inauguration yesterday, uh was this idea of rugged
individualism, right? This is a a an academic term that has been put forward
by by uh professors and and those that help formulate
the concepts of DEI and the destruction of America. That's exactly what this is.
And that, you know, rugged individualism needs to be destroyed and we need to be as put into a collective as much as
possible. This is what he has to say here. You see Bernie Sanders here who was swearing him in uh who says that mom
Donnie is not a radical. That's that's cute coming from him. AOC right there in
the background as well. Uh this is a a Marxist party here basically. But let's
uh let's see what mom Donnie has to say here. We will draw this city closer together.
We will replace the fragidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.
Collectivism. If our campaign demonstrated that the people of New York yearn for solidarity,
then let this government foster it. Okay, solidarity. This is another Marxist term that he's using here uh
used all the time and he drops this in here all the time. He is going back to the well of common Marxist terms with a
label of democratic socialist. uh that that's just a way to try and bring
Marxism into the country. It's going to see be very interesting to see how he rules, right? It's going to be very
interesting to see, and I say rule because it's going to be tyranny to some degree. That doesn't mean he's going to be successful at all, but this is how
Marxism works. And the only way for him to accomplish what he wants to accomplish is to put in place policies,
law, uh, um, individuals into the city to make a radical change against
constitutional principles. So, working within that bubble of the constitution,
it will be interesting to see how he tries to get things done. Now, back to this idea of individual uh of of rugged
individualism and collectivism, right? So, one of the ways that those of critical theory, right? So, you've got
critical race theory, intersectionality, DEI, all of these labels and and and
philosophies that have have come out of academia in the last 30, 40 years. Um,
they are they they all push against rugged individualism. It's one of the things
they do. They're going to go against uh being white. They're going to go against uh uh rugged individualism. They're
going to go against the patriarchy. These are all terms that they that are basically the heteronormative, as they
call it, system that they're trying to break down, critique, break down, and
replace with something else that they basically don't know how to run. Rugged individualism is the idea of exactly
what built up this nation. And I say rugged individualism, but really it's families. It's rugged families.
The rigidity of rugged families is really what he's talking about. So I'm talking about pioneer families.
This is the exact opposite of what we saw in the display and narration and and presentation on the Washington Monument
on New Year's Eve, which was going through the American spirit. He wants to break all of this down. the rugged
individualism of going out and taming the land, the rugged individualism of of creating farms, the the rugged
individualism of entrepreneurship and building industry, uh the rugged individualism of of Christianity and and
of liberty. Uh that all requires a rugged individualism and rugged families
to be able to do that. And we owe what we have here in the United States, not to socialism, not to Marxism, not to a
collectivism of tyranny, because that's what this type of collectivism is, but
to a rugged individualism, building bridges,
still retaining your liberty and building bridges to be able to be a
different type of collective based on individualism. and based on individual rights. So this
whole idea of rugged individualism is we don't believe in individual rights unless those rights are going to break
down the system. And that's what he's going for, right? The collectivism. Why is the collectivism so important to him?
What kind of collectivism is he really talking about? Solidarity. What kind of solidarity is is he really talking
about? Go back and look at history and see what Marxists have done previously
with solidarity and collectivism. It is it is fascinating that we are at this
point in America in 2026 where the largest city in our country is now being
run by a Marxist by a communist. So how is he going to govern? How is he
going to rule? Well, he says so right here. I was elected as a democratic socialist
and I will govern as a democratic socialist.
There you go. And that is true. He was elected as a
man in my principles for fear of being deemed radical.
As the great senator from Vermont once said, "What's radical is a system which gives
so much to so few and denies so many people the basic necessities of life."
Okay. Again, you're talking about the greatest country in the world that has who who's poor are some of the richest
individuals compared to a lot of the other countries in the world. This is the richest country in the world. The
poor in this country are the richest poor in the world because of capitalism,
because of rugged individualism, because of industry, because of a spirit of growth and advancement,
uh, and and quite frankly because of a a a combination of democracy and yes,
democracy, I mean democracy, not just a a
constitutional republic, which is very important also, but because of democracy, that is representation of the
people in government or that's what democracy means and Christianity
right when you have those two things that you have to see that that that those two things combined together they
are natural partners they always are for Latter-day Saints as we look at the Book of Mormon you can see this
where where they are consistently right Captain Moroni is out fighting for five things defending ing his country for
five things, right? That is his land, his liberty, his religion, his God, and
his family. And they are looking for a representation of the people in government.
Really is just a a a fascinating time to be alive in the United States. But of
course, woke is dead, right? As people want to say, woke is dead. Whatever.
That that is so ridiculous. We get so many headlines and silos that we live in
that have a strong Trumpism right now that is very anti-woke and we think that
oh the the wokeness is dead. It's gone. No, it's not gone. Right? It it will
adapt. It always does. A virus always adapts. It will adapt. It will come up
with new language. It will come up with new labels. And it will be stronger than ever down
the road. Here we have an example of this with the largest city in America
hiring electing a communist mayor. Now, I want
to go over this little reporting here from CBS News New York and what they're
going to cover here. The these people are elated. They're they can hardly hold back. It is very concerning, right?
Everybody in the mainstream media cares about the far right and wants to demonize the far right and they should,
right? In many cases, they should on the far right and and the issues that come up there, but they will never check the
far left. In fact, when it comes up, they're like, "Oh, wow. This is great. We we like this. We support this. We
want this." This is CBS New York talking about uh Mom Donniey's inauguration
here. Marsha, I would like to get your perspective on how Zoron Mandani's
success or failure will really have repercussions nationally. You know, we
saw Bernie Sanders there, we saw um AOC there. Really, the party and the
socialism aspect of the Democratic platform really depends on the success
or the failure of this administration. Listen to her answer. Well, I mean,
Bernie Sanders said it himself. I I mentioned it earlier. Bernie Sanders said that Zarani had inspired a nation.
Okay, I just want to bring this up. So, they're actually talking about and and and rightfully so. They're actually
talking about whether or not he will be successful. And everybody's looking at this to see if he's going to be and
everybody is everybody's going to look at this as a a a laboratory for how socialism in a massive city is
going to work in the United States in a in a in a a a constitutional republic,
right? and and how that's going to how that's going to work. What are the conflicts going to be when you try to
run as a communist, when you're trying to run a government, a city government, as a communist government within the uh
and I do say communist because he's going to move toward that. Everything's going to move toward that, right? That
that collectivism that he's talking about. Yeah. That everybody has private property. Yes, everybody has
representation is going to vote still. So, it's not like New York is communist, but he is. And he's going to do his best
to wiggle his way through all of these issues to bring about policies that are
Marxist, that are democratic, socialist, and and and there's going to be some conflict
there. And how is he going to do this? And he'll be able to do whatever he can do with executive orders or whatever a a
mayor's powers are. He I would imagine that he's going to push a a a radical
change despite what Bernie Sanders says, but there's no push back on this.
There's no push back here from CBS on, yeah, wow, this is very concerning that a guy with communist mentality, with
Marxist policies, is running the largest largest city in the country. That's
where we're at in 2026. Last thing I want to bring up that I think is also interesting. I I want your feedback on
this, but you know, when he was sworn in, he was sworn in on two Qurans, not
two Bibles or not a Bible. And I I'm not saying that he has to be
sworn in on a Bible. But I mean, how do you ask someone who is a Muslim to put his hand and swear an
oath on a Bible? But man, is it symbolic. It it really is. I mean,
you're you're you're you're it's you have a Marxist and this is something
that you've got to understand, right? The Marxist in this country in the United States and Islam have a very
strong bond together. A very strong bond. They are two very very strong
collective movements. and and and this is why you see the the
the movement on campuses with Free Palestine, right? And they're all with the far-left
professors and administrators and students, Black Lives Matter, the year
after they were formed in 2014. In 2015,
they're in Palestine with Palestinian leaders, Hamas and others in 2015.
What are they doing all the way out in Palestine? Why are they making allegiances and and and partnerships
with the Palestinian authorities such as Hamas in 2015
after what when they're really focused on uh the the or should be focused on or
say that they're focused on these issues of Black Lives Matter in the United
States. It it's because there's a natural link there. They both have a desire to bring
down the fundamental structure of the United States, the founding principles, and they are both against Christianity.
Now, I've got a lot of Muslim friends. I I I I love them. I support them. They're
really good people, right? But the movement itself, especially of Islamism,
is is a is is a movement against the West. It is against the founding principles of of America and it is
against Christianity period. Anyway, this whole thing is fascinating. It's it's going to be quite a spectacle as we
watch this over the next several years to see how he maneuvers
a a a rigid a as best he can do a rigid uh uh
democratic socialist agenda within a constitutional government.
Woke is not dead. All right, our next story is back to Nick Shirley. Okay,
this is uh better than anything he's done in the past already on on Minnesota or anything else. He's on the PBD
podcast, a very large podcast. And uh he unabashedly unashamedly ashamedly comes
out as a Latter-day Saint and talks about why this is so important for him. And and this is so important because we
have been stifling ourselves as Latter-day Saints for too long in this neness culture that says,"Well, we don't
want to disrupt anything. We just want to fit in." And and it's I don't know what the word is. Is it ridiculous? Is
it preposterous? It's concerning. I can tell you that
outside of a handful of podcasters over the last number of years, you don't get this. You don't hear this. And so it is
so refreshing to see young individuals coming off of their missions and coming
out and just just, you know, being themselves and saying why this is
so important to them. He is going to own it. He's not going to worry about is this going to hurt my
views. He's not going to come out and say, well, well, I'm just trying to be generally a, you know, he's he's
conservative, obviously. He's saying, "No, I am a Latter-day Saint." And this is why this is
important. He is defying the spiral of silence that so many members of the church fall into, and we've got to stop.
Look at what he has to say here. Uh, someone's calling me uh like a PDF. They're saying all these crazy
allegations. I'm like, "What sucks for them is they're never going to be able to get me. I don't drink alcohol. I
don't do drugs. I'm a virgin. I don't have sex with random girls. You're not going to catch me on no sexation
charges. I don't have any addictions. I don't have any vices. So, what are these people going to get me for?
They are done. I'm a rel I'm a religious. I believe in God. I'm everything they hate.
I love that. So, what are they going to get me for? They they can't get me for anything. Uh, someone's calling me.
Okay. So, again, this is this is an important thing to understand. It's
like, look, that they're they're going to, you know, he he's brought up all these fraud charges or these allegations in Minnesota, and he's like, "People are
coming after me now. They're trying to break down his character. Of course, it's all ad homonym. Uh where there's
smoke, there's fire." And and so they're going with ad homonym attacks here and there. She's like, "Where are they going
to get me?" And he and he and he Annabashley talks about being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in this interview, and he
talks about his principles and his values. He's willing to say, "I'm a virgin at 23 years old."
uh you know, good for him. Kudos to him. This is this is what we need more of out
there. And hopefully this younger generation, even though there's a number of them that are falling away from the
church, there are some of these individuals here in these generation that are just awesome. They are rock
solid. And they are voices that can help save the rest of the church and our
culture of a spiral of silence and of ness culture and of teddy bear Jesus.
Right? So, so love hearing this and love seeing him just cut right through everything and saying here I am world
this is me and be vulnerable in that sense but really strengthened right
really through a strength of testimony and conviction in who he is and what he
does. He's an example. All right. Lastly, I want to go over a an article in the Desireette News that came out. It
was a couple weeks ago, but this is important data, and it's a followup on what I was talking about uh a couple of
days ago on the quick show today about the separation of of what we might call
the God gap, right? Where where you have religion between men and women. We went over that graph between men and women
and the differences in who is religious and who is not religious. And it's it's a very startling startling graph and and
study uh that that that we find there. And and what it's showing more and more
unfortunately and it is unfortunate. It's it's really too bad. But you're seeing more and more the conservative
and Republican side being more and more uh uh separated from the left and the
Democrat party who are now becoming more and more secular. They are less and less
and less religious. And this God gap, which to me is is a Godfamily
gap. That's the key. We need to keep that in there. It's not just religion, religion and family. You got to put
those two together. And that gap is is widening. And what we're going to see more and more is policies, law,
representatives in government that are going to be representing religion and family or just individuals who now need
a collective like Mum Donnie, right? Because they're not pushing for the family as much. and the the the but
you're going to see those that are not pushing for family and and that are not pushing for religion and freedom of
religion and that that gap is going to get larger and larger and it's going to become a major battle major major
battle. It already has but it's going to increase going forward. So let's go over
a few points in this study.
Now this study focuses primarily on the retention of the Latter-day Saint faith
uh as compared to other religions and and what's happening there where there there is a loss of
religiosity which is is happening on both sides of the aisle. Right? It's happening on both sides of the aisle but
much much more on the left wing side of the aisle. But Latter-day Saints have
held up quite a bit in this. They are still following the trend of the United States becoming a more secularized
society, becoming less religious, uh, but they're holding on better than
pretty much any other denomination out there. Let's take a look at this.
The article opens up. It says, "Amid the dramatic shift in relig religiousness in the United States, BYU researchers have
worked to pull together available data on Latter-day Saints, examining their religiousness, well-being, and
retention. This comes at a time of growth for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but again, I wish
they would. They're trying to be too nice with this, right? Growth of the church worldwide. You have to look at it
that way, right? It is in the United States, but it's not the same growth. uh they're they're going to be talking
about other issues here but uh this comes at a time of growth for the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints as
well as high levels of engagement in the church educational system right so seminary and institute and BYU and all
the other schools has been a very very positive as compared to other
denominations.
Now, a team of BYU researchers has pulled together data. This comes from very important data sources. This is not
their own just their own study, right, that they're pulling. They're pulling the data from the general social survey
from 1977 to 2022. Uh the 2024, that's the most recent Pew
Religious Landscape Study. They do that every 10 years. And the Cooperative Election Survey, uh 2025 Latterday Saint
religious seismology survey as well. and one regional data set of parents and youth the family foundations of youth
development study from 2016 to 2024. So these are these are highly credible uh
often used and referenced studies that have been put together here and that
they are drawing from and they put together this paper about things. Now let's just cover a few of the points here that they look at. First surprising
faith resilience amid a national decline in the US. See this is what I don't like about how they open this up. They talk
about first of all the church's growth in numbers, which is still true in the US, but it's not the same. But then they
don't say, "Oh, but we're really just going to talk about the national decline here in the United States." Right? You
you've got to be consistent all the way around. You don't need to try and be biased with this. Point two, and I'm
going to go directly to this paper to the study that they put together to to cover these, but point two, they're the least likely to lose millennial and Gen
Z members. Now again, that that is a that is a misleading title. That that
means that they lose fewer millennial and Gen Z members than the others do. So
when it says least likely, that's not what it means. It means yeah, we're losing them. We are really losing them,
right? But we are we are uh um losing fewer than other Christian denominations
and and and many other you know Muslim, Jewish, etc. uh religions. I do want to
read this paragraph that goes along with this. It says, "As some have noted, it's true that Latter- Day Saint retention
has decreased over time in line with national trends." See, that's what you've got. That's why this is
misleading. What was 82% retention in the 80s? I need you to think about why
we had an 82% retention in the 80s. It dropped to 58% in the 2000s,
58% in the 2000. So you dropped 24% retention rate,
right? 20 years later and then to around 50% in the years
since and then you drop another 8%. So you've gone from the 80s at 82%
down 32% in retention. So we highlight all these great numbers and we should
right the the we're having the greatest explosion of baptisms worldwide right now and that's amazing and fantastic but
we are losing members existing members and so so I I you know you see a lot of
apologists go out there and say look how great everything is like no not everything's great yes are we excited
about it are are we supporting uh the church and excited about the growth in terms of baptism Absolutely. But there
are problems and quite frankly they don't seem to be addressed properly
and and maybe that's not the fault of the church. Maybe that's not the fault of of and I say I say Salt Lake and then
the church membership. Maybe it's the culture and there's nothing we can do to fight back against it. I don't know. But there are issues
and and we we don't need to put our head in the sand on those things because you're a parent
and to just have fluff thrown at you. The church is great. It's building up and and and yet you know your friends
are losing their kids. You've lost kids from the church and you know that's that's not right. That's that sorry
that's not right. you you need to know and be aware of what's happening so that when you you parent and you have
discussions with your kids, you can address issues and and quite frankly, the church doesn't have the best record
of not putting their head in the sand on some of these things and just trying to show positive information.
Remember when they came out with the church essays when they did that that that some of that information should have been brought in a long time before
that. I I'm just just trying to be real on this. Point three is diversity among
those who step away. And the reason they're highlighting this is because this is different than than many of the
other denominations who are losing individuals in the church. Right? In other words, uh there is contrary to
narratives sometimes offered by critics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. See, you don't have
to always be in an apologist position. That that's what I don't like about the way they do this and especially the Desireette News. You don't always have
to be an apologist direct framing on this, but anyway, contrary to
narratives sometimes offered by critics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we found that the majority of those who deidentify still
hold out residual levels of belief, right? So, they're not completely giving up on the church. Some of them not
giving up completely on a belief in the in in Jesus Christ, right? Two groups compromising comprising 54% of the
sample are faithkeepers. And then there are faith leaners uh within that. And so
they continue to feel religion is an important part of their lives and hold somewhat favorable views about
Latter-day Saints. Okay. So there's a lot of those individuals and we know them. They're they're
they're still it's like still kind of like these are my people even though they don't identify still as a Latter- Day Saint publicly with with other
individuals. Uh what I don't like about this about this diversity about what they're
talking about and who's fallen away is that they don't talk about the difference between men and women. And again, the reason is they're putting
their head in the sand. They're putting their head in the sand on this. People won't talk about it
because they're afraid to. And it's it's the fact is is that diversity of those
that are falling apart. You need to look at the women are falling away. The women are falling away from the church more
than the men. A lot more than the men. Now, this is not just a problem for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So, when you have critics of the
church that come in and say, "See, it's the patriarchy within the church. It's the 15, right? The first presidency in
the corn of the twelve apostles. It's the oppressors. The church is oppressive. It's No. No. I mean, there
might be a few people that feel that and and and get to that point, but really, it's a cultural shift that's happening
throughout the United States with women. It is feminism. It is critical theory.
And and people push back on me in that and I will push back again on them. This is a major issue.
And and we we don't address it properly. We do not address it properly. And that
is both I I believe in from messaging and and also from members of the church.
And and it's frustrating. I've been looking down here on those that have put together this uh uh this study with BYU.
And as an example here, so I pull this back up, right? Also contributing, one of them is Barbara Morgan Gardner. Okay.
I I I was at a faith uh uh what is it? A uh uh fair conference and and she knows
very well through these studies as she's put these together that women are falling away. I don't know. She she
brought it up. I was glad she did. I've been trying to cover this for several years trying to warn about it. It's a
problem and and she brought it up in her her talk at fair that that women are falling
away from the church in in greater numbers, but it's not written up here. Why don't they want to do it? Did Desret
News says we're not going to allow that in here. We don't want to bring that up. That's too touchy.
I This kind of attitude is frustrating. Now, maybe that's not what happened, but
it it's it's a pretty obvious issue here and and they won't talk about it. It's
very frustrating. But I want to go to the paper here now that they have have on this
and I'm not going to cover too much on this because well, we're already going long for this show here, but I want to
cover a few of the issues here. Religious practices. Now, look at the different denominations here. At the very top is Latter-day Saint, right?
This is those that at least monthly go to religious service, right? Latter-day Saints outdo everybody by quite a bit by
11%. Right? Now, what you have here between the blue and the orange, one is the
generation X and one is millennial. These are the two different dem demog demographics here. Millennials and then
the younger generation, Gen X. So among millennials, you've got a 76% of those
that go to church at least once a month. That is different from the numbers that I have. I will tell you that. So I I
don't know that that's very different from the numbers that I have actually. Uh and I
understand that's only once a month and and that does not count as being active, by the way. That does not count as being
active. But but Gen X is about the same at 76% everywhere else. It's interesting
because you get a an a further drop in in Gen X except among Muslims here. You
get a further drop and also Jewish is increased. That's interesting. But for the most part, you get a drop all the
way across Christianity and from from millennials to Gen Z.
Adult religious attendance again here this blue line at the top that is Latter-day Saints, right? they have they
have a higher a higher retention rate in terms of of attendance.
This one here goes back to generation uh Gen X and Millennials. Millennials being the blue, Gen X the orange. Uh here you
have the evangelical Protestants outdoing us on daily prayer. Right? So
daily prayer you've got 82% of millennials, 67% of Gen Z. They've dropped here 15% between the two between
the two generations. Latter-day Saints, 78% have daily prayer uh among millennials
and 70% uh for
uh for Gen X, right? And then you come down to the others here and you start getting lower and lower and lower
numbers. So again, this is monitoring your your uh um your religiosity.
Latter-day Saints do the very best at scripture study. That's not a surprise to me at all. Uh I think that becomes a
surprise to many evangelical Protestants that we typically know the Bible better than the average evangelical does. And
that is supported by data continually. But Latter-day Saints have 63% among
millennials uh have of have regular scripture study. And let's see if this is based off of
at least weekly at least weekly scripture study and 56% of Gen X
and most of the numbers go along the lines of of of what you had with daily prayer there as well.
Here's the mo one of the most important ones. Parents praying or reading scriptures with their children. Latter-day Saints outdo everybody.
And this goes along with the critics of the church. This is the last point I'm going to make. And that's the well-being based on spiritual peace and well-being.
At least once a week, you're feeling this from your religion. This is a higher number than it is for secular
individuals by far. By far, right? I mean, with those with no religion feel
this 21% of the time, one once a week. Okay. Evangelical Protestants all the way up at 66%. Latter-day Saints shortly
behind at 64%. So, you know, usually with critics of the church, they try to build this
narrative that that everyone's oppressed and feel bad and no, they they have a sense of well-being higher than just
about anybody else in the country. That's being Latter-day Saints and that includes Latter-day Saint women. Anyway,
just just wanted to put that out there. The church uh just so you see some hard
data on this, the church is losing millennials and Gen X. Just remember,
they are. So if you have your parents of of those millennials and now especially the Gen Xers and now coming up the alpha
generation uh Gen Alpha Gen A uh you the
you've got don't put your head in the sand. Understand that there are issues out there and we're losing a number of those individuals and we're losing
women. So if you are a parent of girls and just keep that in mind. Just keep
that in mind. It's frustrating because the messaging to from the church is
primarily female. I have tracked this. You can track it going through the
homepages of, for example, lds.org or uh the restoredgosspel.org, right? And and
and it's primarily to women and and we've got the women's conferences. And
yet all of this messaging and everything we're doing here doesn't work. It's not working. And you have to ask yourself
why. And yet on the other side with men, we're getting nothing. There are very
few messages to men. Very, very few that are specifically to men. There's no general priesthood anymore. There are no
men's conferences. There's no sports anymore. There's no scouts anymore.
We've There's no more men's young men's presidencies in the church at the ward
level. There's no more young men's presidencies at the stake level. So something is a skew there. Something's
not right. And the solution for bringing women back to the church is not
careerism. This is the problem with that that you get from an academic narrative here. And
academia provides so many good things and so much good data, but this narrative is not true. Right? The
solution to women coming back to the church is not to focus more on, hey, look, we're not fddy duddies and we
believe in that women should be highlevel careerists in their in their
lives. That's not the solution. If women choose that, great. Let them go with it. If they're high capacity women and they
can go and run with that, let them go run with that. Support them in doing that. But as a general message to the
church, that is not right. It's not right because you're you're you're
you're following a trend within the United States and in the West that says don't have kids early. Don't get married
early. Make sure you get as far in your career as you can and focus on that first. And that's the message you're
going to get from academia, including at BYU. Motherhood is put on the back burner. Or
it's the message of you can have it all. And and I know this is the the the message often times at these women's
conferences. And then you wonder, why isn't the messaging working for women? Anyway, the church is true. The church
is true. I know people don't like to say that, but the church is true. It is the true church with the true authority. The
gospel is true. And we live in a very interesting, fascinating, tumultuous
time. Talk to you next time.