Ben Carson points to Gen Z church revival as young Americans push back on secular culture

As America gets set to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday this July, Dr. Ben Carson is on a mission to share how faith and religious principles are central to our founding and identity. 

Carson, a former secretary of Housing and Urban Development as well as a retired neurosurgeon, said schools are failing to teach accurate history lessons about America — and are instead influencing students with ideas that undermine patriotism and traditional values.

“A lot of people really don’t understand the role of faith in our country,” he told Fox News Digital. “They say, ‘We’re not a faith-based country.’ I wonder if those people have read our founding document, the Declaration of Independence, which says that our rights come from our creator.”

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Carson cited George Washington’s faith — noting that the father of our country prayed a lot and was dubbed “bulletproof Washington.”

“During the Battle of Monongahela, during the French and Indian War, he was the only courier” to escape uninjured, said Carson. “He had two horses shot from beneath him, had four bullet holes in his coat, bullet fragments in his hair — no flesh wounds.”

Before he was elected president, Washington was approached by one of the Indian chiefs who was marveling at how Washington was not wounded.

“‘I’m an expert marksman and I shot you 17 times, and my men shot you, and pretty soon I told [my men to] stop shooting at this man who’s protected by the Great Spirit above,'” Carson said, paraphrasing the Indian chief’s legendary words.

During the Constitutional Convention of 1787, when those assembled in Philadelphia struggled with disagreements, Carson recounted how Benjamin Franklin stood before the delegates — and famously reminded them that throughout the American Revolution, they had frequently turned to God for guidance.

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“He said, ‘We need to talk to God.’ And they prayed, and they got up, and they put together the Constitution of the United States, which has lasted as a single constitution for 250 years,” said Carson.

“I don’t think there’s any other country that can say that they’ve had a constitution without changing it for 250 years. And I think it was a God-inspired document,” said Carson. 

“And if we continue to follow it, we will continue to do well.”

In celebration of America’s 250th, Carson’s new children’s book, “Built on Faith,” makes the case for America’s founding. It will be published in late June, just ahead of July 4.

The book is part of a joint “America Wins” campaign that includes Kirk Cameron and Riley Gaines, each authoring their own book, through the faith-based children’s publishing company Brave Books.

Carson’s new children’s book, “Built on Faith,” makes the case for America’s founding. 

“Instead of being taught fundamentals — reading, writing, arithmetic, appropriate history — [children] are being manipulated,” said Carson.

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Carson noted the importance of instilling the belief of American exceptionalism in children.

“I have been to 68 countries, will go to my 69th country this year. And there’s no place like America,” he said. “We need to do everything we can to teach our children and to preserve it.”

With both Passover and Easter fast approaching, Carson noted the holidays connect us to the story of Jesus and to the story of redemption.

“There is such a thing as good and evil. The Bible and our Christianity teach us to love our neighbor — not to cancel your neighbor if they disagree with you,” he said.

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A spiritual revival has been emerging among younger Americans, as has been widely reported, with members of Gen Z leading church attendance across generations.

“One of the encouraging things is you may have noticed that a lot of Gen Zers are starting to go back to church, and are starting to realize that the path we were on can’t possibly lead to a good place,” said Carson. “They just put their brains in gear.”

A recent Barna Group poll found that Gen Z is leading a resurgence in church activity, attending about 1.9 times per month— nearly double their 2020 rate — and now outpacing every other generation in regular worship.

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Older generations, such as boomers and elders, attend less frequently, averaging around 1.4 times per month, according to the same research.