So I've read a few articles and watched a few vlogs recently trying to pinpoint why some progressives are going completely nuts recently and why the next generation is turning more and more to libertarianism. One hypothesis I appreciated was the idea that this is the consquence of a generation that abandoned values in favor of postmodernism. A common narrative that I've heard since the George W days was that of the "pressured christian", the kid who had religion "forced" on them when they were young. Especially in the 2000s under George W, the feelings of having religion "forced" on them moved into their political lives, emboldening them to fight back. Ironically, in their frustration I think they've made the very same mistakes of pushing their ideology on others, and now we've got a generation reacting against progressive ideology.
Recently, most of the people who are vocally defending classical liberal values tend to be athiests and skeptics, the core democrats of 10-20 years ago. I agreed with them on a lot of things then, and I still agree with them today, though it's kinda funny how they've been branded as "alt-right" and we've ended up in the same camp after all. What bothers me that there aren't many (any?) good Christian voices among them. It's possible that I'm the exception, but I'm willing to bet that there are others like me. In any case, I feel that often issues get completely overlooked in these skeptic discussion on account of a lack of Christian worldview.
For example, the typcial athiest narrative on the "pressured christian" is that religion, including Christianity, isn't very reasonable and is mostly a method of thought control. That's a good outsider perspective but I don't believe that is the whole story. Growing up as a Christian, I knew all kinds of chrisitian teenagers. There were these "pressured christian" kids, of course; but actually, most of the kids I knew falling in this camp weren't really pressured. The kids who were truly pressured either tend to snap completely at some big trauma, like the death of a loved one, turning away from Christianity forever or bounce back in a big way after a brief rebellion phase, becoming some of the most reasonable and staunch proponents of the Christian faith.
I have a completely different explanation of the "pressured christian" narrative. I believe that people with these stories were pressured to be religious by parents who did not really believe. I knew a lot of kids whose parents were somewhat serious about their religious practices--they would go to church every sunday, play in the band at church, pray before meals--but the faith they practiced wasn't as deep as the faith they preached. I think the pressure that these kids felt was instead the cognitive dissonence of being forced or even just encouraged to follow religious practices that were at odds with the example their parents were setting. A child naturally emulates their parents and, in emulating their parents, these kids learned that that Christianity simply wasn't true, yet they were still pushed to go to church and perform religious practices. I've seen this pattern over and over again.
As a father, this reenforces one of my core values as a man: I must lead by example. On the subject of religion, for example, I'd rather not sit my child in front of a TV watching church videos and being encouraged to repeat Christian platitudes without really understanding them. Of course I want my daughter to have knowledge and training on the many apsects of Christianity, from bible stories to theology, but it seems to me that many of thses media are designed to discourage and not encourage thought. Instead, I trust that if I lead well, according to what I truly believe as everyone inevitably does, she will come to understand that "Dad really believes these things, and since I trust Dad, I want to learn more about them too."
I beleive that Christianity is truth, and I have no doubt that she will be able to find truth as well, with a little guidance, training, and trust.