January 3, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Fewer than half of 18- to 21-year-olds worldwide think others should be free to express non-violent opinions that are offensive to minorities, according to a study highlighted by The Economist.
The data come from the Varkey Foundation and was released in February 2017. Only about half of the world’s young people support free speech, it revealed, but nearly two-thirds support same-sex “marriage.”
The study asked two questions about free speech: whether “people should have a right to non-violent free speech in all circumstances even when what they say is offensive to a religion” and whether “people should have the right to non-violent free speech in all circumstances even when what they say is offensive to minority groups.”
Youth expressed more support for free speech that is offensive to religions than they did for free speech that is offensive to minorities.
The study also indicates that 74 percent of young people worldwide support the same rights for transgender-identifying individuals as for others. It does not appear that the youth were asked whether they believe it’s possible for one to “change” genders.
Similarly, the study says 66 percent of young people worldwide think “safe abortion” should be legal. The survey didn’t define “safe abortion” or “abortion.”
Turkish youth are the most in favor of free speech even if it’s labeled offensive to a religion or minority group. Just 46 percent of British youth and 48 percent of German youth think free speech is okay if it offends minorities.
“The recent polling data bolster the view that today′s youth are embracing a right not to be offended,” The Economist reported.
Those born in the 2000s are generally considered “Generation Z,” with their 1900s-born predecessors labeled “millennials.”
A study from the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation released in November indicates that more American millennials – 44 percent – would prefer to live under socialism than capitalism. Forty-two percent said they’d choose a capitalistic society.
Despite the Varkey data, other studies indicate that those in Generation Z are a “fiscally responsible, tattoo hating, Republican leaning group” viewed by conservatives as the “antithesis of millennials.” They are “individualistic” and “more socially conservative” than millenials and tend to relate “with Donald Trump on issues like national security and job creation.”