An Illinois bill illustrates how rapidly we are drifting away from biblical morality. In April, lawmakers advanced a bill that would legalize assisted suicide — and they’re trying to fast-track it.

Senate Bill 3499 would allow doctors to prescribe lethal drugs to patients diagnosed with six months or less to live. It requires no second opinion, in-person exam, or mental health evaluation. No witness needs to be present. The drugs can even be sent in the mail.

U-Pick Your Faith

This push to legalize death on demand is unfolding in a culture where traditional morality is being replaced by build-your-own belief systems.

A study published in Socius tracked over 1,300 Americans from adolescence into adulthood and offers insight into this moral drift. The study found that younger generations aren’t just leaving church behind — they’re actively rejecting it for a custom creation all their own.

They want faith on their own terms and they’re creating “personal truth” that can be shaped, blended, and customized to fit their worldview. They may take some biblical values but then mix in yoga, astrology, progressive ideology, and scientism for a do-it-yourself belief system. It’s like a u-pick farm where random religious offerings are the fruit.

So, even while “spirituality” is on the rise in America, that doesn’t mean people are going back to church. Instead, they’re looking for answers to life’s questions everywhere else.

DIY Religion Gains Ground

Landon Schnabel, one of the study's authors, calls this mixing and matching of spiritual values, DIY religion. It’s not a complete loss of faith, but a rejection of absolute truth in exchange for individually tailored “spirituality.” People are ditching formal religion in favor of what they think equals a connection to the spiritual world. The result is a society where everyone makes up their own beliefs, creating nothing but confusion — all in the name of freedom.

The explosion of self-help tools, therapy apps, and “mindfulness” practices is largely a direct result of this rise in interest around “spirituality.” It has also boosted the popularity of influencers like Jordan Peterson and Joe Rogan, who examine the Bible apart from any relationship with God. And while both men stir up a longing for meaning, they stop short of leading people to the source of truth.

As a result, despite the surge in spiritual curiosity, people are lonelier, more anxious, and more spiritually starved than ever. Even renowned atheist Richard Dawkins admits that formal religion like church, in particular, provides community and moral instruction that is largely lacking in society. However, when asked what people should turn to for moral training and community, he suggested watching documentaries and playing golf, instead.

A Void to Fill

The absence of a clear moral compass has left a void that society is struggling to fill. When DIY religion is the choice of the masses, morality becomes subjective — changing from one person to the next. And when moral clarity is lost, laws like assisted suicide get passed while the culture embraces a “find-your-own-truth” philosophy. It is another execution of Satan's ultimate goal: to kill as many people as quickly as possible.

History tells us that society built on personal preference instead of absolute truth cannot stand firm. As Bible believers, our role in providing moral clarity and gospel hope has never been more urgent. We have a classic example in the book of Judges in the Bible. After a time of much killing and mayhem in Israel, the last verse sums up the source of the chaos: “… every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21: 25).

The world is desperate for meaning and they’re searching in all the wrong places. But something as simple as sharing a Chick tract can meet someone in their hour of need and provide the answers they’re looking for.

A faithful customer recently wrote to us saying, “I'm 75 and I don’t get out as much as I used to. But I still hand out one or two titles whenever I go downtown. I gave three out today to some kids about 10 to 13 years old. I’ve seen God work miracles over the years by using Chick tracts to change peoples’ lives.”