Recent reports and studies have suggested that many young people (called "millennials" by some) are losing their religion. In response, Our Sunday Visitor recently featured six young Catholics who are bucking the trend by being actively engaged with their faith. One of the young Catholics profiled is Marc Barnes, a student at The Franciscan University of Steubenville, who is also a popular Catholic blogger. Barnes says he writes the Bad Catholic blog at Patheos for those who don't believe in the Church.

As for whom I write, well, as much as I love the Church, my heart is with the godless and that culture. Blogging is a way to reach those people. It’s where the culture is, for better or for worse. And while a lot of people would never visit a Catholic website, they’ll read a Catholic blog. I think that’s because a blog is more of a voice. You can engage a voice. You can’t engage a website. Regardless, when I write, I think of two people reading, one Christian and one atheist. I want it to be something they can both read, so that’s why I write more in the language of the modern Internet culture. The idea is to go where the world is and try to lift it up.

Barnes said that he recently received an email from an atheist who admitted he hadn't taken the Catholic Church seriously before he started reading Barnes' blog. Barnes adds that, while that was "heartbreakingly flattering," he also receives a lot of not-so-nice responses.

"I know I annoy a lot of atheists," said Barnes. "I’m OK with that, though. No matter what I’m writing, one of the main struggles is figuring out how to engage an atheist who views Christianity as this idiotic thing, as almost incomprehensibly dumb, to the point that they read the whole post. So, given that, any reaction is a good reaction. It means I held their attention long enough to get a reaction."

You can read the entire piece at OSV.

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