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TruthBook Religious News Blog



Monday, April 03, 2006

Try before you die: teens test religions

YOUNG Australians are more likely to chop and change faiths than ever before because of an increased uncertainty about their beliefs, a Christian Research Association survey shows.

"What surprised me was the high proportion of people who just don't know," the association's chief researcher, Philip Hughes, said yesterday. "Well over a third say 'We are just unsure'. Most young people [almost three-quarters] think there's something out there, some sort of greater force."

Many teenagers were more sure of religious beliefs when they were younger, but as they moved through high school the degree of uncertainty increased about all sorts of belief.

"Accompanying that is the sense that it doesn't matter much anyway, what I call 'whateverism'," Dr Hughes said. "Whether you believe or you don't believe is no big deal either way, and you can change your mind from one minute to the next, whatever."

The survey of 809 teenagers builds on a study last year of more then 3600 American teenagers, who are considerably more religious in their personal beliefs and church attendance.

It also finds that family, including siblings, is a much bigger influence on teenagers than peers.

"There's been a decline in clarity about belief in God," Dr Hughes said, and it was linked to a postmodern loss of confidence in the idea of truth. "These beliefs do affect how people live, the way they deal with crises. To the extent that there's a great deal of vagueness and uncertainty, it doesn't give people much to stand on when life is difficult."

Religious education needed to help young people develop a "spiritual literacy" so they could think through issues, he said.

The survey also found that more young people believe there may be life after death (76 per cent) than believe that there may be a God.

The report says Australians are more likely than Americans to accept other paranormal beliefs such as reincarnation, astrology, psychics and communication with the dead.

It also counters the common assumption that young people are interested in spirituality rather than traditional religion. Spirituality ranks with riches at the bottom of what is important to them, with deep friendships and an exciting life at the top.

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