TruthBook Religious News Blog

Editorial by Terry Sanderson

...a survey of 6,853 young people between the ages of 12 and 25 found that they preferred being “spiritual” to being religious. A third of the sample said they didn’t trust organised religion.

The survey was conducted by the Minneapolis-based Search Institute and released last week. The first question was, “What does it mean to be spiritual?” There were nine choices, running from “believing in God” to “being true to one’s inner self.” They also could say that there is no spiritual dimension, and there was an “I don’t know” option. 93% of the young people surveyed believe there is a spiritual aspect to life.

But before the “faith leaders” start jumping for joy, we have to look more closely at what these youngsters men by “spiritual”. “Spending time in nature” topped the list of responses. “Listening to or playing music” was No. 2, and “helping other people or the community” was third. “Attending religious services” came ninth.

The churches are helpless in the face of this trend, which is mirrored throughout the Western world. Young people hate the authoritarian, unjust and bigoted way in which they see organised religion behaving. Some of them who were questioned further by the pollsters said they didn’t like the sexism and homophobia and the attendant cruelty. They didn’t like the way that religions all claimed superiority over other world views.

It’s a trend we should welcome and encourage. Eventually it will rob the arrogant “faith leaders” of their power to create conflict. Young people are showing that it is time for a change. And they don’t see that change coming from the churches or the mosques. They have started on a new journey, and although it will lead many of them to other forms of superstition and irrationality, many others will conclude that they don’t need any of the supports of unreason and will end up perfectly contented atheists with an attendant “spirituality” that most of us would simply define as common sense and human compassion.

Labels: Authoritarian, change, organized religion, Search Institute, spirituality, Terry Sanderson

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Friday, November 14, 2008

Here's the steeple; open the door, and where are the young people?

A survey finds that many youths draw a line between being spiritual and participating in an organized religion.

By JEFF STRICKLER, Star Tribune

November 9, 2008

The full survey is available at www.spiritualdevelopmentcenter.org. Highlights include:

• 35 percent said they never talk to their parents about religious faith, and 42 percent do so only infrequently.

• 75 percent said there is a correlation between a person's spiritual beliefs and a person's behavior.

• 82 percent believe that there is a God or other higher power, 8 percent said there is no God and 10 percent said they don't know.

• 41 percent believe that there is a purpose to life.
More from Faith + Values

A new benchmark survey finds that 55 percent of young people ages 12 to 25 say they are more spiritual now than two years ago. But nearly one-third of the young people said they don't trust organized religion.

The survey, believed to be the first of its kind in the world, was conducted by the Minneapolis-based Search Institute and released here last week at the four-day Healthy Communities-Healthy Youth Conference. Peter Benson and Gene Roehlkepartain, co-directors of the institute's Center for Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence, said that it will take several months, if not years, of serious number-crunching to figure out all of the study's implications.

The survey included 6,853 subjects. The first question was, "What does it mean to be spiritual?" There were nine choices, running from "believing in God" to "being true to one's inner self." They also could say that there is no spiritual dimension, and there was an "I don't know" option.

The good news for faith communities is that 93 percent of the young people surveyed believe there is a spiritual aspect to life.

Labels: Center for Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence, Healthy Communities-Healthy Youth Conference, Jeff Strickler, organized religion, Search Institute, spirituality, youth

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Friday, November 07, 2008

Global survey: youths see spiritual dimension to life

In the most ambitious such review to date, young people in 17 countries most often defined spirituality as belief that life has a purpose, belief in God, and being true to one's inner self.
By Jane Lampman | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

from the November 6, 2008 edition

Around the globe, the vast majority of young people share a conviction that life has a spiritual dimension. Seventy-five percent in a recent survey believe in God or a higher power. And while some can't easily define spirituality, the majority say they have had a transcendent experience, believe in life after death, and think it's "probably true" that all living things are connected.

For two years, a project involving some 7,000 youths ages 12 to 25 in 17 countries has explored spiritual beliefs and experiences – and found youths eager to discuss them. It's the most ambitious such project to date.

The initial findings were released Wednesday by the Search Institute, a Minneapolis-based independent research group. The group intends to plumb the results further and carry out additional research in countries around the world.

"I was surprised by the similarities we found across different cultures, even though they may have different languages and worldviews," says Eugene Roehlkepartain, the Search Institute's vice president. The institute hopes to encourage a broader look at the impact of spiritual development on other aspects of life.

Along with partner organizations, the institute conducted surveys in eight countries, focus groups in 13 nations, and in-depth interviews with young people whom others consider to be "spiritual exemplars." The youths represented more than a dozen faiths as well as nonbelievers.

The results of the report – "With Their Own Voices: A Global Exploration of How Today's Young People Think About and Experience Spiritual Development" – can't be considered representative of the countries or traditions, Mr. Roehlkepartain cautions.

Religion has trumped spirituality as a topic of study in the past, says Roehlkepartain. A study released last spring by the German research firm Berthlesmann Stiftung found that 85 percent of young people in 21 nations called themselves religious, and 44 percent said they were deeply religious.

In the US, a UCLA study of undergraduates from 2003 to 2007 broke some ground on spirituality. It found that while attendance at religious services decreased dramatically for most, their overall level of spirituality – defined as seeking meaning in life and developing values and self-understanding – increased.

When asked what it means to be spiritual, young people in the Search survey most commonly responded: believing there is a purpose to life, believing in God, or being true to one's inner self. In Thailand and Cameroon, "being a moral person" made the top three. "Having a deep sense of inner peace and happiness" was highly valued in Canada and the US.

Young people see spiritual development as both "part of who you are" and an intentional choice, the study shows. As a young man from South Africa puts it, "The more spiritual you are, the more you understand. It's like sport, everyone can do sport, but the more you do it, the better you get at it."

Some 55 percent felt their spirituality had increased over the past two or three years. Emma, a young Christian in the United Kingdom, said that "the ideal spiritual person is somebody who spends as much time as possible with God," which she does through daily prayer, devotional reading, and social activism.

Young people say they engage in a range of activities and practices to nurture spiritual growth. The most common include reading books, praying or meditating alone, and helping others.

On several scales measuring spiritual concerns, Australia, the UK, and Ukraine showed much lower values than other countries. For instance, while only 7 percent of youths overall did not see a spiritual dimension to life, among young Australians, that figure was 28 percent.

More than three-quarters of those surveyed said their spiritual development was enhanced by time in nature, from music, and from helping other people in their community. The project revealed that "serving people out of your spiritual conviction" holds young people together and can bridge differences," says Roehlkepartain.

While the youths see a difference between religion and spirituality, the great majority said they view both as "usually good." An Australian teen explains the difference this way: "Religion is kind of knowing the things in your head, but 'spiritual' is knowing them in your heart."

When asked which people, groups, or institutions were most helpful in their spiritual life, 44 percent named family. Between one-third and one-half, however, had not engaged in spiritual or religious activities with parents in the past year. Just 14 percent mentioned their religious institution as helpful, and close to 20 percent said "no one."

The institute wants to encourage parents, friends, and others to fill this vacuum. "Young people expressed to us some hunger to talk about spiritual development," Roehlkepartain says, "and we want people to say, 'If that's what kids in the survey think, what about the kids I know?'

Labels: A Global Exploration of How Today's Young People Think About and Experience Spiritual Development, God, Jane Lampman, religion, Search Institute, spirituality, youth