TruthBook Religious News Blog

September 16,
Jackie Kass

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar were awarded the title of "2009 National Parents of the Year" by the National Parent’s Day Council. The council insists that the Duggar’s were not selected just because they have a large family of their own children, but because they have exhibited such high standards of parenting. The website states, "Their highly organized household centers around spiritual principles and is obviously filled with huge amounts of love, grace, joy and mutual respect."

However, there is no getting around the fact that the Duggar family is indeed super-sized. Michelle and Jim Bob were high school sweethearts, have been married 24 years and produced 18 biological children (with one on the way!). There are 10 boys and 8 girls ranging in age from 7 months to 20 years. The oldest son and his wife are expecting their first child, making Michelle and Jim Bob grandparents for the first time. Their grandchild is due before their own 19th child. Jim Bob states on his website, "We believe that each child is a special gift from God and we are thankful to Him for each one."

Please click on "external source" for the complete article

Labels: children, family, God, parents, spiritual values, the Duggars

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Friday, March 06, 2009

No Holds Barred: The spiritual roots of the economic crisis

Mar 3, 2009 20:00 | Updated Mar 4, 2009 9:59
By SHMULEY BOTEACH

You don't have to be an expert to see that no one in America really knows how to fix our economy. It's come down to trial and error; throw trillions of dollars against a wall and see what sticks. Still the Dow Jones tumbles, still the recession deepens. One day we hear that only by rescuing Detroit's jet-setting auto executives and Wall Street billionaires will we stabilize our economy. The next day we're told the exact opposite, that bailing out these spendthrifts encourages the greedy and slipshod business practices that got us into this mess. The other day a 22-year-old man who has never held a job told me he bought his girlfriend a four-carat diamond ring and took her around the world. When I asked him how he could afford such extravagance, he told me he simply put it all on credit cards. The bank who issued them has now been bailed out, and so you have Americans who can scarcely afford clothes for their families picking up the tab for this man's golfball diamond. And this is the way we rescue our economy?

AN OLD JEWISH aphorism says that the difference between a smart man and a wise man is that a smart man knows how to extricate himself from a situation in which a wise man would never have found himself. As the sky falls around us, we've learned is that America, for all its smarts, lacks wisdom. And this time even our smarts may not extricate us.

Our current economic crisis is born of a spiritual crisis. Greed is a sickness of the soul. For all our wealth and high standard of living, we Americans are the most unhappy nation on earth, consuming three quarters of the world's anti-depressants. The modern history of our country is built on a lie that says affluence, fame, and a shopping addiction are the secrets to happiness.

None of these reflect authentic American values. George Washington refused to accept pay as commander of the Continental Army. Abraham Lincoln practiced justice even though he was killed for it. Martin Luther King lived in a modest home even after winning the Nobel Peace Prize. These men understood that what made America great was its commitment to human liberty and dignity, and not only to a high standard of living.

In our time there is little to counter the consummate consumer hucksters. Religion has been neutralized by becoming politicized. New-age spirituality focuses on finding inner bliss rather than fixing external problems. And the American obsession with therapy is only leading more men and women to depend on professionals to navigate their lives rather than cultivating the inner voice of conscience which is the true hallmark of a wise adult.

America will only be healed if we replace the consumer itch with a whole new set of values: values which hold that money is a means to an end, and not an end in itself; values which teach that greatness comes, to paraphrase Martin Luther King, from the content of one's character rather than the content of one's bank account.

Americans have to stop focusing on a career and start focusing on a calling. Find something in life that requires fixing and devote yourself to healing it.

All of this must begin in childhood. We must teach our children that school grades are less important than intellectual curiosity, the kind of mental engagement that has them playing fewer video games and reading more books.

We can renew America, but it won't come solely through shoring up our banks, but through shoring up our families.

Labels: America, family, Shmuley Boteach, spiritual crisis, the economy, values

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Friday, February 06, 2009

Obama Family Values

Joel Kotkin, 01.20.09, 12:01 AM EST
A model of proper parenting and spirituality for the next generation.

The new president's focus on family reflects an increasing emphasis among African-American leaders on the importance of parental values. Many prominent black activists initially scorned Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan's 1965 report linking poverty among African-Americans to the decline of intact family units. But today, when roughly half of all black children live with single mothers, it is widely accepted that strong families represent the most effective way to reduce "the racial gap" in incomes.

Surveys reveal that people born between 1968 and 1979 place a considerably higher value on family, and a lower value on work, than their baby-boomer counterparts. Women in the former age cohort are actually having more children than their predecessors and, particularly among the college-educated, they appear to be working somewhat less.

And this family-friendly shift is likely to continue throughout the next wave of child-rearers. As Morley Winograd and Michael Hais suggest in their book, Millennial Makeover, the Millennial generation, born after 1983 and twice as numerous as Generation X, also enthusiastically embraces the notion of a strong family.

Indeed, three-fourths of 13- to 24-year-olds, according to one 2007 survey, consider time spent with family the most important factor in their own happiness, rating it even higher than time spent with friends or a significant other. More than 80% thought getting married would make them happy. Some 77% said they definitely or probably would want children, while less than 12% said they likely wouldn't.

What's more, the current state of the economy is likely to strengthen ties among family members. One-fourth of Generation X-ers, for example, still receive financial help from their parents, as do nearly one-third of Millennials. As many as 40% of Americans between ages 20 and 34 now live at least part-time with their parents, an option that will only become more commonplace in areas where home prices are particularly high and employment opportunities are sharply limited.

Yet even if family values are in ascendance, how they are expressed sharply diverges from the norms and attitudes typically associated with the Religious Right. In fact, on a host of issues--including gay rights, interracial dating and stem cell research--millennials trend more toward liberal views than earlier generations, Winograd says.

Attitudes concerning religion--the other critical part of the "values" issue--reveal a similar fusion of conventionality and pragmatism. Like other Americans, Millennials are far more religiously oriented than their counterparts in other advanced countries. Fully one-fourth of Americans in their 20s and 30s, observes Princeton sociologist Robert Wurthnow, consider themselves "very spiritual," even if they rarely attend church. A 2003 UCLA study found roughly three out of four college students deem their spiritual or religious views important, but most see their (older) professors as largely indifferent to such concerns.

Yet this spiritual orientation does not imply a shift toward any retrograde "moral majority" conservatism. Upward mobility among evangelicals and fundamentalists, as well as the increased racial integration within churches, has lessened the once-glaring gaps between conservative Protestants, particularly in the South, and the rest of American society. This liberalization is particularly acute when it comes to issues like homosexuality and censorship, but also extends to the role of women and the teaching of religion in public schools.

Labels: family, family values, Gen X, Joel Kotkin, Millennial Makeover, President Obama, religion

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Friday, January 02, 2009

Study: Family behavior key to health of gay youth

By LISA LEFF – 4 days ago

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Young gay people whose parents or guardians responded negatively when they revealed their sexual orientation were more likely to attempt suicide, experience severe depression and use drugs than those whose families accepted the news, according to a new study.

The way in which parents or guardians respond to a youth's sexual orientation profoundly influences the child's mental health as an adult, say researchers at San Francisco State University, whose findings appear in Monday's journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Among other findings, the study showed that teens who experienced negative feedback were more than eight times as likely to have attempted suicide, nearly six times as vulnerable to severe depression and more than three times at risk of drug use.

One of the most startling findings was that being forbidden to associate with gay peers was as damaging as being physically beaten or verbally abused by their parents in terms of negative feedback ...

Please click on "external link" for the complete article.

Labels: American Academy of Pediatrics, family, gay youth, Lisa Leff, mental health

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Friday, November 28, 2008

Six (Medical) Reasons to Be Thankful

Six (Medical) Reasons to Be Thankful

When you thank your friends and family this holiday season, the reasons to do so may extend beyond good manners. Study after study has shown that social connections - through family, friends, or even with companion animals - seem to pay off in terms of good health, longevity and even prolonged survival among patients with very serious diseases. Some evidence linking good health with strong ties to family and friends includes:

1. The immune system's natural killer cell activity is negatively affected by three "distress indicators" - one of which is lack of social support.
2. One study of 75 medical students found that those who were lonely had more sluggish natural killer cells than students who weren't.
3. Research has shown that people who have companion animals have less illness than people who do not. Companion animals’ owners also recover from serious illness faster.
4. Susceptibility to heart attacks appears to correlate with how often people use the words "I," "me," and "mine" in casual speech.
5. And believe it or not, studies show that people who get out and spend more time with others during cold and flu season actually get fewer episodes of colds or flu than those who choose to be alone.
6. Being grateful for what you have has been associated with physical and emotional health.

Labels: Dr Andrew Weil, family, friends, gratitude, health, longevity

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Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Why We're Happy

By Arthur C. Brooks
Posted: Monday, June 16, 2008

According to hundreds of reliable surveys of thousands of people across the land, happy people increase our prosperity and strengthen our communities.

But today's leaders and policymakers seem to have forgotten this. To hear politicians talk about gross domestic product, health-care reform, and Social Security, you'd think that this nation's Founding Fathers held as self-evident that we are endowed by our Creator with the ability to purchase new, high-quality consumer durables each and every year, or to enjoy healthy economic growth with low inflation and full employment. The Founders didn't talk about these matters, not because they're unimportant, but because they believed happiness went deeper.

As a professor of business and government policy, I've long been interested in the pursuit of happiness as a national concept. According to hundreds of reliable surveys of thousands of people across the land, happy people increase our prosperity and strengthen our communities. They make better citizens--and better citizens are vital to making our nation healthy and strong. Happiness, in other words, is important for America. So when I chanced upon data a couple of years ago saying that certain Americans were living in a manner that facilitated happiness--while others were not--I jumped on it.

First, just what is happiness? Most researchers agree that it involves an assessment of the good and bad in our lives. It's the emotional balance sheet we keep that allows us to say honestly whether we're living a happy life, in spite of bad things now and then.

You might suspect that Americans are getting happier all the time. After all, many (though clearly not all) are getting richer, and this should make them better able and equipped to follow their dreams. On the other hand, there's a lot of talk about the good old days, when kids could play outside without any worry about being kidnapped. And there's a great deal of stress in this country right now, due to financial concerns, negative workplace environments, and chronic health problems, among other pressing issues.

But average happiness levels in America have stayed largely constant for many years. In 1972, 30 percent of the population said they were very happy with their lives, according to the National Opinion Research Center's General Social Survey. In 1982, 31 percent said so, and in 2006, 31 percent said so as well. The percentage saying they were not too happy was similarly constant, generally hovering around 13 percent.

The factors that add up to a happy life for most people are not what we typically hear about. Things like winning the lottery, getting liposuction, and earning a master's degree don't make people happy over the long haul. Rather, the key to happiness, and the difference between happy and unhappy Americans, is a life that reflects values and practices like faith, hard work, marriage, charity, and freedom.

Happiness Predictor 1: Faith

Roughly 85 percent of Americans identify with a religion, and about a third of Americans attend a house of worship every week or more. These statistics have changed relatively little over the decades. By international standards, America's level of religious practice is exceptionally high. In Holland, for example, just 9 percent of the population attends church on a regular basis; in France, it's 7 percent; in Latvia, 3 percent.

In general, religious Americans (those who attend a place of worship almost every week or more) are happier than those who rarely or never attend. In 2004 the General Social Survey found that 43 percent of religious folks said they were very happy with their lives, compared with 23 percent of secularists. Religious people were a third more likely than secularists to say they're optimistic about the future. And secularists were nearly twice as likely as religious people to say "I'm inclined to feel I'm a failure."

The connection between faith and happiness holds regardless of one's religion. All nonpartisan surveys on the subject have found that Christians (Protestants, Catholics, Mormons, and others) and Jews, as well as members of many other religious traditions, are far more likely than secularists to say they're happy. It also doesn't matter if we measure religious practice in ways other than attendance at worship services. In 2004, 36 percent of people who prayed every day said they were very happy, versus 21 percent of people who never prayed.

Of course, not every religious person is happy; neither is every secularist unhappy. Nonetheless, it's clear that faith is a common value among happy Americans.

Happiness Predictor 2: Work

If you hit the lottery today, would you quit your job? If you're like most Americans, you probably wouldn't. When more than 1,000 people across the country were asked in 2002, "If you were to get enough money to live comfortably for the rest of your life, would you stop working?" fewer than a third of the respondents answered yes.

Contrary to widely held opinion, most Americans like or even love their work. In 2002 an amazing 89 percent of workers said they were very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with their jobs. This isn't true just for those with high-paying, highly skilled jobs but for all workers across the board. And the percentage is almost exactly the same among those with and without college degrees and among those working for private companies, nonprofit organizations, and the government.

For most Americans, job satisfaction is nearly equivalent to life satisfaction. Among those people who say they are very happy in their lives, 95 percent are also satisfied with their jobs. Furthermore, job satisfaction would seem to be causing overall happiness, not the other way around.

Happiness Predictor 3: Marriage & Family

In 2004, 42 percent of married Americans said they were very happy. Just 23 percent of never-married people said this. The happiness numbers were even lower for other groups: Only 20 percent of those who were widowed, 17 percent of those who were divorced, and 11 percent of those who were separated but not divorced said they were happy. Overall, married people were six times more likely to say that they were very happy than to report that they were not too happy. And generally speaking, married women say they're happy more often than married men.

Marriage isn't just associated with happiness--it brings happiness, at least for a lot of us. One 2003 study that followed 24,000 people for more than a decade documented a significant increase in happiness after people married. For some, the happiness increase wore off in a few years, and they ended up back at their premarriage happiness levels. But for others, it lasted as long as a lifetime.

What about having kids? While children, on their own, don't appear to raise the happiness level (they actually tend to slightly lower the happiness of a marriage), studies suggest that children are almost always part of an overall lifestyle of happiness, which is likely to include such things as marriage and religion. Consider this: While 50 percent of married people of faith who have children consider themselves to be very happy, only 17 percent of nonreligious, unmarried people without kids feel the same way.

Happiness Predictor 4: Charity

We've all heard that money doesn't buy happiness, and that's certainly true. But there is one way to get it: Give money away.

People who give money to charity are 43 percent more likely than nongivers to say they're very happy. Volunteers are 42 percent more likely to be very happy than nonvolunteers. It doesn't matter whether the gifts of money go to churches or symphony orchestras; religious giving and secular giving leave people equally happy, and far happier than people who don't give. Even donating blood, an especially personal kind of giving, improves our attitude.

In essence, the more people give, the happier they get.

Happiness Predictor 5: Freedom

The Founders listed liberty right up there with the pursuit of happiness as an objective that merited a struggle for our national independence. In fact, freedom and happiness are intimately related: People who consider themselves free are a lot happier than those who don't. In 2000 the General Social Survey revealed that people who personally feel "completely free" or "very free" were twice as likely as those who don't to say they're very happy about their lives.

Not all types of freedom are the same in terms of happiness, however. Researchers have shown that economic freedom brings happiness, as does political and religious freedom. On the other hand, moral freedom--a lack of constraints on behavior--does not. People who feel they have unlimited moral choices in their lives when it comes to matters of sex or drugs, for example, tend to be unhappier than those who do not feel they have so many choices in life.

Americans appear to understand this quite well. When pollsters asked voters in the 2004 Presidential election what the most important issue facing America was, the issue voters chose above all others was "moral values." This beat out the economy, terrorism, the Iraq war, education, and health care as people's primary concern. Pundits and politicians would certainly like us to think otherwise, and critics scoffed at the conclusion, interpreting it as evidence that ordinary Americans were out of touch. But moral values are critical to Americans. This suggests that, as a people, we do best by protecting our political and economic freedoms and guarding against a culture that sanctions licentiousness.

Lessons for America

The data tell us that what matters most for happiness is not having a lot of things but having healthy values. Without these values, our jobs and our economy will bring us soulless toil and joyless riches. Our education will teach us nothing. There will be no reason to fight--or to make peace, for that matter--to protect our way of life. Our health-care system will keep us healthier, but what's the point of good health without a happy life to enjoy?

The facts can help remind us of what we should be paying attention to, as individuals and as families, if we want to be happy. There's also an important message here for public policy and politics. We must hold our leaders accountable for the facts on happiness and refuse to take it lightly when politicians abridge the values of faith, work, family, charity, and freedom. Candidates running for office should be grilled about happiness in debates and by the press, and their answers should determine our votes.

Our happiness is simply too important to us--and to America--to do anything less.

Arthur C. Brooks is a visiting scholar at AEI. He is the author of Gross National Happiness (Basic Books, 2008).

Labels: Arthur C. Brooks, charity, faith, family, freedom, happiness, marriage, values, work

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Friday, May 30, 2008

Spiritual fitness is as important as physical fitness

By Ch. (Capt) John M. Boulware - 55th Wing Chapel
05/29/2008

Spiritual health - let's call it spiritual fitness - takes discipline too. Faith exercised regularly grows strong and vibrant; faith ignored becomes weak and flabby. William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army; Mother Theresa, the missionary to India's poor; Amy Carmichael, who established a home for the children of Hindu temple prostitutes; Billy Graham, noted as the greatest evangelist of the 20th century; and Corrie ten Boom, whose family hid Jews from the Nazis - I am sure all of these are listed among God's spiritually disciplined heroes.

They are heroes because they knew that it is their faith and their spirituality that ultimately made them uniquely human and of substantial value to the rest of the world.

I want to offer to you then four things I believe will assist you in becoming more spiritually fit. First, stretch. Without stretching and enriching your soul through spiritual learning, you can overextend or hurt yourself or others. Remember, you are only able to receive from others that which you have given. When you're at work or at home, be sure to stretch your mind and heart in new ways to incorporate the daily changes that have occurred not only in your life, but in the lives of your co-workers or loved ones. Be willing to give of yourself and not take others for granted so your relationships will be enriched and not suffer instead.

Second, do knee bends! Knee bends require having the right attitude. Become a "servant" leader or a devoted wingman and "bend down" to help others. Being a "servant" leader or wingman means being patient with others, being willing to do the jobs that don't get noticed but are essential to mission accomplishment, and being kind to someone who you may not like or who you know may not like you. Bending down to lift others up in your life, whether it is a co-worker, your spouse, children or a friend or foe, can be the greatest reward if your spiritual nature is as developed as it should be.

Third, cultivate spiritual team building activities. As "iron sharpens iron," we too help equip each other spiritually for the fight. Aiding in team and family growth takes being a good team player. This means working for consensus on decisions, sharing openly and authentically with others regarding personal feelings, opinions, thoughts and perceptions about problems and conditions. It also means involving others in the decision-making process, providing trust and support, having genuine concern for the problems of others; and being willing to compromise.

Finally, look in the mirror. Constantly evaluate your spiritual centeredness and accept who you are including your gifts as well as your limitations. Live up to your potential and believe that through both the good and the bad you are a vital and integral part of your family and all of your other relationships. If you're disciplined and perform the spiritual development exercises prescribed here, then as you become more engaged at work and at home both your Air Force and your personal family will notice not only are you more physically and mentally fit, but you are also more spiritually fit in order to successfully obtain personal achievement, relationship bliss and overall job-related mission accomplishment.

©Suburban Newspapers 2008

Labels: faith, family, John M. Boulware, service, spirituality

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Thursday, February 21, 2008

And a Child Shall Lead Him

And a Child Shall Lead Him

Published: February 20, 2008

We celebrated the baptism of our fourth on Sunday. He’s the one without the beard in my head shot. As with our other three kids, the ceremony was a family-only matter at the log chapel on Notre Dame’s campus. Being in such familiar surroundings, the baptism gave me the chance to think about my own spiritual state and what an influence my children have had on it over the last eight years—even though I’m the one who is supposed to be influencing them.

I believe that parents are as responsible for their children’s spiritual well-being as they are for their children’s physical, intellectual, and emotional health. Having gone from calling myself an “agnostic” to a “faithless Catholic” and now being in a state of what I’ve dubbed “surrender,” I often wonder how qualified I am to teach my kids about spiritual matters. Even now, I don’t have much of a plan for maintaining my own spiritual health. Gone are the days when I could strike out hiking on a whim with friends, spend the summer reading thought-provoking books, or just take time to reflect on my life. My days are now consumed with the billable hour, dirty diapers, Bionicles, trucks under feet, and third-grade book reports. What little time I can steal for myself is more often spent on movies and sports than anything truly fulfilling.

Despite the busy-ness of my life, I still owe it to my kids to give them some spiritual guidance. They don’t need to share my own beliefs. But without some spiritual foundation, how can I expect them to live fully? So we’ve turned to what we know, what we grew up with. It was a practical compromise—for me especially. We agreed that we would get our kids through their first Communion. It would allow them to participate in the Catholic mass. At the time, the bargain was made in the context of our kids going to mass with their grandparents. But I now wonder if it wasn’t really for our own sakes.

Taking a child that far into religious education requires a big commitment from her parents. My wife and I had to make more of an effort to make it to church. And of course children have questions. I have pondered—and I believe given reasonable answers to—questions such as “Why is church boring?” and the very direct, “Is God real?” I have also had to conform my own behavior to what we are asking our children to do. I now sing in church. Even if I’m just going through the motions, the fact is, I am minding my own spiritual health more diligently than I likely would have without kids.

And the payoff has been surprising. The thankfulness I often feel has a context. The details of it all may be fuzzy, but I understand that I have been given gifts in the form of each of my children. Often the gifts are moments from my children themselves. The peace of lying next to my daughter as we both read books quietly on the couch. The amazement of watching my five-year-old assemble a complex new Lego toy with focus and determination. The mirth of my three-year-old’s singing and dancing. The pure joy of seeing my baby boy smile at me for the first time. Each of these things fills my soul. And every hug, kiss, and unsolicited “I love you” from my kids sustains me.

So, as I dutifully committed to the religious upbringing of my newest child on Sunday, I had to wonder if we don’t have it backwards. Shouldn’t I have been asking this vibrant innocent baby to lead me, if only a part of the way, on my spiritual journey before he strikes out on his own?

Labels: baptism, children, family, parenthood, religious education, spirituality

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Wednesday, October 10, 2007

The Fatherless Child

It is a unique cultural moment for the church to act like a family.

A Christianity Today editorial.
posted 10/09/2007 08:37AM

It's not remarkable to say our culture is confused when it comes to family. But the results of the recent Pew Research Center study on marriage and children are remarkable nonetheless.

The survey confirms that Christian notions about marriage and family are still an American ideal. The growth in births to unwed mothers is a "big problem," say 71 percent of Americans. They agree (69 percent) that children need both a mother and a father. Even as rates of births to unwed mothers have skyrocketed, this strong disapproval has held steady.

But the survey also notes that Americans are less able to live up to their ideals: Roughly 37 percent of births are to unwed mothers, and nearly half (47 percent) of adults have lived in cohabitating relationships.

"Marriage exerts less influence over how adults organize their lives and how children are born and raised than at any time in the nation's history," the survey says. Between 1960 and 2005, the rate of unwed childbearing increased sevenfold, from 5.3 percent of all births to 36.8 percent. The survey finds that the average unwed mother "is more likely to be white than black, and more likely to be an adult than a teenager. …" The survey attributes this "sharp increase in non-marital births" to "an ever greater percentage of women in the 20s, 30s, and older … delaying or forgoing marriage but having children."

For years, we have been preaching the supremacy of the two-parent family, offering classes and seminars for young couples and families. But the church is also caught up in an individualistic, ambitious culture, and we find it difficult to carve out time to offer ongoing, concrete help to single-parent families. We pray for them. We urge the parent to find a mate. But, to take the case above, it's hard to find a church that intentionally helps men of the church connect regularly with the children of single mothers. Would a "father program," on the order of Big Brothers and Sisters, be something the "family of God" might institute?

A single mother at Christianity Today International adopted two African American boys. Though she's given them extraordinary care and discipline, she has long felt that they desperately needed adult males in their lives. She says plainly that her church let her and her boys down in this regard. Only after one of the boys ended up in prison did the church's men rally around and enter this young man's life.

A dramatic example, but boys without father figures and girls without mother figures have a strike against them. The latest national study shows that more children than ever are entering the world with such strikes. It's an unprecedented cultural moment for Christians, to see if we can act less like individual consumers of spirituality and more like the family of God.

Labels: Christian, family, fathers, marriage, Pew Research Center survey, unwed mothers

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Monday, October 01, 2007

Family, religion make youth happy, survey says

Respect for other beliefs is high

Ecumenical News International
Oct 1, 2007
Oxford, Ohio

A newly-released survey by the Associated Press and MTV, a music video channel aimed at young people, has found that religion and family are two of the strongest components contributing to the happiness of people aged 13 to 24 in the United States.

“It’s easier for kids who are happy and have things going well in their life to find the time and energy to participate in religion,” Lisa Pearce, co-principal investigator for the National Study of Youth and Religion, told AP.

The survey included more than 100 questions asked of 1,280 people aged 13-24. It found that 80 per cent of those who call religion or spirituality the most important thing in their lives say they are happy, while of those who say faith is not important to them, 60 per cent consider themselves happy.

Forty-four per cent of respondents said religion and spirituality is at least very important to them, 21 per cent responded that it is somewhat important, 20 per cent said it plays a small part in their lives and 14 per cent said it plays no role.

When it comes to spirituality, nearly 7 in 10 said that while they follow their own religious or spiritual beliefs, other beliefs might also be true. Sixty-eight per cent said they agreed with the statement, “I follow my own religious and spiritual beliefs, but I think that other religious beliefs could be true as well.”

Spending time with family was the top answer to the open-ended question, “What brings you happiness?"

Labels: Associated Press, family, MTV, National Study of Youth and Religion, religion, spirituality, youth

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Sunday, August 26, 2007

Kids today ... find a new way to shock adults

Could it be that the kids get it and the adults don't?

A long, long time ago, in a decade known as the "'60s," many young people who were not in college ROTC or the Young Republicans club had a visceral distrust of anyone over, oh, say ... 30.

These were ... are, the baby boomers, perhaps the most self-indulgent generation in the long, often futile, history of humankind [I yam what I yam. ...]

The boomers have been followed by generations mostly known by chromosomal letters: "X" and "Y"

Anyway, since the boomers had a visceral distrust of the generations that went before them and thought they had invented the world and thus deserved to dominate it ...

And since succeeding generations have had to find their own difficult niches outside the distortions of the Me Generation ...

You would think ...

That kids today ... kids today ... would be rebelling against an adult world that can produce a lot of wealth but can come up pretty short on things that really count.

Then again, you might have missed a recent news story about an MTV/Associated Press study of young people between the ages of 13-24 and what makes them happy.

And the reason you might have missed it? Well, look no further than yet another news story about yet another survey — on the reading habits of Americans ... which found one in four adults read no books at all during the past year.

Of course, if you're reading this you probably are not one of those folks for whom the act of picking up a book and getting lost, lost, lost in it is a lost, lost, lost art.

"Religious" works and popular fiction were the most popular choices according to the poll, with the Bible, the Good Book itself, the most widely read book.

I'll admit to checking out the Bible now and then, and I do read a lot, which led me to the questions asked by MTV on what, if anything, makes kids today happy.

The shocking, shocking answer to what made the most young people happy is ... spending time with their families.

Don't know for sure about generations X, Y, Z, but where I come from — when Visigoths walked the earth — happiness was getting as far away from my family as possible.

By age 13, I was firmly convinced my parents were not only uncool, but hopelessly lacking in any skills that I as an all-knowing teen might find useful or necessary.

Yeah, there was a rather significant level of what we today call "dysfunction" in my "family of origin" [another psycho-babble term popularized in the 'aughts], but still ...

Anyway, this AP/MTV survey also showed that white kids call themselves happier than blacks and Latinos; that many, especially females, feel themselves just totally and irrevocably stressed out — and, get this, that money is not something that makes them happy.

Maybe this is because of the mind-boggling prosperity that has inflicted this country over the past couple of decades, so kids just take it for granted.

Sex? Kids 13-17 showed a lot of wisdom in saying that being sexually active at that age leads to diminished happiness; while the 18-24s were cautious. Yes, sex can lead to momentary happiness, they said, but hardly provides much of a foundation for anything lasting.

Drugs and alcohol — more unhappy than happy.

School makes many respondents in the poll happy, and they also said they believe in the institution of marriage and want to have kids of their own. Significantly more kids from families whose parents have remained married reported waking up happy, compared to kids from divorced families.

Nearly half named their parents as their heroes and three-quarters said their relationship with their parents is what makes them happy.

Family, friends and God, that's who they want to be with.

Nearly half said religion and spirituality are important to them and more than half said they believe God influences what makes them happy. Being part of a religious group also was seen as happiness-inducing.

Of active believers in God, 80 percent said they are happy, compared to 60 percent of the young people who said faith is not important to them.

Perhaps the young people surveyed by MTV already have already learned the spirituality of happiness.

Maybe some have already learned where true joy resides.

This brought to mind a passage written some 1,950 years ago, by Paul of Tarsus, who perhaps was addressing a group of young people in the ancient Greek city of Phillipi.

Paul wrote:

"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

"I can do everything through Him who gives me strength"

Want to comment on this column or other topics? Check out Don Miller's blog at http://www.santacruzlive.com/blogs/donmiller. Contact Don Miller at dmiller@santacruzsentinel.com.

Talkin' 'bout your g-g-g-generations:

Back in the day, Gen X-ers were known as '20-Somethings,' 'slackers' and 'Baby Busters' and turned away from anything smacking of Baby Boom self-indulgence or narcissism.

Of course, Gen X-ers are now parents and have their own disaffected youths to worry about ...

Generation Y.

'Why, why, why' they might cry, are we going to have to foot the bill for boomers when they start tapping Social Security? Y-ers, also known as 'millennials,' have birthdates between 1984-1993. Naturally, the kids born after 1993 are now being called Gen Z.

The people who mark such things say hallmarks of Y are apathy, childhood obesity, a predilection for pharmaceuticals and, oh yeah, an intimate, sometimes consuming, relationship with all things digital.

Or so they say.

Labels: Associated Press, Baby Boomers, Don Miller, family, Gen X, Gen Y, God, happiness, MTV, teenagers

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Friday, August 24, 2007

Kids Happy To Hang With Families: Survey Finds Teens’ Heroes Are Often Mom And Dad

Wednesday, August 22, 2007 — Time: 8:18:23 AM EST
By Erin E. O’Neill

When it comes to their children, many adults probably think being able to drive the family car, hang out with friends at the mall and play the latest video games are the keys to happiness.

Little do they know that a large percentage of today’s youth would much rather spend time with mom and dad than listen to music, watch TV or, yes, even hang out with friends.

Kyle Newhart, 13, of Marietta thinks quality time with his family is very important but his dad, Rod, is pleasantly surprised by the results of a recent Associated Press/MTV survey that puts spending time with family at the top of the heap of things that make young folks happy.

Kyle Newhart does count video games among his favorite pastimes but he also enjoys playing board games with his dad and mom, Anita. Dinner together, reading and road trips are also important to their family dynamic, according to Anita Newhart.

The survey of 1,280 young people, ages 13 to 24, included an extensive list of questions ranging from “What one thing in life makes you most happy?” to “Who would you say are your heroes?”

The top answer when young people were asked what makes them happy was their families. When asked to name their heroes, Spider-Man, Oprah Winfrey and Tiger Woods couldn’t compete with mom, who squeaked by dad by a mere 8 percent. Together, parents fared better than anyone else, including Martin Luther King Jr. and George Bush, as influences on their kids’ lives.

The nationwide survey was conducted online from a random sampling of households with landline telephone numbers, both listed and unlisted, according to The Associated Press. Web access was provided to those who needed it by the company Knowledge Networks, which conducted the survey.

The results of the survey aren’t as surprising to some people, however.

Cathy Harper, coordinator for The Right Path, works with many area youth and says the survey shows what she knew all along.

“Family time is very important,” Harper said. “Kids really do want parents and adults involved in their lives.

“Everybody needs to feel supported, even as we get older,” she said.

Overall, the survey is positive. However, a little more disheartening are results showing white youth to be happier than blacks and Hispanics and that overall stress levels are up compared to a similar study conducted in 1996.

What stresses kids out? For 18 to 24-year-olds, the major stressor is finances. For teens, it’s school that is the greatest concern.

The Newharts made the decision to take their son out of school in the fourth grade and homeschool him to the end of the year. Beginning in the fifth grade, Kyle was enrolled in online classes, which he continues. They said school stress was a major factor in their decision and now he is much less stressed over school work.

When it comes to family finances, Rod Newhart believes full disclosure is the only way to let kids know what is going on.

“Kids are a lot smarter and more aware,” he said. “Not talking about (finances) is a detriment.”

Harper agrees.

“Kids worry about finances because they hear their parents talking about it,” she said. “Parents need to talk to their kids to make them feel less stressed.”

And while money doesn’t rank among the things that make kids happiest, it does play a major role when it comes to funding education and recreation.

“Money can’t provide happiness,” said Harper, “but it does provide opportunities.”

A lot of activities are available for area youth, regardless of their financial abilities, due in part to programs through The Right Path, Ely Chapman Education Foundation and the Marietta Family YMCA. Harper does caution against spreading yourself too thin.

“Don’t be in 500 things,” she said. “One or two activities is fine. Have good family time. Even if you have dinner at 9 o’clock at night, do it together.”

Spiritual fulfillment also seems to play a big role in determining happiness, with 62 percent of those polled saying they believe that a higher power has influence over the things that make them happy.

These figures are encouraging to Roger Rush, minister of the Church of Christ at Sixth and Washington streets in Marietta.

“The survey is right on. Kids will be happiest when we give ourselves. Time with family coupled with religion helps to keep families together,” he said. “We try to focus on that.”

Rush has seen many of his young parishioners grow into successful adults in his 22 years with the church and he attributes that to a strong family unit.

“Kids that come from families who spend time together, worship together — those kids are thriving,” he said.

Labels: Erin E. O’Neill, family, happiness, money, spirituality, teenagers

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Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Survey Reveals Biggest Spiritual Challenges for Christian Parents

By Audrey Barrick
Christian Post Reporter
Sun, Aug. 05 2007

The biggest spiritual challenges Christian parents identified are related to the spiritual development of their children, a new survey found.

Only four out of every 10 Christian parents of children between the ages of 3 and 18 said they do not face any spiritual challenges in their life, according to The Barna Group. Among those who do, 14 percent said the biggest personal challenge related to faith is raising moral children with a strong faith, which was the most common response.

Ten percent identified the need to personally invest more time in religious activities, such as reading the Bible or praying, as their greatest faith challenge.

When asked to rate the significance of eight specific challenges related to their faith, most do not perceive themselves to face major spiritual challenges.

Only 34 percent said having enough time to devote to their faith was a major challenge; and 30 percent said helping their children to become more spiritual was a major challenge.

"Our studies show that the faith principles and practices that a child absorbs by age thirteen boldly shapes their spirituality for the duration of their life,” said George Barna, who directed the survey. “Parents have a greater impact on that process than anyone else.

"This was a study exclusively of Christian parents with young children in their household. Given companion surveys showing that such parents often convey dismay over the eroding cultural environment for raising children, and how difficult parenting is these days, we anticipated a broader emphasis upon the challenges related to bringing up spiritually whole and healthy children.”

Evangelical Christian parents were three times more likely than other Christian segments to identify responding to the declining morals and values of society as a major challenge. They were also more likely than other Christian parents to feel they failed to devote enough time to their faith.

Among other challenges identified, 23 percent overall said enabling their spouse to be more spiritual; 21 percent said growing spiritually, personally; 20 percent identified understanding what's in the Bible; 19 percent named finding a church or faith community that's right for them; 18 percent said getting a sense of direction from God; and 18 percent identified practicing the faith principles they had learned.

"In addition to making parenting a 24/7 priority, we found that parents must have an authentic and vibrant faith in order to provide meaningful spiritual guidance to their children," said Barna. "Children rarely embrace spiritual principles and practices that their parents fail to demonstrate in their lifestyle.”

Hispanics were the most likely ethnic group to identify challenges related to parenting and family matters with one out of every three Hispanic parents listing the challenge. Meanwhile, only one out of six white parents and one out of eight black parents listed the same challenge.

Black parents were much more likely than others to name faith-driven behavioral challenges. And white parents were much more likely than others to list participating in more religious activity as their major spiritual challenge. At the same time, white parents were substantially less likely than parents of other ethnic groups to indicate that growing spiritually and understanding the Bible were major challenges.

Other findings showed that notional Christians – those who are not born again but consider themselves to be Christian – were twice as likely as born-again parents to list attending church more often as a major challenge.

Regionally, Christian parents in the Northeast were the least likely to feel challenged to have enough time to devote to their faith and to feel that growing spiritually was a major personal challenge.

Those most likely to identify helping their children grow spiritually as a major challenge were parents in the South. Meanwhile, parents in the western states were among the least likely to feel that growing spiritually and finding a viable church or faith community were major challenges.

Christian parents in the Midwest were the least likely to feel that helping children grow spiritually was a major challenge; least likely to identify exhibiting spiritual-driven behavior as an issue; and least likely to say they had no faith-related or spiritual issues facing them.

“Many of the same people who claim that their faith is very important to them and that they are absolutely committed to Christianity also say that they face no spiritual challenges in life," Barna noted. "Many other adults are only vaguely aware of such challenges, and do not put much energy into addressing them.

"Americans focus on what they consider to be the most important matters; faith maturity is not one of them. The dominant spiritual change that we have seen – Americans becoming less engaged in matters of faith – helps to explain the surging secularization of our culture.”

The survey was conducted in October and November 2006 among 601 adults who described themselves as Christian.

Labels: Audrey Barrick, Barna Group, children, Christian, faith, family, parents, spirituality

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Thursday, July 12, 2007

The Bliss We Can't Buy

By Robert J. Samuelson
Wednesday, July 11, 2007; Page A15

Ponder now the happiness gap.

In 1974, economist Richard Easterlin pointed out that beyond a certain point -- presumably when people's basic needs for food, shelter, public order and work are met -- greater wealth does not generate more national happiness. The America of 2007 is far richer than the America of 1977. Life expectancy is 78 years, up from 74 years. Our homes are bigger and crammed with more paraphernalia (microwave ovens, personal computers, flat-panel TVs). But happiness is stuck.

In 1977, 35.7 percent of Americans rated themselves "very happy," 53.2 percent "pretty happy" and 11 percent "not too happy," reports the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. In 2006, the figures are similar: 32.4 percent "very happy," 55.9 percent "pretty happy" and 11.7 percent "not too happy." Likewise, in most advanced countries, self-reported happiness has been flat for decades.

Hordes of scholars are asking why. Consider Cornell University economist Robert Frank's new book, "Falling Behind." He argues that rising affluence condemns us to self-defeating consumption contests. People want ever-bigger homes, because their friends have ever-bigger homes. But the extra pleasure of owning these grander homes is muted, because (yes) all our friends have them, too. Meanwhile, the added debt to buy the house may make us more anxious; and we may regret sacrificing some leisure -- working harder to buy the bigger home.

Greater individual wealth does not bring greater collective welfare. Moving farther out into suburbia for a bigger home increases traffic congestion and our commutes. Roads grow more clogged, pollution worsens. We engage in "behaviors that are smart for one, dumb for all," Frank writes.

Superficially, Frank seems convincing. The trouble is that he ignores history. The behavior he describes isn't new. A mobile society such as ours is inherently stressful. People rise and fall.

Americans have always been acquisitive and rank-conscious. In "Democracy in America" (1840), Alexis de Tocqueville observed: "Besides the good things which he possesses, [the American] every instant fancies a thousand others. . . . This thought fills him with anxiety, fear, and regret."

The psychology of prosperity -- striving, taking risks -- feeds on ambition and insecurity. Our system often seems an insane rat race. But over time, it has created huge gains in material well-being. Air conditioning may not have made people in the South and elsewhere happier. But it surely has made them more comfortable.

True, there's an economic disconnect today. Despite obvious prosperity, including 8 million new jobs since mid-2003, consumer confidence is subdued. But the explanation, I think, lies neither in Frank's elaborate theory nor in several popular culprits -- higher gasoline prices and the housing slump. Instead, I'd cite two underlying causes.

First, economic insecurity has increased. Companies are quicker to fire. Median job tenure for men age 45 to 54 dropped from about 13 years in 1983 to eight years in 2006, reports economist Rob Valletta of the San Francisco Fed. People have more cause to worry -- and they do.

Second, Americans compare the present with the immediate past. The economic boom of the late 1990s conditioned people to expect a blissful future. Clearly, that hasn't arrived. People are disappointed because reality doesn't match the promise.

Still, even the 1990s economic boom didn't produce a happiness boom; the survey figures barely budged. Nor has the growing income inequality since the 1970s produced an unhappiness boom. Between the richest and poorest Americans, happiness gaps have always been large. But income differences in the middle class involve modest or nonexistent differences in happiness. The old adage is true: Money can't buy happiness.

We ultimately get satisfaction from our relations with family and friends, the love we give or receive, the meaning we find in work, service, religion or hobbies. The strongest survey finding is that married people are happier than singles, particularly widowers and divorcees, says Tom Smith of the National Opinion Research Center. An estimated 42.5 percent of married couples say they are "very happy," compared with 18 percent of the divorced.

The popularity of happiness research suggests that economists and other social scientists think they can devise public policies to elevate the nation's feel-good quotient. This is an illusion. Happiness depends heavily on individual character and national culture. Some people will complain no matter how great their fortune; others will smile through the worst of times. In international comparisons, the United States ranks lower in happiness than some smaller nations (Denmark, Ireland, Sweden) but much higher than many large countries with paternalistic welfare states (France, Germany, Italy). Governments can provide health care. But they cannot outlaw despair or mandate euphoria.

It is novelists and philosophers, not social scientists, who provide a deeper understanding of happiness. For better or worse, there are limits to reengineering the human spirit.

Labels: family, happiness, love, National Opinion Research Center, prosperity, religion, Robert Frank, Robert J. Samuelson, wealth

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Friday, June 22, 2007

Marriage and Religion: a Package Deal

6/19/2007 - 5:45 AM PST

New Studies Reveal Close Relationship
By Father John Flynn, L.C.

ROME, JUNE 19, 2007 (Zenit) -

The fortunes of family life and religion may well be linked, say experts in recent studies. W. Bradford Wilcox, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Virginia, is the author of a research brief published in May by the Institute for American Values' Center for Marriage and Families.

"Churches are bulwarks of marriage in urban America," he affirmed in the brief "Religion, Race, and Relationships in Urban America." Wilcox started by observing that in spite of widespread concern over the breakdown of marriage and family life in contemporary society, so far little attention has been paid on religion's influence for the family.

His attempt to remedy this omission is based on a reading of data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study (FFCW), sponsored by Columbia and Princeton Universities.
The dramatic changes in family structures are graphically illustrated by Wilcox.

-- From 1960 to 2000, the percentage of children born out of wedlock rose from 5% to 33%.
-- The divorce rate more than doubled to almost 50%.

-- The percentage of children living in single-parent families rosefrom 9% to 27%.

Poor and minority families have suffered even more. In 1996, for example, 35% of African American children and 64% of Latino children were living in married households, compared to 77% of white children.

Wilcox argued that religion can influence family life in four ways.

-- Religious institutions promote norms strengthening marriage, for example, the idea that sex and childbearing ought to be reserved for marriage, and broader moral norms that support happier, more stable marriages.

-- Religious faith endows the marital relationship with a sense of transcendence.

-- In many religious groups there are family-oriented social networks that offer emotional and social support, plus a measure of social control that reinforces commitment to the marital bond.

-- Religious belief and practice provides support to cope with stresses such as unemployment or the death of a loved one. A greater psychological resilience, in turn, is linked to higher quality marriages.

Paradox

Wilcox does, however, admit that religious participation is by no means an automatic guarantee of a happy family life. In fact, what he termed "one of the paradoxes of American religious life," is the contradiction between the high level of religious practice among African Americans -- the highest of any racial group -- and the reality that they have the lowest rate of marriage of any racial or ethnic group.

Turning to an analysis of the data from the FFCW survey, Wilcox argued that it shows how religious attendance -- particularly by fathers -- is associated with higher rates of marriage among urban parents.

Moreover, churchgoing boosts the odds of marriage for African American parents in urban America in much the same way it boosts the odds of marriage for urban parents from other racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Paternal church attendance is particularly important for urban relationships, Wilcox maintains. If a father goes to church regularly, then he is more likely to enter into marriage and also to have a relationship of higher quality.

Benefits of belief

The arguments raised by Wilcox are similar to those put forward by Patrick Fagan in a paper published by the Heritage Foundation last December. In "Why Religion Matters Even More: The Impact of Religious Practice on Social Stability," Fagan argued that "religious practice promotes the well-being of individuals, families and the community."

Among other points, these studies reveal that:

-- Women who are more religious are less likely to experience divorce or separation than their less religious peers.

-- Marriages in which both spouses attend religious services frequently are 2.4 times less likely to end in divorce than marriages in which neither spouse worships.

-- Religious attendance is the most important predictor of marital stability, confirming studies conducted as far back as 50 years ago.

-- Couples who share the same faith are more likely to reunite if they separate than are couples who do not share the same religious affiliation.

Moreover, Fagan pointed out, religious practice is also related to a reduction in such negative behaviors as domestic abuse, crime, substance abuse and addiction.

Losing God

Mary Eberstadt looked at the other side of the coin in the relationship between family and religion in an article published in the June-July issue of the magazine Policy Review. In the article "How the West Really Lost God," she reflected on the causes of secularization, a phenomenon particularly notable in Western Europe.

The thesis often put forward, Eberstadt observed, is that secularism came first and that this had a negative impact on family life in Western Europe. She argued, however: "At least some of the time, the record suggests, they also became secular because they stopped having children and families."

In support of her case Eberstadt pointed out that European fertility in general dropped well before the dramatic demise of religious practice observed in recent decades. Within Europe she cited the example of France, which saw fertility decline much sooner than in many other European countries, and is also a nation where secularism is stronger.

Turning to the United States she commented that the higher level of religious practice could be due to the greater number of children.

Evangelicals and Mormons, who unlike Catholics are not prohibited from using contraceptives, also have larger families. Maybe, Eberstadt posited, there is something about the family that inclines people toward religiosity.

She then examined the dynamic that exists between family life and religion. The experience of birth leads parents to a moment of transcendence. As well, the practice of sacrificing oneself for the good of the family and children may lead people to go beyond selfish pleasure-seeking. In addition, the fear of death, in terms of losing a spouse or child is a powerful spur to faith.

As for the well-known fact that women tend to be more religious than men, maybe Eberstadt argued, this is due to their more intimate participation in the birth of their children compared to a man's role.

While fertility rates in Europe and many other countries are now very low, this could change as the disadvantages of single motherhood and the social and economic consequences of shrinking populations weigh more heavily.

The authors of the studies cited here would probably be the first to admit that the interaction between religion and the family is complicated and that many other factors play a part in the strengthening or weakening of both. No doubt more research is needed, but these initial efforts point to some interesting relationships.

The natural family, Ebserstadt concludes, "as a whole has been the human symphony through which God has historically been heard by many people." A symphony unfortunately marred by many discordant notes today, but whose return to harmony would be of immense benefit.

Labels: church, family, marriage, religion

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Thursday, May 10, 2007

Next Generation Embraces Traditional Values

By Steve Geissinger
MEDIANEWS SACRAMENTO BUREAU

Article Launched: 04/25/2007 06:41:24 AM PDT

SACRAMENTO -- Make way for the new American Dreamers.

A new, unprecedented ethnic-mix of youths in California yearn for the traditional values of family, safe neighborhoods and religion, according to a poll to be released today, with news conferences to follow in Sacramento, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The first poll of youths ages 16 to 22, using their communication tool of choice, cell phones, added a label to the long list of yippie, yuppie and hippie terms, and all those Generation-something alphabet-soup labels, said study spokesman Kevin Weston.

The dreamers are coming from a "post-minority generation," said Weston of the nonprofit New America Media foundation, which commissioned the poll.

"It's the most intimate generation we've had, as far as people knowing each other and getting along," he said. "We haven't seen this before in the United States."

Youths have concerns about family stability, cite parenthood as a life goal, are worried about violence in neighborhoods and communities, are seeking religiously guided lives, and want good educations, indicates the poll, jointly commissioned with the University of California.

Researchers have labeled them a "post-minority generation" -- the largest and most diverse to emerge in the nation -- reflecting relaxed attitudes about race, their own identities and immigration status.

They are as likely to identify themselves by music and fashion taste as by the color of their skin.
In short, facing financial and other obstacles, they are concerned about challenges close to home and are not nearly as worried about global warming or the Iraq war, though a majority oppose the fighting.

"While the media and politicians are preoccupied with U.S. conflicts abroad, California youth are far more concerned with conflicts in their own home neighborhoods," according to pollster Sergio Bendixen. At the same time, many see the armed forces as a way to a job.

The youths "represent the forefront of the culture" and a glimpse at "who we are becoming as a (national) society," said Sandy Close of New America Media.

The poll respondents represent a new "global society (that's) coming of age," Bendixen said, with one in eight of the nation's young people living in California -- three-fifths of them nonwhite and nearly half immigrants or children of immigrants.

More than 80 percent support giving illegal immigrants a chance to earn legal status and citizenship, according to the poll.

The study found two-thirds of the 601 respondents expecting to get married and have children.
A quarter of respondents consider the breakdown of the family to be their most pressing issue. Violence in neighborhoods was second, followed by poverty. Global warming and anti-immigrant sentiment came in significantly lower, along with war at just 3 percent.

"It's no wonder this generation is concerned about family breakdown," Weston said. "When the post-hippie generation started divorcing, many of the youths didn't have a mother or a father around."

Two-thirds said they consider it to be "very likely" they will get married and have children.
A majority of respondents also said they felt religion or spirituality is important in their lives and nearly four in 10 said they go to church. The finding stands in stark contrast to the high number of agnostic adults in California.

Given the cost of higher education, the majority of youths cite school and/or money as their top source of personal stress.

Pollsters conducted cell phone interviews of 601 youths from Oct. 6 to Nov. 15. Each was offered $10 to cover phone expenses. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Labels: family, neighborhood, New America Media, religion, Steve Geissinger, tradition, values, youth

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Monday, May 07, 2007

Guess What Troubles Young People The Most?

By Katherine Kersten, Star Tribune
Last update: May 06, 2007 – 8:27 PM

What issue most concerns young people today? A new survey from hip, racially diverse California -- home to 1 in 8 of the nation's youth -- provides a startling answer.

What does this generation of baggy pants-wearers and body piercers view as "the most pressing issue facing your generation in the world today"? Racism, environmental problems, the war in Iraq?

An answer closer to home tops the list: family breakdown. Pundits may find it fashionable to sneer at Ozzie and Harriet, but kids are longing for a harmonious home with mom and dad at the dinner table. Almost 90 percent of survey respondents expect to get married or enter into a life partnership and have children themselves.

The survey, titled "California Dreamers," assessed the hopes and fears of young people ages 16-22. Three-fifths of respondents were minorities, and half were immigrants or children of immigrants.

The survey was commissioned by New America Media, an association of over 700 ethnic media organizations.

"California Dreamers" revealed another surprise. Almost three-quarters of the young people questioned said that religion and spirituality are important to them. In this respect, California's new generation differs substantially from their parents. "Previous polls rank California as having the highest percentage of 'agnostic' adults in the United States," according to the report.

"California Dreamers" summarizes its findings this way: "The poll reveals a deep yearning among 16- to 22-year-olds for traditional structures - marriage, parenthood [and] religion."

Do Minnesota's young people share these yearnings? Absolutely, says the Rev. Efrem Smith of the Sanctuary Covenant Church, a multiethnic congregation in north Minneapolis. Smith has spent his life working with youth, and speaks nationally on the subject.

"This generation is deeply marred by family breakdown," he told me. Many young people are victims of our society's epidemic of out-of-wedlock childbearing and divorce, he says. Even children from intact families often feel neglected by busy or preoccupied parents.

"Kids understand that a strong, loving family is the core, the base, of what it takes to develop a moral compass, a sense of purpose, an identity," says Smith, even if many self-absorbed older folks have forgotten this inconvenient truth.

Smith's own parents never missed his football games or school talent shows, he says. So he first experienced young people's anger over family breakdown as a varsity basketball coach at Minneapolis' Roosevelt and Patrick Henry high schools, where a substantial number of kids are in poverty.

Smith sees a connection between kids' anxiety over abandonment and neglect, and their spiritual hunger. As a longtime youth worker, he says, he's convinced that "this void, this hole from having no moral compass or guidance at home, can only be filled spiritually."

Kids' interest in religion may seem surprising, given the debased popular culture they inhabit, and the fact that religious expression is frowned on in the public square. "But they're so hungry for love, for a sense of purpose, that they are very open to filling the void spiritually," says Smith.

"I've never seen a young person sold down the road to atheism," he adds. "That comes later in life."

"If you believe that you are beloved of God," Smith says, "that you are made in his image, it doesn't matter if you have two parents or one parent, or if you're being raised by your grandmother or by foster parents. You believe you're on Earth for a purpose, and you can make it."

Katherine Kersten • kkersten@startribune.com Join the conversation at my blog, Think Again, which can be found at www.startribune.com/thinkagain

Labels: family, Katherine Kerston, marriage, New America Media, parenthood, religion, spirituality, youth

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Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Generation Tolerant

A cellphone poll of California youth shows remarkably liberal attitudes toward race but conservative beliefs on family values.

April 30, 2007

FOR CALIFORNIA'S teenagers and young adults, the answer to Rodney King's question is a definite yes: We can all get along. Race and ethnicity, according to a new survey of Californians ages 16 to 22, are far less significant to this generation than to any in the past.

The survey, sponsored by New America Media, found dramatically liberal attitudes when it comes to the issue of getting along. Two-thirds say they have dated someone of another ethnicity, and a whopping 87% say they would marry or have a life partner of a different race.

Not only are young people encouragingly unconcerned about the skin color or nationality of others, they don't think of themselves much that way, either. When asked the most significant aspects of their identity, they chose music and fashion. Their tribes? Punk-rock skaters, hip-hop activists, salseros.

In terms of what young people consider most important about themselves, race and ethnicity didn't even come in second — that slot went to religion.

Most young adult Californians have many friends outside their own race, the survey found. For Asians and Anglos, the majority of their friends are of different races, while Latinos and blacks said that about 40% of their friends come from different groups.

And as for illegal immigration, basically the kids don't see what the fuss is all about — 82% say illegal immigrants should be given a chance to earn citizenship.

But if you think that California is producing a generation of young liberals, think again. The young people in the survey swing to the right when it comes to family values and religion.

Their No. 1 concern is the breakdown of the family. Second is violence in their neighborhoods.

A majority say they are religious and spiritual. They plan to go to college, have jobs, marry, buy homes, raise kids.

This may seem like a return to the California of the 1950s, but it might be more of a reaction to the perceived sins of their elders. After all, California has one of the highest divorce rates in the United States, is home to more gangs than any other state and purportedly has the highest number of agnostics (although, to be fair, atheists and agnostics have the lowest divorce rates).

The survey thus suggests that California's youth are sharp critics of their parents, rejecting a culture they perceive as sanctioning loose marital bonds and religious indifference. The state's young adults may just be perfectly out of sync with their parents — sometimes more tolerant and other times more traditional. Which suggests the deepest California tradition of all: time-honored youthful rebellion, rejecting, as every generation does, the ethos of the generation before.

Labels: California, family, immigrants, New America Media, race, religion, spirituality, values, youth

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Saturday, March 24, 2007

"Family Time Comes Before Church, Survey Finds"

[March 23, 2007, 4:44 pm]

While you wouldn't know it by looking at the growing congregation at Harpeth Height's Baptist Church, but there is an extraordinary number of people in America who say they never go to church.

Living in the Bible belt, results from a new survey may be surprising.

According to a new survey, 100 million people say they haven't been to a worship service in more than six months.

The reason more and more people say they don’t go to church is because they'd rather spend Sundays with their family.

The non-church goers say sports and other activities keep them busy on Saturdays and that Sunday is the only day they can spend one-on-one time with their kids.

They say when taking them to church, they often get split up for different Sunday school classes andworship services.

Church leaders are paying attention to the results.

In the past, when recent surveys showed people didn't go to church because they thought it was boring, many churches responded by updating the music or bringing in those large video screens.

Responding to the people who say they stay away from church to spend more time with their families is going to be more difficult.

Churches will have their chance in the next few weeks as more people attend worship services on Easter Sunday, than any other time of the year.

The survey also shows people in the south are the most likely to go to church while people in the northeast and west attend church services the least.

For more, visit www.faithandethics.com .

Labels: church, family