TruthBook Religious News Blog

Nearly 8 In 10 Believe There Is Major Point Of View Difference Between Younger, Older Americans

(AP) American adults from young to old disagree increasingly today on social values ranging from religion to relationships, creating the largest generation gap since divisions 40 years ago over Vietnam, civil rights and women's liberation.

A survey being released Monday by the Pew Research Center highlights a widening age divide after last November's election, when 18- to 29-year-olds voted for Democrat Barack Obama by a 2-to-1 ratio.

Almost eight in 10 people believe there is a major difference in the point of view of younger people and older people today, according to the independent public opinion research group. That is the highest spread since 1969, when about 74 percent reported major differences in an era of generational conflicts over the Vietnam War and civil and women's rights. In contrast, just 60 percent in 1979 saw a generation gap.

Asked to identify where older and younger people differ most, 47 percent said social values and morality. People age 18 to 29 were more likely to report disagreements over lifestyle, views on family, relationships and dating, while older people cited differences in a sense of entitlement. Those in the middle-age groups also often pointed to a difference in manners.

Religion is a far bigger part of the lives of older adults. About two-thirds of people 65 and older said religion is very important to them, compared with just over half of those 30 to 49 and 44 percent of people 18 to 29.

Please click on "external source" for the rest of the article, and highlights of the survey.

Labels: Americans, generation gap, morality, religion, social issues, values

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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, January 23, 2009

Obama And the Rise of Secular Spirituality

Sunday January 18, 2009
Categories: Consciousness

By Deepak Chopra and Dave Stewart

It's rare enough for an incoming President to inspire such a flood of hope and optimism, or so much relief that our long imprisonment in the political doldrums should be ending. But Barack Obama has done more than that. He has become a symbol of the rise of secular spirituality in this country, a liberated set of values that exists largely outside organized religion. Perhaps he himself is unaware of secular spirituality by that name. In lockstep with all previous Presidents, Obama must be seen attending church regularly, and that church must be close to mainstream.

However, if you consider what he stands for, Obama's worldview is more congruent with alternative theology than it is with churchgoers, 70% of whom were supporters of George Bush in his two election victories. Where organized religion has opted to stand by the right wing, millions of Americans who consider themselves spiritual have longed for peace, unity, nonviolence, and freedom that isn't imposed by the force of arms. We think Obama stands for the same values. In that regard, he is taking up the mantle of Martin Luther King< jr., who should be honored as one of Obama's spiritual forebears as much as Lincoln.

One senses a blessed return to rationality and the end of intolerant dogma as Obama prepares to enter the White House, but secular spirituality has expanded since the days of Jefferson and Adams. It now includes the following principles that we urge the new President to espouse (several of them he already has):

-- A spiritual duty to be benign stewards of the Earth and to preserve the ecology.
-- A responsibility to revere Nature and to be humble before it.
-- A duty to further peace among nations.
-- A pledge of nonviolence that will lead finally to total nuclear disarmament in our lifetime.
-- A refusal to use America's super power for militaristic ends.
-- A sense of compassion for the poor and wretched beset by pandemic disease, lack of political influence, and denial of basic human rights.

If Obama can further any of these values, he will be leaping miles ahead of his predecessor. Nothing about secular spirituality is radical. Most of its principles are articles of belief for millions of average Americans who have largely been shut out of politics for eight years. Our hopes for the new President won't be fulfilled until he adopts all of them. If he truly wants to reform the ways of Washington, he must extend his vision to the Congress, which under Republican domination served basically to block anything good and progressive.

But secular spirituality isn't limited to the left or the progressive movement in general. It is a national phenomenon, one that will swell steadily in the coming years, particularly among the young. Born after the divisive culture wars that gave the right wing its main chance, the younger generations yearn for new values. Obama appeals to that yearning, and we hope he takes full advantage of it. It's not good enough that he becomes the first African-American President, the first green President, or the first digital President. Nothing less than spiritual renewal is needed across the board, and there is no one of equal stature to lead it.

Labels: Barack Obama, church, Dave Stewart, Deepak Chopra, secular spirituality, values

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Friday, January 02, 2009

Wealth advisers filling a new counseling role in tough times

The erosion of personal wealth, along with local and national stories about massive financial fraud, are causing people to re-examine everything from their grocery bills to how they valuate themselves as human beings. And that creates some intense and revealing conversations with the ones who know them as intimately as anyone: their financial advisers.

“Instead of a five- to 10-minute talk about the markets, we’re talking about faith and values, and right and wrong,” said Suzann Brown, a partner with Virchow Krause & Co. Wealth Management in Minneapolis. “The big question is, ‘How did we get here?’ and it’s a much more emotional conversation. And you have to be willing to have the conversation. That’s how we can create calm and peace of mind without being able to fix what’s happening on CNBC.”

Besides fear and grief, the intense introspection that follows a dramatic drop in personal wealth can unearth a sense of guilt in some people, said Kathy Kuehl, a principal with Minneapolis wealth-management firm Lowry Hill. Kuehl recently had a meeting with a client who had given some money to her grandchildren and then watched as their accounts shriveled because of the recent market turmoil.

While the questions Kuehl has been asking her clients have become more introspective and abstract in the wake of recent financial fraud cases, her clients also are asking some fundamental questions about the role of trust in the adviser-client relationship.

“If you look at everything that’s happened with [disgraced Wall Street financier Bernie] Madoff, people are re-evaluating their relationships with their advisers,” Kuehl said. “Who can I trust? Am I getting good advice? Am I not getting taken? No matter how much money you have, everybody has to be cautious about their adviser relationship.”

That kind of conversation can ultimately lead to a deeper, more intimate relationship, said Brown, who recounted a recent conversation she’d had with a widowed client in her 70s. The woman asked Brown if she was going to be OK, and Brown reassured her that, with some lifestyle adjustments, she would be OK. Brown, who had never talked about spiritual matters with a client, even after 9/11, recommended that the client turn her television off and reflect on the things in her life for which she was grateful.

“Once we get into this conversation about hopefulness and gratitude, that’s where the spirituality of the conversation takes on a little meaning.”

Labels: faith, fear, financial advisors, grief, the economy, values

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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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Monday, March 17, 2008

Do your habits reveal what's important to you?

By MARK ANSHEL
DNJ Columnist

The determination to live a life that is meaningful, consistent with our values and reflects our passion about what really matters is called spiritual capacity. It is our spiritual side that should drive our behavior.

We often neglect our spiritual side, which is evident by not taking better care of our health. We forget there are others who love us, depend on us and want us to stay healthy for as long as possible.

In turn, we want to have the energy to enjoy our passion — what really matters to us, such as our family, friends, faith and achievements at work.

Writers refer to "spiritual capacity" as the force behind what we do — the energy of purpose, our values, and beliefs about what's really important — what defines our character.

Here is a profound (and challenging) question: How can we respect and honor the people we love if we dishonor ourselves by living a careless and unhealthy lifestyle?

We adapt to the storms in our life without consideration of the long-term consequences. Our stress-management program consists of eating large portions of high fat food, avoiding physical activity — just too uncomfortable and, oh, yes, not enough time and then wonder why we feel miserable — taking yet more medication and having little energy for doing what gives us the most pleasure.

Challenging question: Why would a person who loves his or her family, has a strong spiritual component and lists family, health, faith, work excellence and compassion toward others as his or her most important values, live a life disconnected from those values?

What areas in your life do you need to improve in order to expand your spiritual capacity? Take this test of "The Spiritual Truth" about you. Check the items that apply to you.

Those areas you check form your "story" that explain a lack of spiritual incentive to improve your health and live a life consistent with your values.

Think about it, and ask yourself this: What is your legacy after you are gone? How do want to be remembered?

Uncover your spiritual truth

Check the ones that apply to you.

Commitment/Passion

_ Not fully committed

_ Lacking long-term energy (perseverance)

_ Lacking passion for work

_ Lacking passion to improve my health and energy

Vision/Purpose

_ Lacking a strong sense of purpose (something greater then myself that drives my behavior)

_ My core values are not connected to my actions

_ I respond to demands based on short-term needs, not long-term consequences

_ I make expedient (quick-fix) rather than values-based decisions

Ethics

_ My actions are not consistent with my words

_ I do not lead by example

_ I do all I can to help others

_ I lack the incentive/energy to make important changes that will improve my quality of life

_ I place my needs first before the needs of others

Mark H. Anshel is a professor in the Department of Health and Human Performance at Middle Tennessee State University.

Labels: behavior, character, health, Mark Anshel, spirituality, values

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Friday, May 18, 2007

Why Religion (Still) Matters

by Gary Bauer

Posted: 05/18/2007

Sociologist Seymour Martin Lipset devoted a lifetime to studying what made America different. Like Tocqueville a century earlier, Lipset discovered that America's exceptionalism-what set Americans apart most distinctly from their European cousins-was founded on a set of values deeply rooted in religious practice. This religiosity was not only preeminent in shaping America's national character, but also elemental to understanding its unparalleled prosperity.

Lipset's observation about the indispensability of religious practice to American life came to mind recently with the release of a study on the societal benefits of religion. Released last December, "Why Religion Matters Even More: The Impact of Religious Practice on Social Stability," has not gotten a lot of publicity in the media; but its findings are increasingly relevant, especially now as debates over religion's proper role in society continue to rage, and as the impact of religion on our politics has emerged as a decisive national campaign issue.

Authored by Pat Fagan, William H.G. Fitzgerald Research Fellow in Family and Cultural Issues at the Heritage Foundation, the report examines the last ten years of empirical research on the effects of religion on a host of social indicators.

Fagan's conclusion? Religion has never mattered more: to individuals, families and society at large.

Consider these findings:

* Research shows marriages in which both spouses frequently attend religious services are 2.4 times less likely to e nd in divorce than marriages in which neither spouse worships. In fact, researchers at Duke University Medical School found that religious attendance is the
most important predictor of marital stability.

* One study discovered that men who attend religious services at least weekly were more than 50% less likely to commit an act of violence against their wives than were peers who attended only once a year or less.

* W. Bradford Wilcox of the University of Virginia found that a father's religious attendance was positively associated with his involvement in activities with his children, such as one-on-one interaction, having dinner with his family, and volunteering for youth
activities. In fact, fathers' frequency of religious attendance was a stronger predictor of paternal involvement with their children than employment and income-the factors most frequently cited as pivotal.

* Research b y Arthur Brooks of Syracuse University highlighted the robust relationship between religious practice and charitable giving. In a general survey population religious individuals were 40% more likely than their secular counterparts to give money to charity and more than twice as likely to volunteer.

* Eighty-seven% of over 100 studies reviewed concluded that religious practice is significantly correlated with reduced incidence of suicide and depression.

Research further shows that, as Fagan explained in a recent interview, "the single biggest new finding was the effect of religious practice on the poor. There is an intriguing indication that they benefit more than those with more income, and benefit significantly." Religion's impact on the poor, studies reveal, is especially compelling on outcomes related to drug use, academic progress and juvenile delinquency.

In one study of young males from impoverished inner-city Chicago and Philadelphia, for instance, researchers found that a high level of religious attendance was associated with a 46% reduction in the likelihood of using drugs, a 57% reduction in the probability of dealing drugs and a 39% decrease in the likelihood of committing
a non drug-related crime.

Fagan's research demonstrates that, on an entire range of outcomes-from domestic abuse, educational attainment and marital stability to substance abuse, violent crime and even immigrant assimilation-the practice of religion is a powerful predictor of personal wellbeing and societal stability.

Some may wonder how religion can have such a profound effect on so many seemingly unrelated social indicators. It is because, as Fagan explained, religious practice transforms people at a fundamental level. "It changes the man or woman, not the outcome. The changed man or woman then has many different manifestations of their changed self...in their relationships with others, with work, with material things, in family life, in citizenship. They don't set out to do things differently. They set out to be different persons, and then we see all these different changes."

That's a point worth repeating. Religious practice extends beyond mere inputs and outputs, moving deeper to change hearts and minds, and foster values like charity, humility, patience, prudence and compassion, which in turn affect the decisions people make and, thus, the outcomes they experience.

In the end, Fagan's research reveals, in his words, "a steadily growing body of evidence from the social sciences [that] demonstrates that regular religious practice benefits individuals, families and communities, and thus the whole nation."

It also highlights a paradox that even casual observers of American life can appreciate: At a time when many politicians rail against the infusion of religion into public life, science is establishing religious practice to be a potent antidote to many of our most entrenched social problems.

Labels: charity, families, Martin Lipset, religious practice, society, the poor, values

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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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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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Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Dalai Lama: Feeling Of Peace

Wednesday, April 25, 2007 20:47
By Christie Wilson
Advertiser Neighbor Island Editor

The Honolulu Advertiser WAILUKU, Maui —

Even before the Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso appeared on stage yesterday at War Memorial Stadium, his message of peace and compassion permeated through the crowd, estimated at more than 10,000."You get that vibe that everyone's together," said Mike Serro, 27, of Brooklyn, N.Y., as he wandered around the booths selling food and Tibetan crafts with Jen Bino, 25, of Toronto.

"I'm just thinking how lucky I am that he's here right now. It's amazing," Bino said about the Dalai Lama's first visit to Maui.

Wailuku resident Tina Del Dotto said she's not a Buddhist and never studied Buddhism, but felt a need to experience the occasion. "If there was going to be an opportunity to be with people of Maui who have a heart of peace and kindness in this world of turmoil, I want to feel that Maui energy and the peace," said Del Dotto, 55.

The 71-year-old spiritual leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner and author of the best-selling "The Art of Happiness" fled into exile in India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese communist rule in Tibet. He continues to negotiate with the Chinese government over maintaining some degree of self-rule and cultural autonomy for Tibet.

A group of kumu hula from four islands yesterday welcomed the Dalai Lama with a series of oli and lei offerings, followed by a performance by Halau Hula Wehiwehi O Leilehua. The guest of honor noted with a chuckle that the women's Hawaiian garb resembled the robes worn by Buddhist nuns.

He was quick to laugh throughout his hour-plus talk, titled "The Human Approach to World Peace," enchanting the crowd with his humor and humble demeanor.

The Dalai Lama said religion may not be essential to a happy life, but that respect for basic human values is.

Many people consider love and compassion as a religious matter and not important in daily life, the Tibetan leader said. "That's totally wrong, he said." In fact, in a busy world, love and compassion are even more critical than ever, he said.

Just as we choose the right foods that are good for our bodies, we should make proper choices from our "supermarket of emotions" for the good of our mental health, he said, avoiding hatred, jealousy, envy and anger.

Labels: Buddhism, Christie Wilson, compassion, Dalai Lama, love, values