# Religion and youth in your country



## tvdxer

How popular is your country's traditional religion(s), or other religions, with youth in your country?  Are there any major religious movements primarily affecting / driven by youth?  What is the general attitude of your country's younger people towards religion?

From personal experience (being 20 myself), I would say religion, namely Christianity remains quite strong among youth in the United States.  There are many Christian youth organizations that are very popular among youth, and a lot of kids put "God" under their "Interests" and "Bible" under "Favorite Books" in their Facebook (a social networking site that is extremely popular with college students) profile.  

The mainline churches and Catholics do not seem to be producing the most  zealous of young people; the current trend among more religious than average youth seems to be towards generic evangelical / charismatic movements, or to an "individualistic" faith which denies religion while somehow affirming faith in Jesus.

On the other hand, many of these same kids have relatively liberal attitudes regarding sexuality and drinking.

There also seems to be a fairly large segment (in relation to other age groups) of youth who have abandoned religion to become agonstics or atheists.  Some have dabbled in "Wicca" or other neo-pagan movements, but this seems to have been more of a early 2000's fad than anything.


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## alexacohen

Hello:
I'm not an expert, as my family is the only Jewish family in an otherwise Roman Catholic environment.
But I see many young people going to Church every Sunday, and there are lots of children taking their first communion, and people marry in the Roman Catholic churches and baptize their babies in the RC Church too.
But I don't know if they do it because they are firm believers in the Catholic faith or because it's a tradition.
There are a lot of RC holidays and people enjoy them very much, participating in the live recreations of the Nativity or the Passion of Christ
with a lot of enthusiasm, but again I don't know if it is because of their faith or because it is fun.

Alexa


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## Silvia B

In Italy I dare say that many follow the Church's rules just because it is tradition. Baptism, first communion, confirmation... It is more a traditional thing than a religious one!
But all children do that, so parents never avoid these traditions: it would make the child feel different


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## Mallavia

In Spain, generally speaking (obviously there always are some exceptions), we, youth people, are NOT at all very influenced by any religion. It is true that most of us have been baptised, have made first communion and even today a large number of marriages are made under the Roman Catholic rules (however the number is decreasing fast). But this is only due to TRADITIONS. People here do these things becuase they see it as something normal, a habit, a tradition, but in their day by day lifes, they are not influenced by Catholicism. You only have to go to any church on a Sunday and have a look at the average age of the attendants. You seldom find somebody under 30 and youth in general, barely praise or think in Catholic Church as an important part of their lives although i bet that a huge percent of young sapniards would declare themselves to be Catholics (a common expression here it's to say: believer but not practising....)

i guess that this is something normal in every occidental and industrialised society where religion is gradually loosing its traditional influence power...


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## TraductoraPobleSec

I agree 100% with Mallavia. I don't have a single friend who goes to church and most of the people in my circle are non believers... This is the result of too many years of die-hard Catholicism...


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## PhilFrEn

Silvia B said:


> In Italy I dare say that many follow the Church's rules just because it is tradition. Baptism, first communion, confirmation... It is more a traditional thing than a religious one!
> But all children do that, so parents never avoid these traditions: it would make the child feel different


 
I agree with Sylvia, I also feel that in France (I mean around me, I am not a Religion expert, far away).

As my family/parents is catholic, they have of course baptised me. I also followed religion courses while growing. After that, around 16/18, I made my own choices, independently of my parents. They are not at all strong believers, just "normal" ones, going to weddings/funerals, but not anymore to the church on Sunday (funny I had to go with them, and now that I am grown up, hop! they don't go anymore *grrr*).

As far as I know, all my friends are also catholic (in France) and protestant here in Germany. None of them are going to Church anymore. However, I don't know anything about their faith.

I am not believing (maybe the scientist in me lol), but of course I don't judge people who are, far away from me this idea. I just don't find myself in Religion neither in Church. This, my parents know that and this is no problem for them .

Of course there are 2 important things: the Church and the Religion. Going to Church is one thing, believing in God another. My girlfriend believes in God, but has no interests in going to Church. 

I am no expert, I will not go on talking about this subject, but most of the young people, in my opinion, find no interest anymore in the Church, they may believe in God, but not want to spend time for "concrete" expression of their faith (praying...).


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## TraductoraPobleSec

PhilFrEn said:


> I am no expert, I will not go on talking about this subject, but most of the young people, in my opinion, find no interest anymore in the Church, they may believe in God, but not want to spend time for "concrete" expression of their faith (praying...).


 
I would say that this is here in Europe: Americans seem to need to have a religion or belong to a church or faith. I remember I had a friend in Ohio who used to drive around with a bumper sticker which said: "Jesus is everything, the rest are details". I cannot think of anyone here going around like that and, if I saw someone, I'd immediately think that that person is an OPUS DEI member. 

And then there are other parts in the world... In certain countries, it's almost unthinkable not to believe in God/Allah or whoever or whatever... I won't mention the country, but I used to know someone from a certain place in the world who would believe that I was still in a childish stage because I did not and could not believe in God...


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## jonquiliser

TraductoraPobleSec said:


> I used to know someone from a certain place in the world who would believe that I was still in a childish stage because I did not and could not believe in God...



Oh but that was at least a kind of moderate accusation - I've been told, when explaining that I don't believe in God, that "so then _ believe in Satan!" 

Obviously, I don't speak for all Finns. But in general terms, religiosity isn't very pronounced around here. A whole lot of people belong to church (lutheran), which amounts to being christened, doing communion, getting wed in church, and finally being properly buried in holy soil! These people may or may not believe in God, but it seems to be irrelevant to their practices - they'd do all the same anyway. 

Then there are a few people who "actually" believe (bad wording I suppose, what I mean is, they actively participate in religious practices and have an actual faith in God). There's the lutheran church, plus a few others (orthodox, pentecost, catholic etc). And then there's an even smaller handful of people belonging to other faith systems, such as some form of paganism. 

I imagine it's more widespread among the older generations to confess to some faith or other, although, I would say, among the "real believers" there are both young and older people. I think the main difference is that older people may be more extrovertly religious._


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## TraductoraPobleSec

I am also thinking that in places such as the States, church is also a sort of tool which allows people to socialize. Here in Southern Europe, the way cities and towns are built as well as other customs make it easier for us to walk around and meet people (though this is now changing...) However, in places such as the States, with people living in houses scattered here and there, I guess it's normal that churches end up being a place of socialization and in certain places, it gets to a point it becomes a way of life.


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## Silvia B

TraductoraPobleSec said:


> I am also thinking that in places such as the States, church is also a sort of tool which allows people to socialize. Here in Southern Europe, the way cities and towns are built as well as other customs make it easier for us to walk around and meet people (though this is now changing...) However, in places such as the States, with people living in houses scattered here and there, I guess it's normal that churches end up being a place of socialization and in certain places, it gets to a point it becomes a way of life.



Well, like it has always been in Southern Europe in the past 

It was a way to get together, and still is for children sometimes.
The parish still organizes things for children, it is a way to meet and play together, go on little trips etc.
I used to go when I was at elementary school.

Anyway, it is not bad for children to be "addressed" in this way.
They learn good things, they stay with friends and follow the traditional steps of our country.
They have plenty of time to make their own choices when they get a little older. And after confirmation (13-14 years old) they almost all live the life they want


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## jonquiliser

TraductoraPobleSec said:


> I am also thinking that in places such as the States, church is also a sort of tool which allows people to socialize. Here in Southern Europe, the way cities and towns are built as well as other customs make it easier for us to walk around and meet people (though this is now changing...) However, in places such as the States, with people living in houses scattered here and there, I guess it's normal that churches end up being a place of socialization and in certain places, it gets to a point it becomes a way of life.



I'd imagine that for a truly religious person, church means something more than "mere" socialising - it probably is a form of _religious_ community, sharing faith and sharing the space for expressing it..? This is just my impression, but I would believe that churches or similar spaces are important to believers anywhere.


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## Silvia B

jonquiliser said:


> I'd imagine that for a truly religious person, church means something more than "mere" socialising - it probably is a form of _religious_ community, sharing faith and sharing the space for expressing it..? This is just my impression, but I would believe that churches or similar spaces are important to believers anywhere.



You are right. But many people go to the church just because "this is how it has to be" or "how they feel it right".
I don't think the majority of people do it because they "feel" something inside..
Or this is how I see it here.
Still "tradition" more than "religion"..


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## alexacohen

> Originally Posted by *TraductoraPobleSec*
> I used to know someone from a certain place in the world who would believe that I was still in a childish stage because I did not and could not believe in God...


 


jonquiliser said:


> Oh but that was at least a kind of moderate accusation - I've been told, when explaining that I don't believe in God, that "so then _ believe in Satan!"
> 
> _


_

Count me into the accused group. I've been told many times, when I explain I'm Jew, that I was the one who killed God.

Alexa_


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## Etcetera

I wouldn't dare to say that religion is very popular among young people in Russia, but most my friends do believe in God, although they don't go to church every Sunday. It isn't that good, of course; but on the other hand, I've never heard of anyone who would go to church just because "it's how it should be".


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## JamesM

Mallavia said:


> i guess that this is something normal in every occidental and industrialised society where religion is gradually loosing its traditional influence power...


 
Well, coming from an occidental, industrialized society myself,  I'd say we're the exception to the rule. We are in a unique position, though, I think, among Western nations. We have not had a point in our history where the church ruled over us. It gives us a very different relationship to church and religion.

I'd agree with TVDXER. In the U.S., it's still very popular among youth.


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## ireney

In Greece it is rather (or even extremely) unpopular. Oh, you'll get many young people saying that they believe in God and in particular follow the Greek Orthodoc Church but it's very rarely that you see any young person in a church unless of course we are talking about a tranditional religious celebration or a wedding, christening or any other such ritual/mystery of the Church.

While religious studies in Greece are still one of the obligatory subjects in elementary and secondary education (unless your parents file a formal petition in which they ask you not to be taught because you are a) an atheist b) belong to a different religion [and maybe even dogma, I am not sure] which ( b ) tells you a lot about what religious studies really is) , anyway, while it is obligatory very few people actually know their Bible let alone anything else (most are hard pressed to remember the ten commandments amd that says a lot too).


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## Berenguer

Mallavia said:


> In Spain, generally speaking (obviously there always are some exceptions), we, youth people, are NOT at all very influenced by any religion. [...] You only have to go to any church on a Sunday and have a look at the average age of the attendants. You seldom find somebody under 30 and youth in general [...]


Well, I don't agree with that statement. There's not just "some exceptions", there's a lot of those exceptions. It's true that also lots of young guys don't go to the church, don't follow catholic rules, or if they follow them (getting married, baptism, etc..)it's just by tradition. But in the other hand there's a big amount of young boys and girls, that follow them by heart. For example, I live next to two Churches. Each Sundays at about eleven in the morning there's a youth mass, with a choir just made by young boys and girls, and the "public" is majority young. Then there's really a lot of catholic groups that works with children, old people, disabled, tramps, and so on, and of course there's also a lot of NGO's with a catholic soul that works in the same way.



Mallavia said:


> i guess that this is something normal in every occidental and industrialised society where religion is gradually loosing its traditional influence power...


Well, that makes me remember the last trip to Spain of John Paul II. Here in Madrid was just a really important event. Half Madrid was collapsed by pedestrians that tried to follow him. Of course lots of those weren't catholic and just wanted to amuse themselves. But on the other hand the amount of young people, that listened, sang, shouted, chanted, and prayed in Cuatro Vientos with the Pope felt it by heart. I heard their comments after that meeting, and I have to say that they were really influenced by the speech of JPII.

Spanish society is generally catholic. Many of them just do it by tradicion. But would be an irresponsability to forget those guys that think that religion is an important  piece of their lifes. And they are not as few as people think (or would like to  be)


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## nanel

Berenguer said:


> Well, I don't agree with that statement. There's not just "some exceptions", there's a lot of those exceptions. It's true that also lots of young guys don't go to the church, don't follow catholic rules, or if they follow them (getting married, baptism, etc..)it's just by tradition. But in the other hand there's a big amount of young boys and girls, that follow them by heart. For example, I live next to two Churches. Each Sundays at about eleven in the morning there's a youth mass, with a choir just made by young boys and girls, and the "public" is majority young.


 Sorry guys but I disagree with you and agree with Mallavia, maybe its because of the people you know and the ones we do. I used to live next to a church as well and you rarely found anyone under 50 there. I've also seen in Latin America and the US the stickers someone mentioned up there saying things as "Jesus is our saviour" or similar and never seen them here, even more, if I did I think I wouldn't believe that person is just a believer, but a radical (no offense intended, it's a cultural thing, as I said I have never seen such a thing before in here).

Some people would tell you they believe in God, some other they don't care, some others they don't believe at all, and a very few (of those I've known throughout my life, that is) would say they believe in God and go to church.


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## TraductoraPobleSec

alexacohen said:


> I'd forgotten that, Berenguer.
> I was in Santiago de Compostela when he came and it was a big event.
> There were thousands of people following him, and most of them were young.
> They followed him on foot for fifteen kilometres and it was a terribly hot day.
> So yes, it must have been faith.
> 
> Alexa


 
I respect that you may think so, dear Alexa, but I think that in this country it's more related to politics and to certain religion fundamentalists who have a lot of power. 

I am in my mid thirthies and know people from all over Spain and, truly, I've never met a single person with so strong a faith...

Actually, I have a friend who out of convenience (the need of money) works in a Catholic school and she told me how much her girls were given incentives (bribery, deep down) to go and see the Pope in Valencia last summer.

And again, I am saying this with lots of respect, especially toward Berenguer, a forum colleague I truly admire.


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## Chazzwozzer

It's very hard to generalize, but I may well speak on behalf of my friends. I know that none of them are practising any religion, yet they say they believe in one. Mostly, they are just secular deists that almost never talk about the religion.

Well, I used to consider myself deist some time ago but now I think I lean agnosticism. I am particularly interested in ancient religions, not that I follow any of them. Studying and discovering what my ancestors believed is just a hobby of mine. I am not sure if my case applies to other young Turks, though. 

I have never heard of any religious youth-driven movement/organization and probably that would be seen as something _illegal_.


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## ireney

When it comes to the matter of a large gathering of people because of an extraordinary event as proof of the existence of many more of the same mind, I would like to disagree.It such cases, as far as I know and have noticed, virtually everyone who shares this belief in the same way goes to said gathering. We cannot therefore conclude that since an X number of people showed up the total amount of like-minded people is X times Z.


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## prophet

bueno en colombia la mayoria son catalicos, sin embargo se ha incrementado el protestantismo, yo soy protestante, y cada vez mas la luz del evangelio verdaderamente esta bendiciendo mas la nacion. los cataolicos han entrado en una sana renovacion carismatica en donde buscan los nuevo y lo refresacante de Dios.


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## alfmartinez

Hello / Hola
in south america the religion (christianity and some influences from US) are still quite important in everyday life.
Of course, talking among my mid-class friends you can hardly find someone catholic, but unfortunately other segments of the people are and believe in god.


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## Trisia

First, I'd like to adress this:


alexacohen said:


> Count me into the accused group. I've been told many times, when I explain I'm Jew, that I was the one who killed God.
> 
> Alexa



I'm sorry this happened. I'm afraid many people call themselves Christians and use that to promote hatred. I was actually very nicely-impressed when I saw your nickname. 

Now, it's on to the question:

In my country there's a big distinction between members of the church and believers. Since we're an Orthodox country, most people are baptised and become members while they're still babies. This might explain why on our last census about 90% of the population claimed to be Orthodox. Still, if you ask them, and especially the young people, whether they really believe in God, you might be in for a surprise.

I know lots of young people that are active members of the Church -- most of my friends, but I also know many that will claim to believe in God and yet know nothing on this subject. I feel that's what leads to immorality (It would be quite illogical to say you believe in God, know you're not supposed to do certain things and still do them. You could at least choose: either renounce your faith or lead the life you're being asked to live).

EDIT: Because the Orthodox Church is still quite influential, the people do tend to oppose neo-pagan movements, but that's just a temporary thing. I think that, below the surface, many people are interested in witchcraft and the like.


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## Drechuin

PhilFrEn said:


> As my family/parents is catholic, they have of course baptised me. I also followed religion courses while growing. After that, around 16/18, I made my own choices, independently of my parents. They are not at all strong believers, just "normal" ones, going to weddings/funerals, but not anymore to the church on Sunday (funny I had to go with them, and now that I am grown up, hop! they don't go anymore *grrr*).



I don't know if it's widespread, but religious courses (I think the right word is sunday school?) I followed were more based of moral problems or problem of the society than on 'formal' religion. I used to do it several years, and we never read a part of the Bible once.

I'd say they (and a significant part of the French population) is of catholic background, but not of catholic religion (catholic being the main religion in France, but it's probably true with protestantism or judaism although I don't have first-hand experiences). That's why baptisms, marriages, burial ceremonies are still popular and why people went to the world youth days in 1997.

Even if the youth doesn't strictly follow formal religions, some of them (in my experience, so take that with a grain of salt) are theists with a Christian influence (there's an higher power, maybe a paradise. But most of the Bible is crap). Since it seldom influence their life, it's hard to tell, except when the subject is about religion (don't happen very often).


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## Trisia

Drechuin said:


> I don't know if it's widespread, but religious courses (I think the right word is sunday school?) I followed were more based of moral problems or problem of the society than on 'formal' religion. I used to do it several years, and we never read a part of the Bible once.


That is very interesting. So young people talk about religion (I'm assuming Christianity) without using the Bible. Well, that accounts for some things I've heard them say, even though I thought they were raised in a religious environment.



> I'd say they (and a significant part of the French population) is of catholic background, but not of catholic religion


I agree



> But most of the Bible is crap


I'm sorry, do you mean young people say that -- which I'm willing to acknowledge, not as a fact, but as your opinion on their opinion , or that you think that? I'm confused...


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## Drechuin

Trisia said:


> I'm sorry, do you mean young people say that -- which I'm willing to acknowlegde, not as a fact, but as your opinion on their opinion , or that you think that? I'm confused...



I mean that they (the theists people I was speaking about) don't take seriously most of what the Bible say, that their moral values don't come directly from the Bible, but from the moral values of the society.
Then it's my opinion on their opinion.

The word crap was probably very unwelcomed. I wanted to express the fact that most theists I know don't read or based their behaviour on the Bible.


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## Glitz

I think over in the Uk British people tend to be alot less religious than in the rest of europe. Its become to be more of a tradition to baptise your child rather than it being part of a belief system. I know so many people that would call themselves Christian but none of them actually practise Christianity.


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## dunescratcheur

tvdxer said:


> How popular is your country's traditional religion(s), or other religions, with youth in your country?  Are there any major religious movements primarily affecting / driven by youth?  What is the general attitude of your country's younger people towards religion?
> 
> From personal experience (being 20 myself), I would say religion, namely Christianity remains quite strong among youth in the United States.  There are many Christian youth organizations that are very popular among youth, and a lot of kids put "God" under their "Interests" and "Bible" under "Favorite Books" in their Facebook (a social networking site that is extremely popular with college students) profile.
> 
> The mainline churches and Catholics do not seem to be producing the most  zealous of young people; the current trend among more religious than average youth seems to be towards generic evangelical / charismatic movements, or to an "individualistic" faith which denies religion while somehow affirming faith in Jesus.
> 
> On the other hand, many of these same kids have relatively liberal attitudes regarding sexuality and drinking.
> 
> There also seems to be a fairly large segment (in relation to other age groups) of youth who have abandoned religion to become agonstics or atheists.  Some have dabbled in "Wicca" or other neo-pagan movements, but this seems to have been more of a early 2000's fad than anything.




Very interesting reading all the different experiences and points of view from the Christiantity perspective.

I am originally BE, live in France and have worked for some 15 years in a Muslim country, in North Africa.

I have seen in my time here that young people are divided, almost in a black-and-white way,  between rejecting traditional Islam in favour of a non-practising but still socially acceptable sort of neutrality and the adoption of much more strict and aggressive form of Islam that is intolerant and critical of not only non-muslims but also more traditional muslims.

From my perspective, it would appear that the youth here (not only them for sure) increasingly use their religion to define themselves to themselves, in that they appear to feel that their identity is somehow unclear without it.

As far as "liberal' goes: those who have gone for neutrality talk, think and behave like the young in europe; those who have adopted this different interpretation of Islam  behave like the kids who in Europe etc got inducted into sects and brainwashed - liberal is just not on the map.


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## ROSANGELUS

prophet said:


> bueno en colombia la mayoria son catalicos, sin embargo se ha incrementado el protestantismo, yo soy protestante, y cada vez mas la luz del evangelio verdaderamente esta bendiciendo mas la nacion. los cataolicos han entrado en una sana renovacion carismatica en donde buscan los nuevo y lo refresacante de Dios.


 
Seguro? 



alfmartinez said:


> Hello / Hola
> in south america the religion (christianity and some influences from US) are still quite important in everyday life.
> Of course, talking among my mid-class friends you can hardly find someone catholic, but unfortunately other segments of the people are and believe in god.


 
yo encuentro bastante alejados a los jovenes y niños, de las creencias catolicas, salvo alguna que otra historia u oración que le enseñen sus padres.
incluso existen muchas personas mayores, que aunque creen en Dios, no frecuentan las iglesias a menos que sea por obligacion de un compromiso, como bautizo, matrimonio, etc. (me incluyo alli)
Tambien he notado que hay tendencia a las religiones protestantes, pero en realidad en muy poca medida.
Casi podriamos decir que , creemos en Dios, pero comodamente....


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## clairanne

hi

I have read that the Church of England, Anglican religion in UK  is now practised by under 10 percent of the population- not very significant for what is supposed to be the main religion of Queen and State.  Most people that attend regularly seem to be over 60, or on the upper end of the social scale, where I am sure many attend more for social status than for any real faith. I do not think that a straw poll would find the majority of young people think they are at all influenced by religion. They are more influenced by what their favourite pop star or football player thinks.


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