God is the new drug of choice for today’s young rebels

[Arawn-ap-Hywel]

If you have liberal parents, getting religion is the only way to go, says Kira Cochrane


‘When I look back, I suppose that Ben’s conversion to Christianity was quite gradual really, but he’s definitely fallen hook, line and sinker now,” says Ellen Parker, a teacher from Surrey and a lifelong agnostic. Her son Ben is in his mid-twenties and has been a devout evangelical Christian for a few years. It is a situation about which Parker feels deeply ambivalent.
“On the one hand,” she says, “he was quite aimless when he joined the church and I can see that it’s given him a real sense of purpose: he went from being someone who had literally never read a book for pleasure, to studying the Bible for hours each day. But it also makes me sad because none of the rest of the family shares his beliefs and it excludes us from a massive part of his life. Sometimes I think that the gulf between the values of his church and my own liberal values might be impossible to bridge.”


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...125019,00.html

Oh how rebelious youth can be, the world turns in the old ways

[Chris the Chees]

Certainly I have read of a resurgence of faith in people of my generation, especially in universities. However, I am willing to bet that the figures are insignificant in comparison to the rise of atheism. Religion has very little value for most people of my age. Some believe it and take it very seriously, but most do not.

In my floor at university, there was one catholic, four evangelical Christians and that is it. This is of a floor of thirteen people. In the rest of the block (another three floors) I believe there were only around 3 others with religious belief. Out of over fifty people in the block at most the number of those with religious belief can only be 10.

I hope this is a sign that religion is on its way out.

[SoccerfreakAB2]

If you guys are interested in statistics on the rise of christianity/atheism, then check these out. "Youths" going to christianity to rebel against parents is the dumbest thing I've ever heard, and explains why I've never seen anyone do it. The author is making a false accusation, completely. Here are the real stats:

From http://www.e-thepeople.org/article/39884/ :

"Recent Statistical Data 2001-2002.

81% of American adults identify themselves with a specific religion:

76.5% (159 million) of Americans identify themselves as Christian. This is a major slide from 86.2% in 1990. Identification with Christianity has suffered a loss of 9.7 percentage points in 11 years -- about 0.9 percentage points per year. This decline is identical to that observed in Canada between 1981 and 2001. If this trend continues, then by about the year 2042, non-Christians will outnumber the Christians in the U.S..

52% of Americans identified themselves as Protestant.
24.5% are Roman Catholic.
1.3% are Jewish.
0.5% are Muslim, followers of Islam.

The fastest growing religion (in terms of percentage) is Wicca -- a Neopagan religion that is sometimes referred to as Witchcraft. Numbers of adherents went from 8,000 in 1990 to 134,000 in 2001. Their numbers of adherents are doubling about every 30 months. Wiccans in Australia have a very similar growth pattern, from fewer than 2,000 in 1996 to 9,000 in 2001. In Canada, Wiccans and other Neopagans showed the greatest percentage growth of any faith group. They totaled 21,080 members in 1991, an increase of 281% when compared with 1990.

14.1% do not follow any organized religion. This is an unusually rapid increase -- almost a doubling -- from only 8% in 1990. There are more Americans who say they are not affiliated with any organized religion than there are Episcopalians, Methodists, and Lutherans taken together. The unaffiliated vary from a low of 3% in North Dakota to 25% in Washington State. "The six states with the highest percentage of people saying they have no religion are all Western states, with the exception of Vermont at 22%."

A USA Today/Gallup Poll in 2002-JAN showed that almost half of American adults appear to be alienated from organized religion. If current trends continue, most adults will not call themselves religious within a few years. Results include:

About 50% consider themselves religious (down from 54% in 1999-DEC)

About 33% consider themselves "spiritual but not religious" (up from 30%)

About 10% regard themselves as neither spiritual or religious."

[SoccerfreakAB2]

I'm sure religion isn't a new drug use when we have all of these with their proper usages stats:

Reported drug and alcohol use by high school seniors, 2004 Used within the last: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Drugs 12 months* 30 days -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alcohol 70.6 % 48.0 % Marijuana 34.3 19.9 Stimulants 10.0 4.6 Other opiates 9.5 4.3 Tranquilizers 7.3 3.1 Sedatives 6.5 2.9 Hallucinogens 6.2 1.9 Cocaine 5.3 2.3 Inhalants 4.2 1.5 Steroids 2.5 1.6 Heroin 0.9 0.5 Rates of past year cocaine use by college students have varied over the past 10 years from a low of 2.0% in 1994 to a high of 5.4% in 2003. Past year marijuana use has ranged from a low of 27.9% in 1993 to a high of 35.9% in 1998.

It's kind of dumb to consider religion a preferrable drug...sure it's a drug just less widespread among teens, unlike what the author says.

[Osborn F Enready]

What a crappy high.....

born a sinner, and constantly looking for validation?

(funny, ha ha.)

I'll stick with something a little more "productive", thanks.

Just say NO!

[Milton Bradley]

Quote by: Osborn F Enready What a crappy high..... born a sinner, and constantly looking for validation? (funny, ha ha.) I'll stick with something a little more "productive", thanks. Just say NO!

I still have my Nancy Reagan " Just say no!" bumber sticker.


I definately percieve a big push by religion in this area. We now have multiple Christian television stations on our local cable, and the recruitment drive is in full swing. ( I know because I actually watch occasionally to catch the old Gunsmoke episodes. I'm actually kind of surprised to see Gunsmoke on the Christian channel, but hey, I'm not going to call, and complain about the violence. )

[phoenix_fire]

Actually, being at ground zero of this "phenomenon", I can verify that there is some truth to it. I know several people who, often against the wishes or comprehension of their families, have taken up a powerful faith in God. I doubt seriously that it is an act of rebellion or a "drug". But these people are looking beyond the inherited beliefs of their parents and actually open-mindedly seeking out God. I would think you guys would be happy about that.

[Jack]

Speaking of Reagan, remember when he was in office and the "thing to do" for youth was to become a rightwing conservative and have your parents busted for possessing pot?
Kids in each generation seem to want to react to their parent's conventions by becoming something 180 degrees opposite to the parent's beliefs.
But this religious thing doesn't seem to be much of a radical departure from their parent's beliefs. A different sect, perhaps, but still within the same fold.

[another day]

You know a few people, so what? I'm sure you gravititate towards these people yourself.

I'm a youth, and I can't name a single person who even cares about religion at all. Not a bit. This is not even close to a popular trend. For the majority, drugs, alcohol, and hip hop are the way of rebellion.

[phoenix_fire]

I AM one of those people. I am surrounded by "those people" every day. I told you: ground zero. Ever had your parents threaten to disown you? Accuse you of being in a cult? Not fun.

[another day]

Well you are in a cult. And like I said, you are in the vast minority.

[phoenix_fire]

Oh, what a very informed opinion. :rolleyes:

[another day]

How so? I went to high school for 4 years and never met a single religious student. If they were religious, it was because there parents were and they hardly care for it. And this was a year ago.

Like I said, you clearly gravitate towards like-minded individuals. That does not mean it's a popular path or that there are very many of them.

And yes, you are obviously part of a cult if you are Christian. Christianity is simply a very large mind control cult.

[phoenix_fire]

One could say the same about government.

[Chris the Chees]

Quote by: phoenix_fire One could say the same about government.

Hardly, they are totally different. For a start government is not about religion or spirituality. Government deals with real, material issues, religion on the other hand deals with the abstract.

"A delusion held by one person is a mental illness, held by a few is a cult, held by many is a religion." - Robert Todd Carroll

[SoccerfreakAB2]

Quote by: phoenix_fire Actually, being at ground zero of this "phenomenon", I can verify that there is some truth to it. I know several people who, often against the wishes or comprehension of their families, have taken up a powerful faith in God. I doubt seriously that it is an act of rebellion or a "drug". But these people are looking beyond the inherited beliefs of their parents and actually open-mindedly seeking out God. I would think you guys would be happy about that.

That's like saying any Christian should be happy to have their children looking past the inherited belief of Christianity and taking up Buddhism...

[G. Adams]

Quote by: another day You know a few people, so what? I'm sure you gravititate towards these people yourself. I'm a youth, and I can't name a single person who even cares about religion at all. Not a bit. This is not even close to a popular trend. For the majority, drugs, alcohol, and hip hop are the way of rebellion.

Do you really think people in high school are in the midst of taking up a faith are going to run around publicising it? As you clearly (mercifully) don't live in a bible-thumping community, I'll pretty much put money on it that there's Wiccans at whatever school you attend/ed. But they probably don't advertise it (or maybe you just don't pick up on the signs), as it isn't exactly gonna help them if everyone thinks of them as crazy witches.

And there's simply the matter of privacy. There's more people on Volconvo who know what religion I follow than do in real life, and that's not down to the absurdly large amount of time I spend here, but because this is a personal matter that is of no business of everyday people I meet.

[ghost_stalker]

I dont know about anybody else, but ill stick with pot for my high school drug of choice, religon doesnt have good taste anyway

[SoccerfreakAB2]

Quote by: ghost_stalker I dont know about anybody else, but ill stick with pot for my high school drug of choice, religon doesnt have good taste anyway

Word, I can't wait till legalization. Go LEAP (thanks Osborn).

[LDS]

Seems to me none of you reside in Utah.