Give us that Old Time Religion….But Not Yet.
Christian Smith has written a follow-up to his widely praised book Soul Searching, a thorough and incisive treatment of religion among America’s youth. While I have not yet read his new work, Souls in Transition, Naomi Schaeffer Riley has, and she summarized it in last Monday’s Wall Street Journal.
Smith’s conclusion is that young people are becoming increasingly irreligious. “Only about 20% attend religious services at least once a week, a 22% decline from Mr. Smith’s survey, five years ago, of the same group of young people.” But paradoxically, young people still expect to maintain their religious habits–when they grow up. And that appears to be farther away for many young people than ever. While statistically, my generation is not so different than our parents, we will spend longer away from religion (and a longer time before we marry, have kids, and “settle down”) than they did. We want religion, but…
