OMG! How Generation Y Is Redefining Faith in the iPod Era. - Circle

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Demarcating the Religious Landscape: Portrait of Diversity In this report, we put youth into three groups: the Godly, the God-less, and the Undecided middle. In the fi rst two categories, youth clearly make a choice about the intensity of their religious attachment and faith –and therefore religious identity– much of which depends on family dynamics and the nature of a family’s religious tradition. In the middle category, we fi nd many of the newest immigrants who are moving away from their traditional attachments and integrating into American life; we also fi nd young adults from homes where parents have not made religious life a priority yet, who are also not explicitly or intentionally rejecting religious life. These Undecided individuals are not completely divorced from religious life, but they largely avoid formal attachment such as membership in religious organizations. Nearly half describe themselves as religious, but religious identity falls far below family and ranks even with other aspects of self-defi nition such as one’s job or gender. To create this demarcation, we created a religiosity scale that encompasses both formal and informal kinds of religious engagement. 29 Despite the fact that formal and informal religious attachments are distinct, they are high correlated. In other words, youth who participate in formal religious practice also demonstrate high levels of informal practice. Youth who do not participate in religious practices or have no religious affi liation also do not engage in informal practice. They simply fi nd their connection to communal life in other ways and do not place a high value on faith in their lives. The Undecided middle engages in both forms of practice, though their religious commitment clearly falls more squarely on the more informal side. The Godly (27 percent of Generation Y) Young people who maintain a strong religious commitment in their early adult years grow up in religious homes. People with a strongly religious family life are much more likely to incorporate religion into their identity than those who grew up in families where religion was not all that important. They are more likely to attend worship services regularly (71 percent) and have friends who practice the same religion as them (56 percent). Should youth decide to make religion an important part of their life, they are more likely to incorporate it into their everyday practices, which often are confi rmatory statements and reinforcements of their own beliefs. Whether it involves listening to religious music, reading religious materials, or talking about their faith with friends, the Godly fi rmly integrate all aspects of formal and informal religious attachment into their lives. 30 They participate in religious activities at school (47 percent) as well as volunteer (and a majority say they do so on regular basis) through religious groups (89 percent). How Generation Y Is Redefining Faith In The iPod Era 18
Religious Practice By Religiosity (Percent Responding “Weekly”) Total The Godless The Undecided middle The Godly Attend worship services 36 1 26 89 Pray before meals 55 5 60 97 Talk about religion informally with your 38 15 31 73 friends Read religious books, newspapers or magazines 33 3 27 72 Attend Sunday School or religion classes 27 1 15 75 Attend an informal religious or prayer 18 - 8 54 group Participate in a religious music group 10 - 3 32 Volunteer to help the disadvantaged such as working in a soup kitchen, be a big brother or sister, volunteer for habitat for humanity, etc. 8 3 7 14 OMG! 2004 Religious identity and an individual’s relationship with God figures heavily in the worldview of Godly youth. For these young people, religion is the most important way of defining themselves –more than family or racial identity. For example, among those who attend worship services every week, 74 percent say that religion is a very important way of defining themselves– greater than the number who cite family roots (61 percent). Moreover, for the most Godly, worries about their relationship with God (29 percent very worried) are the most intense, though closely tied with concerns about getting a STD (28 percent very worried), or finding a job (28 percent very worried), and concerns about grades (25 percent very worried). The Godly are likely to believe that religion is about personal salvation, that religious institutions are places where people can build their personal relationship with God (64 percent) and that people must believe in God in order to be moral and have good values (65 percent). They are also quite traditional in their view of sexuality, with 91 percent saying that young people should wait to have sex until they are married. Few of the Godly are worried about sexually transmitted diseases. 19 How Generation Y Is Redefining Faith In The iPod Era
Page 2 and 3: A word about the title of this surv
Page 4 and 5: Table Of Contents 1. Introduction 2
Page 6 and 7: express a hunger for spiritual mean
Page 8 and 9: • The Godly (27%) for whom religi
Page 10 and 11: Generation Y: The Most Diverse Gene
Page 12 and 13: children, younger Americans are at
Page 14 and 15: Young people, moreover, are embedde
Page 16 and 17: can talk to their parents about any
Page 18 and 19: Identity Groups (Percent Responding
Page 22 and 23: Core Beliefs By Religiosity (Percen
Page 24 and 25: OMG! 2004 Given what we know about
Page 26 and 27: They are religious “moderates”
Page 28 and 29: Volunteer Activities (Percent Respo
Page 30 and 31: Progressive World View on Differenc
Page 32 and 33: often (4 percent) or somewhat often
Page 34 and 35: 4. Respect intelligence: Don’t ex
Page 36 and 37: Table 1: Population of 18-24 year o
Page 38 and 39: Table 3: Continental U.S. Hispanic
Page 40 and 41: Table 4: Continental U.S. Asian Tra
Page 42 and 43: Appendix B: Religiosity Scale Compo
Page 44 and 45: collected March 16-April 4, 2004. T
Page 46 and 47: 29. See appendix for the scale comp
Page 48 and 49: Acknowledements About the Author An
Page 50: We are also indebted to the followi

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