How do Australian young people view issues of faith?
Recent studies show that less than 50% of those aged 13 to 32 classify themselves as Christian.
One study found, “At least 47 per cent of those aged 13 to 17 identified themselves as Christians. About 15 per cent classified themselves as New Age and 7 per cent as having “other” beliefs. Researchers found that active Christians rated helping others and social justice higher than other spirituality types and that teenagers serious about their spirituality were more likely to be volunteers. They were also more likely to be more generous when giving to charity.”
It’s significant that a University of Queensland study found that moving away from traditional beliefs to “trendy”, self-focused religions was not making young adults happier.
My regular Wednesday morning guest on 98.5 Sonshine FM is Ross Clifford who is the Principal of Morling College in New South Wales and current President of the Baptist Union of Australia. Each week we chat about a range of issues relating to spirituality and belief.
Today we discussed the studies and asked what the results mean for Australia’s young people.
We also discussed the behaviour of members from Westboro Baptist Church in the US who are planning to picket and protest at any memorial for Western Australian actor Heath Ledger.
Click the audio player below if you want to listen to our conversation.
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