You surely remember Fr. Jonathan Morris from his role in the History Channel’s “The Real Face of Jesus?”. Here he appears on Fox News and is mentioned in a Huffington Post article:
A recent poll showed that almost one in three young Americans doubt God exists.
The poll, conducted in April by the Pew Research Center, showed that 31 percent of respondents under the age of 30 have doubts about the existence of God, compared to 9 percent of those polled who were 65 or older.
When asked to evaluate the statement, "I never doubted the existence of god," 18 percent of all respondents said that they mostly or completely disagreed.
But Fox News religion contributor Fr. Jonathan Morris had a different take on the numbers. Morris, a Catholic priest from the Archdiocese of New York, said that having doubt doesn’t necessarily mean that young people don’t believe in God.
He included himself and Mother Teresa among the ranks of people who have had doubt about their faith, recalling that the famous nun’s diaries were "full of spiritual conflict." Morris also said that questioning one’s faith could be a positive thing leading to a mature acceptance of their beliefs.
However, as CNN pointed out, the new numbers constitute a 15 percent drop in certainty over the past 5 years. A 2007 Pew poll found 83 percent of those in the "Millennial" generation never doubted the existence of God.
This means young people are expressing doubts about God more now than at any time since Pew started asking the question on its American Values Survey a decade ago.
Additionally, 25 percent of Millennials identified as "religiously unaffiliated."
Worldwide, the Catholic Church is facing a shortage of priests, which the Vatican recently blamed on secularism, sexual abuse scandals and parents’ ambition for their children.
I haven’t done a documented survey but I think things may be worse then the poll shows!. In my job I happen to meet alot of young people, mostly under 30, and I have found most don’t even believe in God let alone even think about religion. They seem pre-occupied with the material aspects of the world and getting ahead and things such as video games, movies, latest fashions etc. Personally I have had quite a few of these kids show disdain towards me for even bringing up the subject of God!…Really makes one wonder where this world is heading.
R
The loony literalists have a lot to answer for, as they bring both God and religion into disrepute, and no sensible or intelligent young person is going to believe in that type of religion, but nevertheless they still attract followers from the disillusioned, the hurt and the vulnerable. Their pushiness and aggressive type of evangelising and their outrageous beliefs attracts media attention, and the illusion is created that that’s what religion is all about. Reasonable people reject it as the myths, superstition and nonsense that it is.
Result: A reasoned approach to religion does not create media news, so it has no exposure. We need a new John the Baptizer, prophets who will proclaim the true Word of God, without the baggage of the literalists.
The Vatican can blame secularism, parental ambition and sexual abuse scandals. However it will not budge on allowing married Catholic men to become priests (only converted Anglican vicars or eastern Orthodox), nor allow women priests, on extremely tenuous grounds. Nevertheless all will know of examples of caring and effective Protestant pastors both women and married men. They have a problem which they could easily resolve at the stroke of a pen, but the mills of the Vatican grind even more slowly than the mills of God!
I largely agree with daveb on this one: science-denying, self-righteous fundamentalism has done horrors for all of Christendom (it was a large reason I was an atheist for so long). No sensible person is going to deny the age of the earth or evolution. As with priests, I also agree since I’m Eastern Orthodox and our priests can be married. I know many Roman Catholics who want to see this happen, and I guarantee you there would be a great increase of men who would respond to such a vocation.
Never trust anyone under 30…
As a Catholic who believe that God is Love, these kind of stats don’t bother me too much. Faith is for someone who NEED it (like myself) and it’s surely not on that base that God will juge his children. In reality, God will never judge anyone and those who don’t believe in God on Earth wil just have a very nice surprise the other side when they’ll be face to face with him. At this crucial moment, I don’t have great doubts that most if not all of these person (who didn’t needed God on Earth) will choose him (Love) instead of Darkness… That’s what I believe.
I am also unsure that doubting the existence of God is a bad thing. I have had my doubts and have come out the other side without a doubt left. Those under 30 have not had the life experience to really know anyway. If they are truly searching, they will most certainly find the answers they seek. No doubt about that.
What I truly believe is that God have planted a little seed in the heart of everyone of his children and that seed is called “happiness and love”. That’s why there’s not one single human being who don’t seek this all his life and I truly believe that when a person will be face to face with Happiness and Love in person (God), this person will make the right choice ! In the end, it’s the person who has the choice between hell and paradise. That’s where the freedom given by God goes. And that was one of the main revelation given by Jesus-Christ. It is I who have a choice to make between hell and paradise…
About faith, here’s the best quote I have ever read and it comes from Ste. Therese of Lisieux from France : “Faith is not a belief, it’s an experience !” That’s so true. Unless you have made the experience in your belly that God is Love and nothing else, it’s impossible to truly believe this.
The God of Jesus is not the God of Talion but the God of Love and his throne was a cross ! And that changes everything…
The Shroud is a very good sign that this is true !!!