(The Pillar, https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/study-liberal-us-priests-facing-progressive?)
According to a new study, a majority of young Americans from different and no faiths say that they have experienced a sacred moment, though what they consider sacred may be different from previous generations. Springtide Research Institute’s study, “The State of Religion & Young People 2023: Exploring the Sacred,” surveyed more that 4,500 young people between 13 and 25 years of age. Fifty-five percent responded that they had had “experiences that evoked a sense of wonder, awe, gratitude, deep truth, and/or interconnectedness in [their] life.” Of these respondents (who could select more than one of the following options), 69 percent said that they had experienced a sacred moment more than once in nature, 68 percent said they had done so in the privacy of their home, and 55 percent said this had occurred at a place of worship. More of the respondents said they felt connected to nature than to a higher power. Nearly a third of those surveyed told Springtide they had never participated in a spiritual or religious community. Fifty-six percent said they considered their daily or weekly engagement in art as religious or spiritual practices. This was also the case with 54 percent of those who spent time in nature, 49 percent of those who read, and 45 percent of those who prayed. Sixty-eight percent said they were at least slightly religious (32 percent slightly, 25 percent moderately, and 10 percent very), while 78 percent said they were at least slightly spiritual (32 percent slightly, 29 percent moderately, and 17 percent very).
(The study can be downloaded from: https://www.springtideresearch.org/post/news/sacred-experience-benefits-gen-z-spirituality-wellbeing)
Despite New Age practitioners’ use of non-conventional and holistic health techniques, many are also invested in genetic testing, an established medical practice that seems contradictory to their more spiritual orientation. In a recent study published in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (online in November), Christopher Scheitle, Katie Corcoran, and Bernard DiGregorio analyzed a probability sample of 50,000 individuals from the AmeriSpeak panel, looking at measures related to science, religion, and what are considered paranormal activities. The researchers found a positive association between individuals’ involvement in New Age practices, such as the use of crystals and acupuncture, and their use of direct-to-consumer genetic health tests. This association proved to be strong even after accounting for such control variables as education and interest in science and scientific knowledge. Scheitle, Corcoran, and DiGregorio argue that this finding can be explained by the affinity New Age practitioners have for individualized health care outside of institutional boundaries. They speculate that if something like genetic health testing can be reconciled with New Age healing practices, a “shared framing around personal autonomy and anti-institutionalism” could potentially resolve other conflicts between spiritual beliefs and scientific practices.
(Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14685906)
(The Pillar, https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/ghanas-bishops-sound-alarm-as-church)
Brierley notes that, in contrast, the Roman Catholic Church has 28 percent under 20 years old and 14 percent over 65, “a very great difference, and the combined non-institutional denominations are 25 percent and 17 percent, somewhere between the Catholics and the Institutionals (mainline) in both percentages. Other Religions, however, have 28 percent who are under 20 but only 8 percent 65 and over, this latter indicating they have far fewer older people, some of which are likely to be immigrants or other newcomers, though they are only a small part of the population (1 percent).” Brierley adds that the age structure is actually more significant than the figures suggest because the percentage of those 75 and over is increasing faster in the mainline churches than the others. “In other words, it is not just that the combined institutional churches are significantly older than the population as a whole, but very much older. In 2021, 7.9 percent of N. Ireland’s population were 75 or over, [but this group accounted for] 12.7 percent of the institutional churches…[B]y 2031, 9.6 percent of the population will be 75 or over, which could mean 15.5 percent for the institutional churches. While many elderly people are still active and can play a positive part in church life, and therefore should not be bewailed or assumed to be a ‘negative’ in statistical interpretations, replacement inevitably involves younger people coming to faith, though not necessarily into institutional, traditional church structures.”
(FutureFirst, www.brierleyconsultancy.com)