Two thirds of teenagers don't believe in God

[Beorn]

Two thirds of teenagers don't believe in God

Teenagers even say family, friends, money, music and even reality television are more important than religion.
It also emerged six out of ten 10 children (59 per cent) believe that religion "has a negative influence on the world".

The survey also shows that half of teenagers have never prayed and 16 per cent have never been to church.
The study of 1,000 teenagers aged 13 to 18 was carried out by Penguin to mark this week's publication of controversial novel 'Killing God' by Kevin Brooks.

The book is about a 15-year-old girl who questions the existence of God.
Kevin Brooks, the author, said: "I can't say I am surprised by the teenagers' responses.
"Part of the reason that I wrote Killing God was that I wanted to explore the personal attitudes of young people today, especially those with troubled lives, towards organised religion and the traditional concept of God.
"How can the moralities of an ancient religion relate to the tragedies and disorders of today's broken world? And why do some people turn to God for help while others take comfort in drugs and alcohol?
"These are just some of the questions I wanted to consider... And I wasn't looking for answers."

The research also found 55 per cent of young people are not bothered about religion and 60 per cent only go to church for a wedding or christening.
Only three out of 10 teenagers believe in an afterlife and 41 per cent believe that nothing happens to your body when you die, but one in 10 reckon they come back as an animal or another human being.

A Church of England spokesman said: "Many teenagers aren't sure what they believe at that stage of their lives, as is clear from the number who said they don't know whether they believe in God.
"On the other hand many of these results point to the great spirituality of young people today that the Church is seeking to respond to through new forms of worship alongside tradition ones."

Hanne Stinson, chief executive of The British Humanist Association, said: "It confirms that young people - like adults - do not need a religion to have positive values.
"The 'golden rule', which is often claimed by religions as a religious value, is in reality a shared human value - shared by all the major religions and the non-religious and almost every culture - that predates all the major world religions."

Source

[Loki]

I think it's good news!

Another nail in the coffin for the Church of England, that old establishment institution that is lying to people and brainwashing them as part of a social engineering agenda. Hopefully in about 20 years or so the CofE will disband and cease to exist.

[Beorn]

Hopefully in about 20 years or so the CofE will disband and cease to exist.

Along with Western society. All hail the Wii, Strongbow and Make-up!

[Angantyr]

Two thirds of teenagers can't tell their asses from a hole in the ground.

[Rainraven]

Society used to be that a child would take the religion of their parents unquestioningly and that was just how it worked. Now with the spread of communication there is a huge choice of religion, if you want to be Heathen, Christian, Buddhist, there will always be somewhere you can go no matter what your location. With such a wide variety of religions and the stupid wars people fight because of them is it any surprise that teenagers would rather believe nothing?

[Beorn]

With such a wide variety of religions and the stupid wars people fight because of them is it any surprise that teenagers would rather believe nothing?

People don't fight because of a religion, but because the religion is an extension of themselves.

People were forever banging on about Protestants and Catholics fighting each other in Northern Ireland because of their religion, when in fact their religion had next to nothing to do with it.

The lines were political and cultural. Not religious.

Religions don't cause wars. People do.

[Sol Invictus]

Religions don't cause wars. People do.

If I wasn't so buzzed I would quote what the Koran (And the Bible) says what should be done about non-believers. All I got to say about that.

[Beorn]

If I wasn't so buzzed I would quote what the Koran (And the Bible) says what should be done about non-believers. All I got to say about that.

Go right ahead. What would it show? That a 'religion' has physically come down and instigated a war with another religion, or would it merely show that a 'man' has corrupted the word of a religion to suit his own end?

[Rainraven]

would it merely show that a 'man' has corrupted the word of a religion to suit his own end?

Exactly.

A fact that has basically put me off organised religion for life.

[Sol Invictus]

Go right ahead. What would it show? That a 'religion' has physically come down and instigated a war with another religion, or would it merely show that a 'man' has corrupted the word of a religion to suit his own end?

No problem. You know, just the same as half the people here, that I used to be a hardcore Bible thumping Christian (just look at Skadi) until I saw through the bullshit of it all. I'll give you numerous quotes about all that once I'm done having my fun. I never had any fear about "schooling" anyone in regards to Christian theology, but I won't let you ruin it right now by forcing me to open that miserable fiction at this present moment.

In the mean time you should do a little research yourself and save me the hassle.

Until then..