Shalom All:

Sometimes you have to hear it from others to believe it.  You won't believe it
from those close to you.

U.S. teens involved in their faiths but have major gaps in religious
knowledge, survey says
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/local/10973086.htm
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The majority of American teens believe in God and worship in conventional
congregations, but their religious knowledge is remarkably shallow and they
have a tough time expressing the difference that faith makes in their lives,
a new survey led by a North Carolina researcher says.

Smith (sociologist Christian Smith of the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill) says the material "is not just about teenagers. It speaks more
broadly about the direction of American religion."

The project involved a telephone survey of 3,370 randomly selected English-
and Spanish-speaking Americans, ages 13-17, followed by face-to-face
interviews with 267 of the respondents in 45 states. With ongoing funding
from the Lilly Endowment, researchers will continue to track the same teens
through 2007.

On most of the measured criteria, Mormon youths - whose church runs daily high
school religion classes - were the most engaged in practicing their faith,
followed in order by evangelical Protestants, black Protestants, mainline
Protestants, Catholics and Jews.

Though the phone survey depicted broad affinity with religion, the
face-to-face interviews found that many teens' religious knowledge was
"meager, nebulous and often fallacious" and engagement with the substance of
their traditions remarkably shallow. Most seemed hard put to express
coherently their beliefs and what difference they make.

"God is something like a combination Divine Butler and Cosmic Therapist" who's
on call as needed, Smith writes. He says the trend reflects tendencies among
teens' Baby Boomer parents. The report speculates that poor educational and
youth programs, and competition for teens' time from school, sports, friends
and entertainment also are part of the picture.
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Do you have such children and/or youth in your home?  Shame on you if you do!
You have a lot of work ahead of you and the night is drawing nigh!!!

Dianne
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A timeline of the Revelation Seals:
http://home.centurytel.net/grafted-promise/endtimeline.html