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April 12, 2005
civic advantages of religion
Yesterday, a group called Reboot released a poll on young Americans' religiosity. My organization, CIRCLE, was a major funder of the survey, which contains numerous fascinating results. In my usual way, I refer you to the study itself for the main findings; here I present some data that just happened to interest me.
Pollster Anna Greenberg divided the full sample of 18-25-year old Americans into three groups: the Godly, the Godless, and the undecided middle. In almost all respects, the Godly are most likely to participate in civic life. They don't only volunteer more and participate in more religious groups; they are also more likely to protest and to buy "green" products. However, levels of religious faith and attendance are much lower for today's young Americans than for their predecessors. Therefore, it's not surprising that rates of civic participation are lower (leaving aside school-based volunteering, which has increased).
April 12, 2005 8:14 AM | category: none