Christianity Today offered an interesting interview with Christian Smith, author of Souls
in Transition: the Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults. Emergent Adults refers primarily to the 18 to 23 crowd. I was put on to the book by Alan Jacobs. Excerpt from the CT interview:
What are the traits of religious American teenagers who retain a high faith commitment as emerging adults?
The most important factor is parents. For better or worse, parents are tremendously important in shaping their children's faith trajectories. That's the story that came out in Soul Searching. It's also the story that comes out here.
Another factor is youth having established devotional lives—that is, praying, reading Scripture—during the teenage years. Those who do so as teenagers are much more likely than those who don't to continue doing so into emerging adulthood. In some cases, having other adults in a congregation who you have relationships with, and who are supportive and provide modeling, also matters.
Some readers are going to be disappointed that going on mission trips doesn't appear to amount to a hill of beans, at least for emerging adults as a whole. For some it's important, but not for most. . . [more . .]
The excerpt Alan Jacobs provided was somewhat stunning to me:
The majority of those interviewed stated . . . that nobody has any natural or general responsibility or obligation to help other people. . . . Most of those interviewed said that it is nice if people help others, but that nobody has to. Taking care of other people in need is an individual's choice. If you want to do it, good. If not, that's up to you. . . . Even when pressed — What about victims of natural disaster or political oppression? What about helpless people who are not responsible for their poverty or disabilities? What about famines and floods and tsunamis? — No, they replied. If someone wants to help, then good for that person. But nobody has to.