Many students morph from their childhood religion
Christian to agnostic, Protestant to Catholic: Students align with survey which says 1 in 4 adults change religion
Kat Timpf
Issue date: 3/6/08 Section: News
A recent survey by the Pew Forum on religion and public life reported that 1 in 4 adults have dropped or changed the religion of their childhood . Hillsdale College students are no exception.
Some students, such as junior Natalie Scarlett, left more traditional beliefs to explore other possibilities on their own.
Scarlett comes from a Roman Catholic family of nine, but describes her own religious beliefs as "searching."
"I don't really have a definition," Scarlett said. "I suppose I believe in some kind of god but I don't believe in the god that each different religion owns. I'm not pretentious enough to say that I know what god believes or what god looks like."
Scarlett said she has doubted family beliefs since she was 11 years old, but did not admit this to her parents until she was 17.
"The hardest part was facing up to myself and not feeling horrible for having pretended for so long, because I felt really guilty for misleading my parents for so long and also for lying to myself for so long," Scarlett said. "Also, because I have five younger siblings my parents took it really hard - it was like 'Oh my god, you are a bad example, how do we explain to them that you don't believe what we believe.'"
Scarlett said she feels a lot of her parents' reservations are due to misunderstanding her beliefs.
"I tried to explain it to them and they were like, 'Oh my god, you're an atheist,'" Scarlett said. "To someone with a very strong belief of something, the term 'agnostic' or 'searching' will sometimes appear to them to be complete and utter disbelief."
Scarlett said the relationship with her parents has improved since she went away to college, as has her opinion of the Catholic faith after forming close friendships with Catholics.
Sophomore Tristan Van Maren, from a non-denominational Christian family, said he shares Scarlett's religious uncertainty.
Van Maren described himself as "mystical-aesthetic-agnostic." He believes that while all religions ask about the meaning of life, the answer is impossible to find.
Some students, such as junior Natalie Scarlett, left more traditional beliefs to explore other possibilities on their own.
Scarlett comes from a Roman Catholic family of nine, but describes her own religious beliefs as "searching."
"I don't really have a definition," Scarlett said. "I suppose I believe in some kind of god but I don't believe in the god that each different religion owns. I'm not pretentious enough to say that I know what god believes or what god looks like."
Scarlett said she has doubted family beliefs since she was 11 years old, but did not admit this to her parents until she was 17.
"The hardest part was facing up to myself and not feeling horrible for having pretended for so long, because I felt really guilty for misleading my parents for so long and also for lying to myself for so long," Scarlett said. "Also, because I have five younger siblings my parents took it really hard - it was like 'Oh my god, you are a bad example, how do we explain to them that you don't believe what we believe.'"
Scarlett said she feels a lot of her parents' reservations are due to misunderstanding her beliefs.
"I tried to explain it to them and they were like, 'Oh my god, you're an atheist,'" Scarlett said. "To someone with a very strong belief of something, the term 'agnostic' or 'searching' will sometimes appear to them to be complete and utter disbelief."
Scarlett said the relationship with her parents has improved since she went away to college, as has her opinion of the Catholic faith after forming close friendships with Catholics.
Sophomore Tristan Van Maren, from a non-denominational Christian family, said he shares Scarlett's religious uncertainty.
Van Maren described himself as "mystical-aesthetic-agnostic." He believes that while all religions ask about the meaning of life, the answer is impossible to find.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Bill
posted 3/08/08 @ 3:43 PM EST
What is the author's beef with protestant Christianity (Lutherans, Methodists, Non-Denominationals, and the like)? The author cites examples of students moving away from protestant Christianity and students moving both toward and away from Catholicism. (Continued…)
Hugh
posted 3/13/08 @ 11:32 PM EST
Bill, out of the grand total of three people the article discussed, yes, one gave up evangelical Christianity for Catholicism. Another left Catholicism for agnosticism. (Continued…)
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