Posted on 11/08/2021 1:01:57 AM PST by Cronos
Earlier this year, a Gallup poll found that for the first time in recorded history, the majority of Americans are not members of a church or other house of worship.
... To better understand the causes driving religious disaffiliation among young people in the U.S., and how religious parents are able to successfully pass down their faith to their children, The Pillar spoke with Amy Adamczyk, a sociology professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and co-author of the book “Handing Down the Faith: How Parents Pass Their Religion on to the Next Generation.” The book was co-written with Christian Smith, sociology professor at the University of Notre Dame, and was published in April of this year.
Here are some of their main findings about the relationship between parenting and transmitting the faith:
“[W]e found that parents who tended to have an ‘authoritative’ parenting style were more successful at transmitting religious beliefs,” Adamczyk said. “An ‘authoritative’ parenting style is one where parents consistently hold their children to clear and demanding expectations, standards, and boundaries in all areas of life. At the same time, they tend to shower their children with an abundance of warmth, support, and expressive care. It is the combination of clear expectations and affective warmth that is key for transmitting religious belief.”
...“Churches can be especially useful to parents in providing activities for children that are fun and interesting, creating a community of young people with whom they can interact, offering mentors that children can look to for advice and will watch out for them, and providing formal instruction, which parents are less inclined to offer,” Adamczyk said.
(Excerpt) Read more at pillarcatholic.com ...
it sounds like a study to support a preconceived (preferred)conclusion.
To see the real reason for the decline in membership, look no farther than the photo in the original article.
Give it a few minutes. If no one else picks up on it I’ll tell you what I see.
There are only 2 children in the photo. Even with a nearly 100% retention rate, that is not a high enough birth rate to sustain the religion. In the 70s, a small Catholic family had 4 kids. Nobody thought 10 children was odd 50 years ago.
You can TRY, but it’s not up to YOU!
The words of Jesus.
John 10:1-17 NIV
1“Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2But the one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen for his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
4When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will flee from him because they do not recognize his voice.”
6Jesus spoke to them using this illustration, but they did not understand what He was telling them. 7So He said to them again, “Truly, truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who came before Me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
9I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.
11I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12The hired hand is not the shepherd, and the sheep are not his own. When he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf pounces on them and scatters the flock. 13The man runs away because he is a hired servant and is unconcerned for the sheep.
14I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me, 15just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them in as well, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd.
17The reason the Father loves Me is that I lay down My life in order to take it up again. 18No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.”
He may never “KNOW” your children, no matter what you do.
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