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Christianity Today, August, 2007 |

Go Figure

Americans' opinions on Darfur and evolution, and other recent statistics.

Compiled by Ted Olsen | posted 8/03/2007 08:48AM

45% Americans who say U.S. troops should be part of a multinational force in Darfur.

53% Americans who said this in December 2006.

76.2% Decline in church attendance ...

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Bill	Posted: August 06, 2007 9:49 PM

Interestingly enough, my faith floundered some in the first two years of college (in the early 70's) which were spent at a Catholic University with very liberal Jesuit priests. I re-dedicated my life to Christ while attending a state college and then transferred to a Protestant Christian School where my faith grew. But, it was really the church I attended and fellowship within that church, which nurtured my faith. I enjoyed the Christian College but did not find that that was the main source of my spiritual growth. (but it was very enjoyable and made the study of psychology much more pleasant than it had been before.

Paul	Posted: August 06, 2007 2:47 PM


My faith grew in a Christian college setting (Wheaton) but fortunately I was not locked into a Young Earth Creationism perspective. I could see those kids really struggling in any academic setting, Christian or Secular.

Tim Riter

Posted: August 03, 2007 6:26 PM


Some very interesting stats, that do contradict our "common wisdom." For me, my faith floundered during my first year of college, not because of secular influences but from the shallowness I had. By my first year of grad school, I developed a much stronger faith than I ever had before, and the college environment contributed to that growth.

Mark Bj.

Posted: August 03, 2007 5:02 PM

It is interesting that college doesn''t seem to have the negative effect on church attendance that one might have expected, especially since secularization theory links education with secularization. I teach at a church affiliated college that has strayed quite a ways from its church roots and a psychology prof once described the function of our college as a safe place for christian kids to lose their faith. Yet, despite the multiple attacks on their faith, a lot of college students stay in the church. The poll results are consistent with what I learned about secularization in Wales. There, the drop in church attendance has been strongest among the working class and it is the college-educated crowd that is keeping the churches going. A pastor in Wales linked the decline in church attendance to a broader drop in participation in all kinds of associations--people just watching TV instead of joining bowling leagues or choirs or rugby leagues.

Delwyn X. Campbell

Posted: August 03, 2007 2:25 PM

It might perhaps be unfair to include me in this sample, because I am a 46 year old undergrad. While I learned a lot about other points of view (my B.A. is in Religious Studies), I expected that not everyone at San Diego State would be a Pentecostal Christian. I think that young people are more vulnerable to changing as a result of the college experience, since they don't have as much experience in their faith.

Delwyn X. Campbell

Posted: August 03, 2007 2:14 PM

Matt	Posted: August 03, 2007 12:22 PM


Actually Randy, these figures do not come from polls generated by CT. Other organizations (see the links underneath the figures) polled a much larger and diverse sample than CT readers. CT merely compiles the data and reports on it.

Randy Strash

Posted: August 03, 2007 12:10 PM


Your poll on what happened to faith in college will be skewed by your sample. Most readers of CT would be committed to the faith, whereas those who slipped in college and haven't yet recovered would not be reading this periodical....

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