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Have the youth lost faith?

Why are some young people turning their back on the religion they were born into? Young reporters from Headliners investigate why a growing number of young people seem to be losing faith in their parents' religion.

London is possibly the most multi-cultural city in the world with millions of people from different cultures, races and religions living next door to each other. But young people here still have different views on religion, and for some it's become a cause for concern. There seems to be a growing number of young people, our friends included, who are converting from one religion to another, or at least thinking about it.

Moving away from God

Sarah, 18, from Croydon, is one young person who has already started moving in the opposite direction to God:

"I don't believe in God and there are many, many reasons why. I used to be a Catholic and I lost faith when I was 14. At that time I was such a strong Catholic. And then suddenly the more I was learning about it the more I didn't like it. I remember reading passages from the Bible that were full of really disturbing stuff. One passage I read was one of the most revolting things you will ever read about incest between a father and daughter. I would go to church and listen to the readings but I didn't like what the priest was saying. It felt wrong in my heart. It was almost offending me to be there in his presence. So, that's when I started thinking about other religions."

18-year-old Sarah

She says her family, who are very strict Catholics, didn't support her decision. "I told my mum I was changing to Wiccan and was reading books on the subject to find out more. My mum wouldn't speak to me for a very long time and she banned me from reading books about it. She got a priest to come to my house and she was crying and crying."

Wiccan is a magical tradition, which contains aspects of ceremonial magic and ritual, spirituality and mysticism and those who believe in it celebrate the changing seasons, the phases and power of the Moon and Sun, and a Goddess and God. We never knew there was a religion like this and we all thought at first that it meant Sarah was a Goth and believed in the devil. But she was just a normal teenager just like us, she dressed the same and acted the same.

'The right to believe in what we want'

Not all young people who have questioned their religion have had such a difficult time with their families. James, 16, is a friend of Sarah's and says "my family is pretty open minded about stuff. We all realise that we have the right as individuals to believe in what we want and it’s never really come up as a strong topic."

He told us how he started questioning his faith. "I was a fairly strong Christian and believed in the Bible stories. And then I grew up and became a bit more independent. I had some experiences as well which kind of changed me and made me look into spiritualism. I ended up completely disowning Christianity and changing from being a strong Christian into a Spiritualist but eventually that also faded out. I am still not sure what to believe in but I do believe there are ghosts and things like that."

14-year old Yosieph says he believes in God but would think about changing his religion, "I have been brought up in a Catholic atmosphere but I doubt my religion because things in the world are never peaceful and if God existed he would make it a better place. I don't agree with the Catholic way and I would think about changing my religion. The last time I went to mass my parents forced me, and this isn't right because I like to make my own decisions and be independent. I think young people change religions because they are influenced by their peers or because they don't think their religion is all it's cracked up to be."

So, if young people are turning against God, what are they turning to?

Sarah says she's got different beliefs and hasn't settled on anything in particular yet. "I have changed my faith about 4 or 5 times. I like to think I am a mixture of four things; part Roman Catholic, part Wiccan, and part Spiritualist and the last part of me is Absurdist. Spiritualist is when you believe in ghosts and Absurdist is my own theory on what God is."

We asked Sarah why she believed in so many different things and she says it's because she is still confused. "I doubt the whole thing. Whatever I have put faith into hasn't worked out for me and that is why I have been searching through different religions for something that feels true to me. I shouldn't do it but I am picking the best bits out of each one and making up a whole new religion. I'll just keep changing until I find something I strongly believe in. Next year I'll probably find a fifth one to add to my collection. Who knows?"

16-year-old James

And what about James? "I will eventually start believing in something, I hope. I don't think I am going to completely flip and go for something completely different, I just think I will develop."

Friends in need

We always hope that our friends will support us but both Sarah and James had a difficult time getting their friends to accept their new beliefs. "My old friends were strong Christians and when I started wearing pentagrams, which is the Wiccan sign, we had a huge argument in the Biology classroom and my friend was saying 'Why don't you believe in God?' That was a huge thing. But my new friends in college accept it," says Sarah.

James told us, "I had a really close friend and we'd always talk about religion and she'd try to, in a way, in her words, 'save me' and bring me back to Christianity. She couldn't do it so I ended up losing her as a best friend. It was upsetting for me."

"It shows that you should never judge a person before you have met them."

We were surprised when we met Sarah because we knew she believed in Wicca and we thought she would be wearing all black. She wasn't what we thought she was going to be. It shows that you should never judge a person before you have met them.

Keeping faith

But not all young people want to change their religion. Bana, 12, from London, says "I believe in God because I am a Christian and I don't doubt my religion because my family is Christian and I was brought up like that. I believe that God created the world. I would not change my religion, even if my friends did because I like to make my own decisions. Some young people who want to change their religion don't realise that other people might be happy with the religion they are born into."

The Headliners team quiz Sarah & James

And Amon, 10, agrees: "I believe in Christianity and I have no doubts about it. But I think I would be happy with whatever religion I was born into. But I think some religions cause problems, because sometimes people from one religion are racist against people from another religion."

It seems there is great conflict in the minds of some young people who want to or have changed religions, as it can completely change your lifestyle and your relationship with your family and friends. One idea could be for councils or youth groups to run courses for young people who need to know the truth about their religion and others. Otherwise the youth of this generation might grow up in a time of great religious confusion. Whatever happens we must all remember that whether you've changed religions or whether you haven't it is always important to respect other religions and not to stereotype people.

This story was produced by Amon Haileab, 10, Bana Tesfamichael, 12, Feven Mesfia, 13, Fuad Faid, 15, Jonathan Tekle, 12, Henok Gheotom, 12, Sarah Gheotom, 14, Simon Rosum, 14, and Yosieph Yemane, 14, from Headliners, a journalism programme for young people aged eight to 19. www.headliners.org

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last updated: 07/05/2008 at 12:13
created: 17/12/2007

Have Your Say

rita
so young children with a such strong opinion about religions.Maybr too many in the generous UK.Go to Iran see how free you may be.

John, 15
For any christian out there, explain to me Exodus 31:15

janet lehan
faith is not about being born into a religion,it's about coming to know christ as your lord and saviour for yourself.

Thom, 16
You said it Nick! I'm a Christian, and always will be, and what Christianity is is just the most beautiful relationship! God isn't some distant entity, not even a disinterested master - hes our loving Father. he cares, and always will - and i think people should always give it a try. if oyu dunno if hes there, ask - and see if he replies

Just Making A Point
To blame the world's divisions on religion is to be bigotted yourself. TO make sweeping statements about faith when you don't know the basis of them is to be blind and surely hypocritical. The bible clearly says there's to be no violence, to not kill to not battle with the flesh but the spiritual battle and tells us to stand firm against evil. How is that saying to kill and divide. If anything it is politics that ahs divided nations, greed for power and lust for land, unfortunately there are some clever people using the name of religion to fight their battles which should not be fought in God's name. The New Testament is full of stories of false prophets using the name of the Lord in vain. Before making sweeping statements about others please find out about them and look around you...If atheism is to prove it's worth in the world why is it that the majority of people belive in some sort of God. Atheism is not solving any problems just accepting them. What people need is an acceptance and understanding of how to make this life livable. For me it's the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I hope to show that it brings deep happiness and peace...and I will stand firm in love.

ninjaress
let the lord reign forever!! no matter what god will always be president in my life!! if y'all need any advice!! holla and ill be sure to help!!xxi agree with nick completely read the bible!! learn about gods wonders for yourself!!

Nick, 17
I'm a strong Christian and always will be, I was born into a Christian family, and have the gospel all around me. One piece of advice that I would give to anyone while having confusion or doubts is that God doesn't want you to be part of a religion he wants a relationship. The best to find out what is true is to read the bible. The real bible, you can find it one the internet. If you are still doubting that religion s worth it all, give it a go anyway, because every religion is about an after life. And this is to be lived forever in heaven. So don't say that that isn't worth having a go at.

Hmmm
Strongly Held Belief's based on NO evidence or reality are the root of all conflicts and strife in this world today thank 'god' that people are turning their backs on religion, we live in a world that is too well informed to allow a religious belief to be held without a bigotted point of view

The Atheist
I for one and very pleased to hear that religion is losing its grip. Of course - I cerainly wouldnt want young people to live without any /philosophical or moral code - but seeing as all the worlds religons have brought us is division, conflict and backward, primative beliefs and hypocrisy - and have all totally failed to unite thier own specific followers - let alone unite the human race - let us hope that the primative and bigoted belief systems that deity based religions promote are going to have less influence on the human race in general. Humans are evolved mammals - that an undeniable scientific fact -so lets have no more of this creationist/intelligent design nonsense. 500 years ago we all thought the world was flat - thankfully religion and a belief in a creator is starting to show signs of going the same way as that particular theory. About time too.

Anonimus
I agree very much with my Eritrean brothers and sisters about the youth losing faithP.S. Brap Brap Eritrea

Jesse
It shows that you should never judge a person before you have met them.

Natalie
After reading 'The God Delusion' by Richard Dawkins, I'm now a proud atheist - children should be brought up being exposed to both religion and non-religion, so they have an opportunity to make up their OWN mind from the evidence, rather than having doubts when they learn knowledge when they're older, and are too afraid to do anything about it.

Jay
I respect all comments and beliefs. But to all who have said that God is to blame for humans errors, how could that be? Would you be right to blame a landlord with a once beautiful home which has now become destroyed and neglected by the tennants?Is god really behind the evil in this world. If you have a bible please read 1 John 5:19. Then read Matt 4:8-10. This provides a good idea to who is in control right now. If we have love and were created as the human race in Gods image, he would have to be the epitome of Love. As more and more people turn to self-rule this will result in more problems as we all need direction, just like a child needs the locing direction from a parent. Jer 10:23

L.L.
Religion is for people who are afraid of going to hellSpirituality is for those who have been there

Dave
I liked Helen's comments. The most common argument for disbelief in God is that there's so much suffering in the world. But who creates that suffering? Man or God. Even so-called natural disasters can be traced back to man's misuse of the planet. If God appears to stand by, isn't it that He gives us free will and we have to bear the result of what we do in order to learn. And isn't the "real" life somewhere else, after we leave this planet? We shouldn't think that life is all suffering and there's no hope or no point in believing in Him and getting to know Him. There's a spiritual place beyond this material universe where those who qualify (through the lessons of suffering) can go.

Steve
There is a difference between having respect for other's religions and accepting that all religions lead to God. There is an absolute truth, and the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ was, and is today, the only means of getting right with God thanks to his sacrifice and resurrection. Do we tolerate people believing that murder is an acceptable form of resolving an argument? No. It is absolutely wrong to murder. In the same way, it is absolutely wrong to believe that all religions lead to God. However, believing that people's beliefs are misguided does not stop me from loving and respecting them. Instead, I want them to share the freedom that the truch brings!

Kamelia
It's really so terrible to have a problem like this one ,so i just want to say that religion is so important in each one's life and even with differences between faiths and religions we must be united as humans and we must help each other.

Jon
It's definitely time to stop getting 'religion' confused with 'faith'. Going to a footy match is religion, being secularist is religion, being a devil worshipper is religion. Faith is about your personal relationship with God and knowing that he exists and believing that one day he will restore the world to the way it was originally intended before Adam and Eve screwed things up. Remember, there's more to prove the existence of Jesus than Julius Caeser, and if the bible is made up, why is there more original transcripts of bible books than any other document in history, ever?! There's an amazing journey ahead for anyone who grasps this incredible truth and wants to learn more about it.

Claire
I'm a young christian and it's my whole life to me. It's not about picking and choosing what the Bible says, it's about trusting and having faith in a God that is control of everything. We believe that one day every single person on this earth will be judged by Him and will either go to heaven or hell. However, until that happens this amazing God has given us all complete free will to choose to believe whatever we want to choose which path to follow and that's entirely up to you. There should at least be respect for a God that isn't forcing you to follow Him, he's leaving the choice to you and if you have faith and then 'lose it', I would question whether it was ever there in the first place, because when you believe in Him with your whole heart and soul it's not something you can just drop like a hot potato.

Helen
As we grow up, it's natural to question and analyse things that we have taken for granted during our childhood. We push at boundaries and question pretty much everything our parents have taught us, so it's not surprising that our faith / beliefs also come into that category. Sadly parents often over-react to this, because it's something so important to them, and they want us to follow. I think they probably find it quite scary that they cannot seem to answer their young persons questions adequately... and therefore panic and lay down lots of rules 'while you're under my roof' etc as an alternative.I believe that Christianity can stand up to the questioning that comes (at varying ages) through times of trouble and doubt, but sometimes it takes time and commitment to wait for the answers to come. These days we want every answer and every problem solved NOW and if it doesn't happen straight away then obviously it's not real / or there; So people move onto something else to find the answer.The Bible often says 'wait' so that we can see what God is doing.. and how He is working in our lives, and the lives of people we care about.Yes sometimes really awful stuff happens (my mum died and that was pretty bad) but that's part of being on the earth - rubbish happens sometimes. If God stopped every person from dying then the world would be hideously overpopulated! The fact that God hasn't broken into the world and stopped every single war, murder and crime, is not a sign that He isn't there, but a sign that He lets people choose their own paths (something we all rather like to do)... We can't have it both ways - the freedom to choose, and God jumping in and intervening everytime someone is about to do something that WE consider to be out of order! (even though, I suspect, that a lot of the time he'd want to)

Zanzibub
Bernadette/Jim - does humanism explain why the earth was created at exactly the right distance from the sun that we don't burn to a crisp and exactly the right distance from the moon that we don't flood? Crumbs, that must have been one well-planned big bang!! The bible has all the answers and as Billy Graham says, a God-less life is like a vacuuum and we all know that the natural order states that a vacuum has to be filled...God will do just that for you if you let him in.

Chris
Great to read some of the comments below. I feel sorry for the 'youth' of today as there's so much pressure around them to conform, to fit in and to be popular. As it's increasingly NOT the norm to go to Church and to have a faith, this could be encouraging what this article describes as "losing faith". In my opinion we have so much to thank God for and at this time of year especially, more people than ever come to think about that and I pray they'll take it to heart. May God bless ya this Christmas.

Peter Houghton
It does not matter which religion you bear allegiance to. There is only one creator/God and all Religions are surely "man made".

WILLIAM
THERE ARE SOME THINGS IN LIFE THAT GOD CANNOT CHANGE UNLESS YOU ASK HIM TO.JUST THINK ABOUT IT THE ALFA AND OMEGA NEEDS YOUR SAY ON TOPICS BEFORE HE COMES IN.WE HAVE A TRUE LISTENING GOD.HIS WORD THE BIBLE IS BADLY INTERPRETED BY MOST PEOPLE.JUST READ MORE AND PRAY OFTEN,ASK FOR INSIGHT FROM HIM BECAUSE THOSE ARE HIS WORDS.IM SURE MISINTERPRETATION IS EVERYWHERE BUT THAT DOESNT CHANGE WHO GOD IS.HIS SON JESUS IS WHO DIED FOR THE SINS OF MANKIND IS A TRUE INDICATION OF HIS LOVE TOWARDS US.PLS READ AND PRAY AND STOP LISTENING TO PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY DIDNT SAY THOSE.233243067998 IF DOUDTFUL.GOD BLESS ALL THOSE THAT READ THIS.

Bernadette
I recall my journey through this maze. It took some time but finally I realised the gaping hole in my life was not about belief, it was because I needed to know more. Religions operate on the pretext that they can provide answers but as time goes by you realise they actually can't tell you anything. Believe less and learn more about this incredible world. And Jim is right, humanism is great place to start.

Jacqueline
I would like to emphasise the difference between faith in God, which is rather like love: we cannot decide to have faith. We can have it and lose it, or never have it. Religion, on the other hand, is subscribing to a framework of belief and practice. Few thinking people agree with every tenet of their religion, and it seems to me better to engage and question than just to abandon one religion for another. Of course, ceasing to believe in God is a good reason for looking for other frameworks for living.

Jim
There is a good rational ethical alternative to all and any religion - it's called humanism. Sadly it is not well known because broadcasters like the BBC refuse to give it the same airtime as the minor, let akone major, religions.

Mike Waller
Unfortunately Religion is usually connected with the worship of a creator God. This is not sensible due to the presence of such terrible suffering everywhere, from humans downwards, which he would be responsible for! A religion without "God worship" would be very helpful for many people and should be encouraged

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London Life

Have the youth lost faith?

Moving away from God

'The right to believe in what we want'

So, if young people are turning against God, what are they turning to?

Friends in need

Keeping faith

This story was produced by Amon Haileab, 10, Bana Tesfamichael, 12, Feven Mesfia, 13, Fuad Faid, 15, Jonathan Tekle, 12, Henok Gheotom, 12, Sarah Gheotom, 14, Simon Rosum, 14, and Yosieph Yemane, 14, from Headliners, a journalism programme for young people aged eight to 19. www.headliners.org

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Local BBC Sites

Neighbouring Sites

Related BBC Sites

London Life

Have the youth lost faith?

Moving away from God

'The right to believe in what we want'

So, if young people are turning against God, what are they turning to?

Friends in need

Keeping faith

This story was produced by Amon Haileab, 10, Bana Tesfamichael, 12, Feven Mesfia, 13, Fuad Faid, 15, Jonathan Tekle, 12, Henok Gheotom, 12, Sarah Gheotom, 14, Simon Rosum, 14, and Yosieph Yemane, 14, from Headliners, a journalism programme for young people aged eight to 19. www.headliners.org

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