Gen Y turns to religion

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Malayala Manorama Indian Newspaper of Malayalam Language from eight places in Kerela
Thursday,10 July 2008 18:14 hrs IST
Gen Y turns to religion
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New Delhi: Three out of four Indians pray at least once a day, says a study across 21 nations by a German research agency, adding young adults are more religious than is being assumed.

Surveying 21,000 people in 21 nations, the study released Thursday by the German Bertelsmann Foundation found that around 85 percent are religious and 14 percent are deeply so. Only 13 percent aren't religious.

Martin Rieger, project leader of the Bertelsmann Foundation's Religion Monitor said in a press statement: "The assumption that religious belief is dwindling continuously from generation to generation is clearly refuted by our worldwide surveys - even in many industrialised nations."

The study found that 90 percent of young adults in countries like Nigeria and Guatemala pray at least once a day, while three out of four do the same in India, Morocco and Turkey.

It also found that there are many more religious people in the US than in most other western countries. Fiftyseven percent of young Americans pray daily, the study notes.

However, the study says that there are marked differences in the trend between individual countries and denominations. Young adults in Islamic states are deeply religious whereas young Christians in Europe are not.

In contrast to the trend in India, Morocco and Turkey, the study found that just nine percent of young adults pray daily in France, in Russia the figure is eight percent while in Austria the number is seven percent.

Interestingly, the survey also found that in some countries like Britain, the younger population is turning to religion more frequently than the older generation. Also the younger Israeli population is more religious than their parents.