Wuerzburg, Germany — The attitude of young people towards religion differs greatly in Europe, Turkey and Israel. A scientific study by European researchers under the leadership of the German Professor Hans-Georg Ziebertz, Wuerzburg, reveals widely differing degrees of religiosity among young Muslims, Jews, Catholics and Protestants.
Approximately 10,000 young people in ten countries were interviewed about their attitude towards religion. Young Turkish Muslims had the strongest faith, followed by Jewish youth in Israel.
Next in line were young Catholics in Poland, Croatia and Ireland. The young generation in countries with a Protestant tradition like Germany, Finland, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden showed only a weak identification with their faith.
According to Ziebertz, these results confirm earlier findings : “Islam and the Jewish faith still have a great influence on young people while Christianity is losing out”. The study investigated the personal religious practice as well as the role of religion in family life and in schools.
Religious education in Turkey and Poland has the highest degree of sustainability. Eight out of ten young people said they would continue to follow the faith of their parents. By comparison, only one in five young Germany follows in the religious footsteps of their parents.
In Turkey, 84 per cent of all parents find it important that their children carry on in their faith. That is also true for 60 per cent of Polish parents, but only of nine percent of German moms and dads.
Ziebertz : “That shows clearly which religion manages to create the best conditions for its continued existence”. Wolfgang Polzer (56), is senior news editor of the Evangelical News Agency idea, Wetzlar (Germany), which he joined in 1981. In all, he has spent 30 years in Christian media.