Young adults who shun church are not so much anti-religious as individualistic, says a Southern Baptist researcher.
Ron Dempsey says survey responses came from students at Kentucky's University of Louisville and Jefferson County Community College, but results are applicable throughout the Southeast.Seventy percent of the unchurched students identified themselves as Christian, but more than 50 percent indicated disillusionment with organized religion. They cited historical instances of oppression and negative personal experiences.
About 30 percent indicated that religion is a "private affair," while "many indicated they just hadn't found the right place to worship" or lacked time for it.
Dempsey, who summarized his findings at a meeting of the Southern Baptist Research Fellowship, recently was named associate dean at Presbyterian College in Clinton, S.C.