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Helping Youth Have a Faith of Their Own

The fact that youth participate in church less as they get older and often are not present in church as young adults can lead church leaders to assume they lack religious interest. A new book growing out of the National Study of Youth and Religion challenges that assumption. Sociologists Lisa Pearce and Melinda Lundquist Denton found that older teens and young adults see great significance in religion though not always in institutional forms of religious life.

In their book A Faith of Their Own: Stability and Change in the Religiosity of America’s Adolescents (Oxford University Press, 2011), the authors follow up with 2,530 young people, age 16 to 21, surveyed about their faith and religious practices at two points in time. The authors identified five types of religious identity among these young persons.

Abiders (20 percent). These are the adolescents with the highest levels of religious interest and practice. They not only believe in God; they pray regularly, attend services, volunteer, and are most likely to say their religion is the only true faith.

Adapters (20 percent). This group shows high levels of personal religiosity. But compared to the Abiders, they are more accepting of other people’s faiths and attend religious services more sporadically. The Adapters are most likely of all the groups to help others in need.

Assenters (31 percent). These teens say they believe in God, but they are minimally engaged with their faith. Religion is tangential to other aspects of their lives.

Avoiders (24 percent). They believe in God but do not engage in any religious practice. Their God is a distant one, and they often do not name a religious affiliation.

Atheists (5 percent). They do not believe in God and do not attend services.

Meaning for Congregations

What might this mean for congregations wanting to be sensitive to the faith perspectives of youth? We know that participation in formal religious services means little to many youth. They do not necessarily see themselves as less religious because they attend worship less often. The church is often not their primary community of meaning during these years.  

The writers suggest that congregations can support youth as they refine their religious identity with an approach called “scaffolding.” Scaffolding creates a context in which youth can participate at a level just beyond where they are currently. Instead of asking youth to go where they are not ready to go, they are helped to grow from where they are. Hallmarks of all such efforts must be honesty and acknowledgement of the role of doubt in faith.

All people have distinctive issues and needs at various life stages. One lesson from this research is the importance of supporting youth in appropriate ways during these critical years.

Lovett H. Weems, Jr.

Napolitano: "This Particular Pope ... Is Somewhere Between A Communist With A Lowercase 'C' And A Marxist With An Uppercase 'M'". 

NAPOLITANO: I am sighing because the Holy Father is a challenge for traditionalist Roman Catholics, of which I am one. Particularly, traditionalists who came of age under John Paul II and then under Benedict XVI. Who, though they had impulses that were not exactly Ayn Rand on capitalism, were far more into philosophy and theology, and far less into the economy ... This particular Pope, who has proclaimed himself a Peronist, is somewhere between a communist with a lowercase "c" and a Marxist with an uppercase "M." At the same time he is trying to be a Roman Catholic -- uppercase "R," uppercase "C." 

The Pope is infallible on faith in morals. Thank God it is just limited to faith and morals because he is, he is -- he sounds like a left-wing professor at the London School of Economics when he blames the mass migration on economic inequality. 

http://mediamatters.org/video/2015/09/15/foxs-andrew-napolitano-calls-pope-francis-a-com/205560

      There are millions of Americans who believe Obama is eligible to be a US President even though he stated his father is a foreign-born Kenyan and Muslim and that he and his alleged dad are Subjects of Great Britain.  It's public knowledge that Obama stated that he lived in Indonesia and he was adopted by a foreign-born stepdad. So, how does Congress, the Senate, US Justices, Federal Judges, DOJ, and law enforcement at the highest levels, justify eligibility under US Constitutional law as well as the State's Identification Laws.  After all, every U.S. Citizen must comply with these laws, including public servants, until 2008!  How is it that he can be paid with taxpayer dollars without being properly vetted and identified is the million dollar question!  Millions of Americans now believe that eligibility doesn't matter and that Article II and the vetting requirements are obsolete! Yet, they approve of Obamacare imposed on Americans as a good thing while those who forced Obamacare upon the citizens, i.e.,  Obama, Biden, Pelosi, Reid, Congress, Senators, Justices, and their families, exempt themselves from the unaffordable Obamacare mandates and punishments.

Furthermore, the only thing that is becoming obsolete in the near future for Americans are U.S. Natural Born Citizens. The births of US Natural Born Citizens.  God. Christianity.  Judea-Christian Prayers.  One Nation Under God. Morals. Truth.  Integrity. US Constitutional laws.  The BIll of Rights. A majority race. Western Civilization.  It's my opinion that Obamacare is a recipe for death care!  In fact,  America's history is being changed through public schools.  Kids are being indoctrinated into foreign history and religions. Parental Rights denied.  Mandated chemical-laden vaccinations.  Privacy denied.  Quality health care rationed and denied.  Medicare reduced.  Social Security Benefits threatened.   America's Judea-Christian history, traditions and roots are being uprooted after 236 years. Should Americans not ask if too many Americans are too passive about an  unvetted man, unvetted 3x, elected into the highest office in the land granting himself absolute power so he can circumvent US Constitional laws, Congress, and the Will of the Majority of Americans, by writing excessive Executive Orders?  How is it not an abuse of power to write excessive Executive Orders contrary to constitutional laws and behave in a dictator-like manner without any objection by the legislative or judicial branches of government?

The circumvention of the judicial and legislative branches of government renders them "meaningless" and  eliminates Checks and Balances.  Shouldn't Americans be concerned that Obama's regime is carrying on the same agendas as the Clinton regime?  The Clintons and Obama support Hillarcare morphed into Obamacare.  The U.N.'s Agenda 21, Small Arms Treaty, Rights of the Child, and the NWO's inner circle agendas.  Their goals are to pilfer the wealth of America through redistribution and depopulation programs.  How is it that American people are forced to work hard and pay taxes while the federal government is using US taxes to build up the Muslim Brotherhood nations and their political and religious ideologies, as well as, Communist Nations?  How is it that the federal government is supplying foreign enemy nations with weapons, and Fighter Jets, while attempting to deny weapons to Americans?  Since the Clinton regime, the White House has been shipping off U.S.  jobs, technology, and manufacturing companies.  They opened up the borders and granted China access to the Long Beach Port tariff free.  Now, Americans are faced with Obama's rogue government and his threats of punishment for non-compliance if Americans don't  pay-up-front for the unaffordable Obamacare.  Excessive taxation.  Denying and rationing Health Care services under Medicare.  Americans are witnessing the destruction of the greatest health care system in the world!

     Therefore, the most explosive parody of how the United States of America is being economically and militarily ruined and set up for civil unrest through depopulation programs that are contrary to Western Civilization, the Bible, and America's lifestyle is now released on-line.  Americans are being excessively taxed and their wages diminished as the cost of living and Obamacare take its toll on jobs and wages. Obama's regime is creating a land of the rich and the poor and destroying the Middle Class, Capitalism, and free enterprise.  Therefore, I've created and written a parody and is a New Release, "Obamacare, Dinosaurs, Red Necks, and Radicals" written for this time in our history exposing the truth through fiction. But, Obama isn't a fictional character and he and his unconstitutional and bold agendas are real.  This parody is a warning to every loyal American of how Obamacare is "Death Care."  The short adventure story is a Keepsake for the years 2008-2012 with the hope that future generations will understand how a nation can be infiltrated and changed or wiped out. 

    The reader is enlightened about Obamacare as they join Noah, a prominent Professor of Archaeology, on an adventure into a remote jungle in search of the lost Tablets which were left behind for mankind.  The hidden Tablets must be discovered before the end of 2013 a.d. or they shall remain untouched by mankind.  The ancient Tablets disclose how the Judea-Christian Dinosaur Nation was seduced and mesmerized by a mysterious dinosaur, Obamasaurus, who suddenly appeared in their nation as if by magic.  Eventually, Obamasaurus uses his charms and makes false promises in order to gain power and control over their nation.  He came to steal their land for the migration of foreign enemies.  He uses his charms, smile, and unbountiful powers to indoctrinate the youth, enslave his opponents, and depopulate the majority of Judea-Christian Dinosaur citizens. In 2008, Noah sought adventure as the chosen one to complete a mission in a remote jungle in search of the ancient and hidden dinosaur Tablets that exposed the Legend of how the Judea-Christian Dinosaur Nation was enslaved and depopulated through mandates. The ancient dinosaur Tablets protect the secret message which Noah must decode before it's too late and discloses if mankind shall survive or be depopulated.  The parody reflects Obamacare and the mandates and requirements that are being painfully inflicted upon the American people with excessive taxation and punshment.  Please share the important message on the dangers of Obamacare included within the story, "Obamacare, Dinosaurs, Red Necks, and Radicals." You're invited to read complimentary pages on www.amazon.com