American teenagers are "all over the map" when it comes to religion, said Dr. Christian Smith of Notre Dame University.

Smith, director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society, was the keynote speaker at the Fourth Annual Marjorie Pay Hinckley Endowed Chair Lecture.

In his lecture, "Soul Searching: the Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers", Smith reported the results of his nation-wide research project.

According to Smith, one-third of U.S. teens are regularly involved in religion, one-third are sporadically involved in religion, and one third are never religiously involved.

The biggest indicator of religious involvement was not demographics, such as gender or race, Smith said, but religious affiliation. LDS teens were at the top of the list, with 71% attending religious services one or more times each week.

Smith said most adults have misconceptions about teens and religion.

"Most teens are not religious rebels alienated from or disgruntled with the churches in which they are being raised," Smith said. "Neither does religious faith and practice mean much to most teens either, or connect much with the rest of their lives."

According to Smith, religion operates in the background of their lives, like wallpaper. His research showed that teens don't feel that religion needs to be a big part of their lives right now.

"Teens feel it is okay to be somewhat religious," Smith said. "But important not to be too religious."

While most religious teens follow the faith of their parents, Smith said it cannot be assumed that US teens hear or understand the basics of their faith.

Based on what teens expressed as religious beliefs, Smith said there is a new religious trend among US teens.

Instead of following the tenants of any specific religion, teenagers believe in what Smith calls "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism" which states that:

* God exists and created the world, and that he wants people to be good nice and fair to one another.

* Life's central goals are to be happy and feel good about yourself.

* God doesn't need to be particularly involved in your life, unless you have a problem.

* Good people go to Heaven when they die.

Teens had a hard time articulating what they believe in interviews and surveys, Smith said.

He attributes this to the fact that our society has become increasingly hostile to religious discussion and teens have been taught to avoid offending others by speaking of their beliefs in generalities.

Smith said that teens could talk easily about drunk driving, sexually transmitted diseases and tolerance because these topics were drilled into them by adults, but most adults don't talk to teens about religion.

"Most teens struck us as eminently teachable," Smith said. According to his research, the two most important factors in strengthening the religious faith of teens are serious committed parents and healthy relationships with other adults. Smith encouraged the audience to talk to their teenagers about their beliefs.

"Religious commitment makes a clear significant, positive difference across all standard measurable outcomes in teens lives," Smith concluded.

According to the National Study of Youth and Religion, Smith's study is the most extensive sociological research project on teens and religion ever conducted.

His study, which began in 2000, consists of three waves of data collection that track the religious development of teens ages 13 to 17 years old all over the country.

In the first wave, his research team conducted phone surveys with 3,370 parents teen pairs and 276 personal interviews with teens.

Researchers conducted the second wave of research in 2005 and the third wave of phone surveys is currently underway. The strengths of the research project are that it is both quantitative and qualitative, Smith said.

Copyright Brigham Young University 11 Feb 2008