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Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 9:59 am
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In doing some random searches on another topic, per usual I got sidetracked by something else I saw and came upon the Barna Research group. In particular, they have done a study on Teens and the Supernatural. I'd heard some of the findings from this around on the grape vine but not with a verifiable source. While the article is not free, there is a summary of the findings available from The Christian Post. Some of what they state is a bit slanted, but their presentation of the raw data I presume to be genuine since I saw the same figures at other sites reporting the article. Here's what one section of this artile states:
New Barna Report Explores Teens and the Supernatural by Michelle Vu The 47-page report revealed that most teens believe in the supernatural realm with seven million teens having encountered an angel, demon, or some other supernatural being. According to the Barna research, 30 percent of all teens claim they had supernatural encounters. More than 10 percent of teens say they have communicated with the dead and nearly 10 percent of youth claim they have psychic powers. Studies by The Barna Group also showed that nearly three-quarters of America’s youth (73 percent) have engaged in at least one type of psychic or witchcraft-related activity beyond media exposure or horoscope usage. The most common named were using an Ouija board and reading a book about witchcraft or Wicca – each of these activities were done by more than one-third of teenagers.
I thought the figure would be high, but I didn't think it would be such a clear majority. After reading the whole article, here are some discussion questions for you all to ponder:
arrow What are some implications of the fact that nearly three-quarters of teens have engaged in occult activities? --- How do you see this playing out from your personal experience? --- How does it effect the New Age, Occult, and Neopagan communities? --- How does it effect the Christian community?
There are many more questions that could be asked than that, but I'd rather leave this as an open discussion. Let it flow the direction it will!
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Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 10:34 am
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Starlock arrow What are some implications of the fact that nearly three-quarters of teens have engaged in occult activities? Actually, I would question the validity of your sources. Your link says the study was conducted by one David Kinneman, who has
Quote: "designed and analyzed more than 400 projects for a variety of clients, including the American Bible Society, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Campus Crusade for Christ, Christian Booksellers Association etc" Source
So already we have the biased motive behind the report in the first place. Even the blurb for the report is biased.
Your source "The 37 pages of text highlight what you should know about teen beliefs and behaviors related to Satan, demons, spirit-oriented media, Wicca, witchcraft, and much more." Considering the tone of the piece I wouldn't say it's a very accurate representation of many of the more obscure pagan tendencies.
Companies and people often fund reports to find out what they want to know. This doesn't necessarily invalidate them, but starting off a report with a tangible bias does not speak well for its findings.
Starlock --- How do you see this playing out from your personal experience? Just for the matter of debate let's assume your source holds some grain of truth. I would see this playing out that several teenagers go through some sort of experimental phase that dies out after its novelty wears off. Perhaps a small percentage of those who dabble will continue to any sort of proficiency, but I would estimate a large number stopping, or never getting beyond the fluffy stage.
However, a small percentage of a growing number still means more pagans around than there was before. And it's likely to keep growing.
Quote: --- How does it effect the New Age, Occult, and Neopagan communities? Simple. They get bigger.
Quote: --- How does it effect the Christian community? I do not know. Perhaps some will become more fundamentally rightwing to combat it. Perhaps some will learn more tolerance. In fact, probably both will happen. It's a bit too general to state what's going to happen to a third of the world's population based on a dodgy report.
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Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 9:10 am
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Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 9:45 am
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Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 1:38 pm
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Yeah, I concur. The best way to bring awareness about something you want to change is to bring light to how rampant it is (this actually applies to any activism). But then you take the negative spin that it's drawing away believers, and you have a nearly rock solid piece of propaganda.
"The report also found that relationally isolated teenagers and those experiencing a significant amount of stress and frustration were more likely to experiment with supernatural activities. For instance, many teens try witchcraft or psychic activities based on a desire to control or influence their situation, according to The Barna Report. Teens with few friends or undergoing intense stress were more likely than average to turn to witchcraft or to psychic power to cope with their feelings of vulnerability and insignificance."
Obviously, if they were turning to God when they were stressed out, they wouldn't have this problem.
"On the other hand, possessing an evangelical faith was by far the most significant factor in keeping teenagers from unwanted exploration of the supernatural. Evangelical teens were nearly three times less likely than the norm to have engaged in witchcraft or psychic activities. While only 26 percent of evangelical have experimented, the next least-likely segment of teens – those who read the Bible at least weekly – showed an engagement rate of 54 percent."
Their point is proven: More Bible = Less supernatural activity. Ergo, the inverse is true. Supernatural activity leads to less evangelism, therefore, magick and mysticism are the root of all things improper.
I'm just glad they haven't started commercials....
"Do you know what your kids are doing with candles and incense in the basement?"
Oh, the horror! Thank Gods activist groups would make them eat it.
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Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:06 am
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Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 1:00 pm
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Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2006 9:59 am
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