How Do Parents Successfully Pass on religious Faith?
Religious adherence and practice in the United States is declining and has been for some years. With the rise of the “Nones” and Christian Smith’s identification of “moralistic therapeutic deism,” many religious parents wonder how to ensure that their children will keep the faith into adulthood. In her work as a sociologist and researcher, Amy Adamczyk has tackled many of the most difficult and controversial questions of our day. From homosexuality to religion to abortion, Amy has sought to better understand how people around the world think about important cultural issues and how those opinions have changed over time. Her latest book, Handing Down the Faith, co-authored with Christian Smith, draws upon both quantitative data sets and hundreds of qualitative interviews to help determine the factors that lead to successfully passing on religious belief to the next generation. Parents cannot leave the task to institutions, trusting that dropping off children at religious education classes will achieve the desired results. The message is clear. For faith to stick, parents must make two-way conversations with their children a priority. With cultural expectations of hands-on parenting, Amy identifies three chief characteristics of successful faith transmission: the importance of the religion to the parents, going to religious services, and talking about faith in the home.
Amy Adamczyk joins Grant to discuss some of the most contentious topics in American culture. Why are Catholics, mainline Protestants, and Jews so bad at transmitting their faith to their children? Why have attitudes on abortion not liberalized over time the way views on homosexuality and marijuana use have? What can we learn from comparing Chinese and American attitudes toward abortion? Amy is a professor of sociology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Programs of Doctoral Study in Sociology and Criminal Justice at City University of New York. In addition to her award-winning Cross-National Public Opinion about Homosexuality and her co-authored Handing Down the Faith, Amy is currently completing a book that examines cross-national opinions on abortion.
Unlike in past eras, parents want to be involved in every aspect of their kids' lives
Parents were constantly looking for opportunities for intentional, two-way conversations about religion
Biggest factors for parents passing on the faith are the importance of the religion to the parents, going to religious services, and talking about faith in the home
“If the parents weren't that involved, forget it.”
Authoritative parenting style is most likely to pass on religious faith to children later in life
Catholics, liberal Protestants, and Jews are especially bad at transmitting the faith of their kids
Our understanding of religion has changed from a community solidarity project to a personal identity accessory
Political conservatives tend to produce children who are more religious as adults
What does solidarity look like in an individualistic age?
New forms of solidarity are emerging with the use of social media
Have liberal democracies privileged creative sexual expression over stable, procreative relationships?
US needs more family-friendly policies: more affordable childcare, more generous paid parental leave, better quality healthcare
Opinions on homosexuality and marijuana have liberalized over time, but not opinions on abortion
Contrasting opinions on abortion between America and China puts the issue in a new light
Abortion is not controversial in China, democracy is
Some Chinese struggle to square the belief that the unborn child is living with the pragmatic necessity of abortion
Links:
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
The Graduate Center, City University of New York
Cross-National Public Opinion about Homosexuality by Amy Adamczyk
National Study of Youth and Religion
“Moralistic Therapeutic Deism—the New American Religion”
“The Case for One More Child” by Ross Douthat
“Baby boom or bust? How COVID-19 affects birth rates”
“Are births back? COVID-19 baby slump may have ended quicker than forecast”