Young, restless & religious: How God bridged Gen gap

Contrary to what many might believe, the young in India are no less religious than their elders, though their faith appears to be on the whole just a little more abstract and less ritualistic. In fact, if there is an age group slightly less religious than the rest, it is those in the early stages of middle age. The TOI-TNS poll shows that 72% of those in their twenties strongly believe in God, which is only slightly lower than the overall average of 75%, and another 19% "somewhat believe". This is more than the 69% of 40-49 year olds who are strong believers, the lowest figure for any age group. Whether those in their early middle age are less believers because they happen to be from the generation that grew up in the sixties and seventies or because they are at a stage in life in which trials and tribulations take a toll on faith is hard to say. But given that 39% of 50-59 year olds say they are more religious today than they used to be, the latter explanation might be more valid. The 50-59 age group is, not surprisingly, the one that comes across as the strongest believers as well as the one that has more faith in spiritual gurus and in the idea of God having a human form. The young (20-29), however, are more into religious books and music than any of the other age groups. Interestingly, the younger age groups perceived God (if he/she had a human form) as middle-aged, while the middle-aged felt God would be young. Of course, this difference in perception may be not so much because they visualise different ages for God, but simply because the definition of young and middle-aged tends to be different for different age groups. To return to the young, they are less inclined to see God as present in places of worship, idols, spiritual gurus or holy books. They are also less convinced that God is the creator, though 87% of them do believe this against 90%-plus levels in other groups. The perception of God as always just is also much lower among the 20-29 age group. A fairly high 21% of the youngest respondents felt God was always unjust, another 29% that he/she was sometimes unjust. Despite this feeling of unjustness, the young were less inclined to fear God than their elders. While 69% of them either fully or mostly agreed with the statement "I fear God", that proportion was 77% for those aged 30-39, 76% for the 40-49 and 73% for the oldest age group in the sample. The young are also less convinced that God will punish them for their sins, that incidents like Ganesha drinking milk or brackish water turning sweet demonstrate the presence of God or that their fate is predetermined. Theirs is also a less certain embrace of faith. Against the 8% of 50-59 year olds who said they never doubted the existence of God, 14% of those aged 20-29 were as sure about their belief in a supreme being. If you think this indicates a more open mind, try and explain this one: The young were less open to the idea of people converting from one religion to another, though the difference between age groups on this question is fairly small.