Why Johnny's Big Brother Can't Pray

Interesting study shows that college freshmen are highly interested in religion, but by the junior year, their interest shrinks. The classroom does little to encourage religious interest, according to the study, so that might be the culprit. Of course, drinking to the point of vomiting, marijuana, sloth, and raging sex probably aren't helping matters, either, unless the students are into Gnosticism (of the "pneumopathological antinomian" sort, as Eric Voegelin or Norman Cohn might put it).

Anyway, here's the LINK and two excerpts:

Researchers released data Wednesday that offers the most complete portrait to date of new college students' attitudes about spirituality and religion, and the study suggests that freshmen care far more about spiritual matters than is widely believed. More than three-quarters of freshmen say they are looking for meaning in life, for example, and more than two-thirds engage in prayer.

More than half of juniors reported that they had attended services regularly when they started college, but only 29 percent reported doing so by the time they were juniors.