c. 2007 Religion News Service

Students’ spiritual interests increase on campus, even without worship

(RNS) Though college students’ attendance at worship services declines, their interest in spiritual matters grows during their time on campus, a new UCLA study shows.

UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute compared the views of students who were freshmen in the fall of 2004 with the same students’ thoughts in the spring of 2007, when they were juniors.

The survey of more than 14,000 students found that more than 50 percent of students considered “integrating spirituality into my life” very important or essential in 2007, an increase of almost 10 percentage points from 2004.

Likewise more students thought “developing a meaningful philosophy of life” was essential or very important.

While their spiritual interests increased, their worship attendance did not.

Slightly more than half the students said they attended services in college at about the same rate as they attended them in high school. Almost 40 percent, however, said they worshipped less frequently. Seven percent said they worshipped more.

Researchers also concluded that an increasing percentage of students had an “ecumenical worldview.” In 2004, 42 percent said they endorsed “improving my understanding of other countries and cultures;” 55 percent said the same in 2007.

Students showed increasing agreement over time with the idea that nonreligious people can lead lives as moral as those of religious believers, with 90 percent approving the statement this year.

“The data suggest that college is influencing students in positive ways that will better prepare them for leadership roles in our global society,” said UCLA emeritus professor Alexander W. Astin, co-principal investigator for the research.

The research included 14,527 students attending 136 U.S. colleges and universities. Its margin of error is between 1 and 2 percentage points.

The project, which is in its fifth year, is funded by the John Templeton Foundation.

_ Adelle M. Banks

U.N. looks to faith community to combat global warming

(RNS) The United Nations is looking to partnerships with the faith community to spearhead the drive against global warming.

The U.N. recently linked with the Bath, U.K.-based Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC), pouring funding and attention into the ARC’s ongoing campaign to use faith groups as a vessel for tackling environmental problems.

Members of the Baha’i, Buddhist, Christian, Daoist, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Shinto, Sikh and Zoroastrian faiths will launch a seven-year climate change plan starting in 2009.

Indian Sikhs, for example, plan to cut down on fossil fuels by cooking with solar power and other fuel-efficient equipment in their gurdwaras, or temples. Japanese Shinto shrines will follow sustainable forestry standards during their ritual rebuilding every 20 to 25 years.

Around 50 countries are already involved in the effort with the ARC. The U.N. support will give the project a “massive, massive surge foreward,” said Martin Palmer, ARC secretary general.

Faith groups are a natural steward for environmental conservation, Palmer said. “If you’re looking to the longterm future, they are the strongest and most stable unit anywhere in the world,” he said.

Palmer criticized the new trend of buying carbon offsets, likening it to the sale of indulgences in the 15th and 16th centuries, which sparked the Protestant Reformation. “Indulgences remove from you the moral responsibility,” he said.

He instead promotes a more direction-action approach. “We’re saying, let’s celebrate that this is a fabulous world created by the divine. And because it is being so severely damaged, we should move _ not from fear, but from compassion,” Palmer said.

The partnership with the ARC is a major shift for the U.N., which has maintained a secular approach since its inception, Palmer said.

“The old ideology that religion would fade away … is giving way to a recognition that in many parts of the world, it is religion that holds society together,” Palmer said. “So to exclude it is to be quite foolish.”

_ Kat Glass

Catholic leaders praise N.J. for outlawing death penalty

TRENTON, N.J. (RNS) New Jersey on Monday became the first state to abolish the death penalty since it was reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976 _ a historic move praised by the state’s Catholic leaders.

“The church recognizes the rights and duties of the state to punish criminals and protect its citizens from crime. But we cannot teach respect for life by taking life,” said Trenton Bishop John M. Smith, who represented the state’s Roman Catholic bishops at the bill signing Monday.

“The issue of the death penalty carries with it deeply felt emotions, particularly among those who have had a loved one taken from them through violent crime. We must continue to be sensitive to the feelings people bring to this issue, and offer effective, ongoing assistance to the loved ones of victims,” Smith said.

“Today New Jersey evolves,” Gov. Jon S. Corzine said prior to signing the law. “This is a day of progress for us and for the millions of people across our nation and around the globe who reject the death penalty as a moral or practical response to the grievous, even heinous, crime of murder.”

In honor of New Jersey’s landmark decision, Rome was expected to shine light on the Colosseum, a location once known for executions and gladiator combats that now serves as a symbol for the effort to abolish the death penalty.

“We have seized the moment and now join the ranks of other states and countries that view the death penalty as discriminatory, immoral and barbaric,” said Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo, D-Essex. “We’re a better state than one that puts people to death.”

On Monday, the governor was flanked by half a dozen legislators and Sister Helen Prejean, an advocate for abolishing the practice, who has said by getting rid of the punishment New Jersey would be a “beacon on the hill.”

_ Trish G. Graber

Quote of the Day: Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash.

(RNS) “While the Republicans are passing a resolution celebrating Christmas, the president was vetoing health care for children. There’s a little bit of irony going on around here.”

_ U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., explaining why he voted against a Congressional resolution recognizing the importance of Christmas.

DSB/LF END RNS