items of interest

with contributions from Louis Dupre, Bishara Awad

A review of forty articles from various journals that studied the relationship between religion and teen crime. has revealed that religiousness helps to reduce juvenile delinquency.

The report, which was developed by the National Institute for Healthcare Research and Vanderbilt University, showed that 75% of the studies indicated that religious commitment made a measurable difference. Among the factors used to determine a teenager's devotion to religion: (a) attendance at religious services, (b) importance of religion or God in his/her life, (c) religious denomination, (d) prayer, (e) involvement in religious activities, (f) Bible study.

"Christians have no right to seclude themselves from society ... By its very nature, spiritual life is transformative .... The spiritual Christian belongs to a community ... that, naturally, in the first place is the church. But it also includes that hidden yet intimate communion of like-minded persons, spiritual men and women of other faiths."

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