Hamsa Haddad used to pray five times a day. The elementary education junior devoutly followed all the traditions of Islam, including sawm – fasting during the month of Ramadan. Now she’s a Christian. Independence is a privilege many students receive when they first enter college, and some experts say it may steer students away from their childhood religion. Haddad is part of the 44 percent of people in the United States who have left the faith they were raised with for another – or none at all. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released the U.S. Landscape Survey on Feb. 25 and shows a demographic of religious affiliations nationwide. Daniel Murphy, computer science sophomore, said he was raised a Catholic but now considers himself agnostic – a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God. “I never felt the presence of God,” Murphy said. John Whittaker, philosophy and religious studies professor, said there are several reasons for the changes people undergo in their attitudes toward religion. “Sometimes people also get turned off by seeing too many people who claim to be religious but who are utterly lacking in the virtues of faith,” Whittaker said. “The more this happens, the more likely they are to think that all religion is a mask for hypocrisy.” The survey said people 30 years old of yonger are three times more likely than people 70 and older to be unaffiliated with any particular religion. That age group is also more likely to be atheist or agnostic. The survey found that men are slightly more likely than women to change their faiths. About 45 percent of men have changed from their childhood religion, compared to 42 percent of women. “I am rather suspicious of the data,” Whittaker said. “Many men probably feel the need to rebel more strongly than many – not all – women.” Whittaker said men think they are supposed to be more independent and self-assertive. “Indeed, many of them like the image of the rebel,” Whittaker said. Haddad said she lost her faith in Islam when she was about 16 or 17 years old. “After my parents’ divorce, I lost the idea of God,” Haddad said. “But I always knew there was a God.” Haddad said her attraction started after meeting some Christians during a rough time in her life. “No matter what I did or how much I argued with them, they showed me unconditional love,” Haddad said. “That’s what lured me into it.” Haddad said her conversion to Christianity was a long process. She said she encountered a lot of hardships from her Muslim friends and her father. Haddad said her father would not speak to her for a while, but when he began seeing her better herself, he became more accepting. “I didn’t have this hope for something else,” Haddad said. “I didn’t have someone to look up to who was as selfless as Jesus. I definitely feel like I have more peace now.” Whittaker said students often realize the objections people have toward the Christian Bible, and they feel its impact. “Most people have no idea of how many objections there are and how deep they go,” Whittaker said. “Or perhaps they become dissatisfied with the idea that [a] loving God allows unjust suffering.” Murphy also attributes changes in faith to newfound independence students get when they reach college. “Most of this rebelliousness is justified,” Whittaker said. “Is faith really the acceptance of hand-me-down ideas? Don’t we have to think the issues through for ourselves?” But Josh Chapman, mechanical engineering junior, has been a non-denominational Christian his entire life. “My parents didn’t just raise me on religion, they taught me to pursue my faith and relationship with God,” Chapman said. He said his faith is more of a personal gratification than a duty. Chapman said the last place some college students want to be is church if they did not understand why they went as a child. “It feels like another thing you have to do,” Chapman said. Whittaker said the most important thing to do is to listen to individuals give their own reasons for their changes. “The big danger is thinking that once we have a reasonable answer to these questions, we can assume that it must hold in all cases,” Whittaker said. “But of course, it doesn’t.”
—-Contact J.J. Alcantara at [email protected]