'Almost Christians' learn to be nice

Hat tip to the Religion News blog over at the Pew Forum for Religion and Public Life. The story comes from the tennessean.com

Catholics have been commenting on this issue for years now.

God loves you and wants you to be happy.

Be nice to other people and pray if you get into trouble.

That's what most teenagers are learning in church these days, says Kenda Creasy Dean, professor of youth, church and culture at Princeton Theological Seminary. Instead of learning the Bible, young people are drawn to a cult of niceness, Dean said. Being nice is OK, but it doesn't have much to do with Jesus, she said.

"The problem is that it's an incredibly selfish way to look at faith," Dean said. "It means that God is out there to make us happy."

A major study of religion in youth found that many young people are "almost Christian" — they believe in God, but they don't believe Christian doctrines.

Read the full story: 'Almost Christian' teens trouble church scholars.

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