Religion and Young People BY THOMAS MOHAN, ROHAN DRONSFIELD AND KUSHAL SATRA

Key Terms

Initiation Ceremony - a right of passage which marks acceptance into the religion

Commitment Ceremony - when a young person makes a commitment to a religion based upon their own initiative.

Upbringing - the treatment and instruction received by a child from its parents throughout its childhood.

Spirituality - Relating to or affecting the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.

Moral Code - one’s definition of what is right and wrong.

Faith Group – a group of people who follow a certain faith

More Key Terms

Commitment - the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, etc. Belonging - the state of acceptance as a member of a society or group. Brotherhood - an association or community of people linked by a common

interest, religion, or trade. Membership - the state of being a member, as of a society or club. Generation Gap - a difference of attitudes between people of different

generations, leading to a lack of understanding. Peer Pressure - influence that a peer group, observers or individual exerts

that encourages others to change their attitudes, values, or behaviours to conform the group norms.

Faith School - a school that teaches a general curriculum but having formal links with a religious organisation.

Assembly - A school assembly is a gathering of all or part of a school in order to communicate information and share learning experiences. 

Birth ceremonies

What is Jatakarma and Namakarana?

What happens at the Sacred Thread Ceremony?

Jatakarma – happens as soon after birth as possible. The father puts ghee (butter) mixed with honey on the baby’s tongue. This is in the hope that the baby will have a good nature. The father will also whisper the name ‘Brahman’ into the babies ear, so that the baby is welcomed into the faith.

Namakarana is the name giving ceremony. The baby is dressed in new clothes. An astrologer will read the child’s horoscope, which he has prepared after the child was born, and the name will be announced.

Father and child undergoing Jatakarma

Namakarana in Action!

What is Jatakarma and Namakarana?

What happens at the Sacred Thread Ceremony?

Sacred Thread Ceremony: This marks the transition to adulthood and commitment to the Hindu faith. In this ceremony, the young boy is given the sacred thread which consists of three strands. These symbolise three vows: The duty to promote knowledge The duty to respect elders The duty towards society

It initiates the child into the student ashrama stage, where the youngadult must learn the rules and rituals of Hinduism, and must live a life of simplicity, celibacy and self-discipline

Ceremonies of commitement

A boy who has just had a Sacred Thread Ceremony

Young People and Upbringing

The children are taught how to live their faith – How to be that specific religion, for example, if the person is a Christian, they will be taught how to be a Christian.

They are taught the rules of their religion how to behave, e.g. so if the person is a Christian, they will be taught the 10 commandments

They will become members of that religion through special ceremonies

They will learn how to pray, this means taking them to the religion’s place of worship.

Education will ensure that they are learning about their faith.

More on Young People and Upbringing

Today, society is very limited on religious views, as people only experience religion on very rare occasions such as marriages, festivals and funerals.

People who are practicing religion usually would have their house as a spiritual place and would only go to a religious building to go and pray with others. This makes life difficult as they have two different worlds to live in.

Why do people join a religion?

There are many reasons for a person to join a religion:

Childhood indoctrination

Fear

Times of desperation and need

Tradition

Searching for answers to fundamental questions

Comfort

Faith Schools

A faith school is a school intended for students of a particular religious faith. There are many benefits of going to a faith school, but also disadvantages too.

Is it difficult for young people to be religious?

Religious young people face many different challenges to non religious young people, but also they do not face certain problems that non religious people do.

For example, it is less likely that a religious person who attends a faith school to be influenced into drinking and doing drugs than a non religious person.

This is because religious people follow a path in life which is guided, whereas many atheists do not have any guidance, so can follow a bad path in life.

Pros vs. Cons of being a Young Theist

Faith Groups

Faith groups, like the boys’ brigade hold activities for young people to...

- attract them to a religion.

- help them learn about a certain religion.

- get them to feel a sense of brotherhood or sisterhood.

An example of a Namakarana

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGj-9zd2-GY

Nimai’s Sacred Thread Ceremony

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1gDapt5ok4

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