This is more than idle curiosity. I'm concerned with reaching young
people for Christ, and maintaining and strengthening commitments that
already exist.
I'm 57 now, and I believe many in my generation, as students, were
strongly influenced by an apparent weakness in the Christian position(s)
on evolution and other science-related issues. As an undergraduate at the
University of Minnesota, back in the late 50's, science and engineering
were glamour subjects. I started out as a physics major, then found my
way into mathematics, then statistics. To be sure, many shifts within the
sciences have occurred since then, especially with the popularization of
computers and DNA. Yet, it's my impression that most young people today,
when considering the claims of Christ, and challenges to their Christian
faith, have very little interest in, or concern with, the issue of
evolution.
None of my three daughters has any interest in the subject despite the
fact that one is in medicine, a second is a statistician & computer
scientist, and the third will soon be a Pharm. D. student.
In an attempt to develop a broader perspective, I have made specific
inquiries of an IVCF staff worker of considerable experience, with a
science background, located at Duke, and with the senior pastor of my
church - a pastor of high intellect and many interests (astronomy, bee
keeping, woodworking, amateur radio, etc.), and with VERY effective
counseling skills - seeing, in a counseling context, perhaps a hundred
Duke students a year, or more, and numerous young people. Neither of them
can recall a SINGLE case, over many years, in which evolution was a
stumbling block to a student's faith!
Why might this be so? Perhaps because science is no longer viewed with
the same awe it once was - perhaps because of the influence of post-
modernist thought; these two might be related.
This communication is not meant to invite an analysis of the forces that
have brought us to wherever we are, but rather to raise some questions
concerning current evangelistic needs (real needs - not as perceived by a
bunch of old men, :-), who remember how things were). In this regard, I
am questioning the importance of what the reflector is doing to aide
evangelism. (Sorry, Glenn. Perhaps "Creation Moments", which I loathe,
is doing more!) But I am NOT saying that the reflector is irrelevant; I
don't believe that for a minute.
Now that I have surely antagonized many of you with my remarks, I would
like suggestions on how best to proceed with data collection to determine
the age distribution of those on the forum.
Two ways come to mind:
1. Everyone could be asked to e-mail their age to me (not yet!), which I
would accumulate and tabulate, anonymously;
2. I could draw a small sample of those on the forum and contact them
individually.
The first would be more precise if everyone bothers to answer, but would
be less accurate if there were a substantial nonresponse bias - which
could happen; lurkers might remain lurkers.
Perhaps some other (FEW) questions should be asked as well. Or perhaps
the whole idea of a survey is ill-conceived. I await your comments and
advice.
Gordie