What do young people in the Fredericksburg area say about their spiritual or religious views?

By JESSICA ALLEN

Date published: 5/28/2005

There are several reasons why Jonathan Watson doesn't go to church.

He cites the Catholic sex-abuse scandal. Plus, he says people can be spiritual without joining a particular religious organization. Then, there's his desire for tangible evidence that there's one correct path.

"Basically, I'm more of a practical person who needs proof," Watson said. "They say it's more of a leap of faith, and I couldn't make that leap."

The 26-year-old Fredericksburg resident and engineer is among a sizable number of young adults professing an interest in spirituality, but not necessarily in organized religion, according to a couple of recent surveys.

The studies by UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute and Reboot, a Jewish networking group, focused on college-age young people and how they see life's mysteries with and without participating in a religious institution.

Watson, who was raised Catholic and went to Mass on a regular basis, was about 16 when he started wondering about the purpose of life and religion?

At the time, a priest who served in his home parish, St. Mary's Church in Bethel, Conn., was accused of sexual abuse.

Hoping to find some spiritual answers, Watson enrolled in Manhattan College in New York City, a Catholic school.

He took three religion classes where he learned about Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and other religions. Watson said he believed in various aspects of each faith and concluded that all shared the same principles just different stories.

That's when he decided to stop going to church.

"I figured out spirituality is more of a state of mind," he said. "You can be spiritual in the sense of forming your own basis of thought and feelings toward other people and the human environment instead of going methodically to a church, synagogue or temple."

College can be a crucial stage for many individuals who are either holding onto their faith or questioning their beliefs, said the Rev. Rhonda Nash, interim campus minister for the Baptist Student Union at the University of Mary Washington.

Nash, who graduated from Mary Washington 26 years ago, said participating in the Baptist Union as a student was instrumental in her call to the ministry.

Now, she helps those who are seeking a higher power.

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Date published: 5/28/2005