The Abstract Image of God: The Case of the Dutch Youth

Abstract

A process of secularisation can be observed in all European countries: church membership declines and religious institutions lose their monopoly. This is strongest among Dutch youngsters, but it does not automatically lead to a loss of religion. Instead it is a process of individualisation of religion. Youngsters nowadays construct a personal framework of meaning by choosing from available religious traditions in a process of bricolage, just as they do when they construct youth culture. Since 82% of Dutch youngsters pray at least sometimes, prayer seems to be the most persistent religious element. There is great similarity between the way the young pray: it is psychological by nature in that it gives strenght to accept the inevitable like the death of a relative, and the action of praying is meditational in that youngsters ponder and think. Prayer functions as a mechanism to make an inventory of daily life and as a therapeutic ritual to keep their life in balance. It is typically performed when they are alone, in bed, at night. Youngsters spontaneously mention God as the direction of their prayer, but they define God using impersonal and abstract terms.