The Phenomenon of Believing without Belonging among Slovak Youth (What does a youth who does not identify with any religion believe in?)

Abstract

In various societies, a certain percentage of people do not identify with any church or religious group. In Slovakia, according to the last census, it is about 15.0%. P. M. Zulehner argues that attempts are being made to portray this type of people as 'unbelievers', but some sociologists might argue about what 'unbelief' actually means, as it is defined only in the categories of rejection of the official religious organizations. The type of 'unbelievers' refers to people who do not accept the official models of religiosity and who create a new one - their own interpretations of life and the world. In the outlined context, the presented sociological study seeks to approach the phenomenon of believing without belonging (concept of G. Davie) among Slovak youth. The author asks and tries to answer the question. What does a youth who does not identify with any religion believe in? The conclusions rely mainly on research into the religiosity of youth in the regions of SpiĹĄ, Liptov and Orava, in which around 10.0% of young people do not identify with any church or religious group. The study focuses mainly on less official, respectively, formal religious dimensions - e.g. religious experience, acceptance of religious doctrine, acceptance of religious morality, etc.