Eighteen teenagers jot down on colorful Post-It notes their one-word impressions of the eight religions listed on the poster boards in front of them.  Some show no reservations as they work their way quickly down the list, while others hesitate to put down their thoughts for fear of appearing intolerant or ignorant.  Is this a Bible study class?  No, it's just another monthly meeting of the Arizona Interfaith Youth Movement - a safe, inclusive gathering to which youths of all faiths are encouraged to come together in dialogue, games, and of course, food.

"What if I've never heard of this religion?" asks one of the teens.  "That's OK - just write down the first thing that comes to your mind," I reply.  As the Youth Director, I'm pleased to see the seriousness which has settled over this group. They're sincerely giving this activity their full attention, as it is partly a challenge to their general knowledge as well as an opportunity to share the "truth" of their religious beliefs.  The eight religions I randomly chose contain some familiar to all, but I've also thrown in some lesser known beliefs as well:  Catholicism, Islam, Atheism, Sikhism, Christian Science, Buddhism, Judaism, and the Church of Scientology.  The teens stick up their impressions on the poster boards, grab a water bottle or cookie, and then return to their seats.  I survey the range of words listed by each religion and ask for a volunteer to come up and read aloud the results.

I am somewhat surprised by the religion which has elicited the most negative comments from this diverse group.

According to the Pew Forum's 2008 US Religious Landscape Survey, 83% of Americans identify themselves as belonging to an organized religion; however,

"...people not affiliated with any particular religion stand out for their relative youth compared with other religious traditions.  Among the unaffiliated, 31% are under age 30 and 71% are under age 50.  More than one-quarter of American adults (28%) have left the faith in which they were raised in favor of another religion, or no religion at all.  If change in affiliation from one type of Protestant Christianity to another is included, 44% of adults have either switched religious affiliation, moved from being unaffiliated with any religion to being affiliated with a particular faith, or dropped any connection to a specific religious tradition altogether."

What accounts for this conflict within those of faith? On one hand, they identify themselves as being religious, even if it means they've left behind the religion of their childhood, while on the other hand, as Americans age, they seem to leave organized religion behind them.

Is this search for spiritual fulfillment a trend which begins in youth?  As a Sunday school teacher at the Scottsdale Mosque for the past seven years, I've observed the diversity in faith from kindergarteners all the way up to the high school seniors.  Depending upon their home environment, these kids either skip cheerfully into Sunday school or drag themselves reluctantly into their seats, testing the limits of the dress code (which stresses modesty) by tugging their T-shirts down to cover their bare midriffs or yanking the required head-scarf into place.  How much of their lessons will these teens remember when faced with the overwhelming secularism of their public school environment in which the age-old tensions of peer pressure and cliques rule the day?  

Religion remains a personal issue - rightly so - but is there a safe space for teens who are interested in exploring their faith beliefs?  A brief glance at the teen non-fiction aisle in any Borders or Barnes & Noble reveals the abundance of faith-based books aimed at teens.  From Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism - even a Wiccan guidebook - the variety is astounding.  So, teens are indeed seeking answers through the privacy and safety of books. But is this education encouraging them to leave their parents' beliefs behind as they discover other traditions?  

As our interfaith meeting continues, my son volunteers to read aloud the comments posted on the board under Islam - his own faith group.  "Violent, weird clothes, brain-washed," his voice is subdued as he slowly goes through the impressions.  "Tourist?  Hey Mom, look, they think Muslims are tourists - that's pretty neat!"  I walk over and read the note for myself - turns out he misread the word "tourist" - the correct reading is "terrorist".  We briefly review the major tenets of each religion in order to correct misperceptions and reduce stereotypes.  Buddhism received the most positive comments by a landslide - even though only one of the kids knew a Buddhist personally.  And which religion received the most negative comments?  No, it wasn't Islam - it was atheism.

Turns out that even if kids switch allegiance from one faith group to another - the thought of not living a life of faith scared them most of all.

(Photo courtesy Interfaith Youth Core via flickr under a Creative Commons license.)

As if 'top-of-the-mind-recall' which is nothing more than a euphemism for 'blab-out-whatever-you-feel-like', was not bad enough, here is a brilliant lady who has sought out to mine the depths of intellect of scatter brained teenagers! How much more facetious can we get in this country!

Dude, just STFU. Scottsdale, AZ is cool. Interfaith post-modernism is sometimes cool. Trashing sincere people is not cool.

I couldn't sit by and watch the english language be so misused.
weisskopf- how you found the author to be speaking tongue in cheek, or attmepting to amuse us-
and indeed all of america by extension- is a mystery-

facetious-
1. not meant to be taken seriously or literally: a facetious remark.
2. amusing; humorous.
3. lacking serious intent; concerned with something nonessential, amusing, or frivolous: a facetious person.


i know which word you meant to use- but will not give it you out of fear that i may be equipping you to abuse that word in the future also.

I might attend a lecture by Imam Anwar Awlaki if I have the time tomorrow. I wonder what his perspective of inter-faith dialogue is.

I was wondering about the question of organised religion. Is liberty an organised institution? Muslims are very disorganised anyway. One thing's for sure .. as teenagers; if human beings are given half a chance, people generally don't start off as reactionary and illogical. That takes years of education.

@Ghluam: Disorganized? Do you mean with regards to cooperation or do you mean as an (dis)organized religion without a pope-like figure? If you mean the second, I personally rather like the decentralized nature of Islamic authority. That way, we can many different people try out different approaches to inter-faith activity. Or, we can people like me who do not and would not participate in inter-faith activities and not be "sinning" against a centralized "Allah's Shadow on Earth" Islamic authority.

What it is, Mrs.A, is that you are not able to understand me. I meant to use the word 'facetious' and that is what I used.

If you don't get it, that's ok. That burka you are wearing is more than physically constraining - Muslim men were not fools when they designed that garb to keep you from learning too much. Looks like it has worked well with you! :-) Just take care not to let out any gas inside that hideous burnoose! Because there is no one but you to inhale it in there.

well ,one might ask, why you meant that word? weisskopf- the author was not attempting to amuse us with barbs of wit, nor making sarcastic observations tongue in cheek.

the article was DEFINITELY meant to be taken seriously- was not nonessential or frivolous- the author seems to care deeply about the subject she is writing about-

if you want to elaborate on how the author was facetious-
i think your opinion would be received well-
but to speculate on how i dress is only a poor distraction- which didnt really work.
the word you wanted also ends in the 'shush" sound, but spelled differently.

im more interested in ghulam's experience at his lecture on Anwar Al-Alwaki- ive been listening to lecture by that brother for a little bit, and i really enjoy them.

Ok - thought I'd add my 2 cents worth as I'm the author of the piece above. I wrote it w/ all sincerity - the teens are genuinely interested in interfaith dialogue, contrary to Weisskopf's glib assumptions that they're 'scatter brained' - quite the contrary!

Personally, I find interfaith conversation fascinating, enlightening, & definitely worthwhile. Unfortunately most of us hold assumptions & misconceptions about our fellow neighbors, whether these conclusions are based upon religion, ethnicity, or nationality is irrelevant. The fact is that they exist! But what are we doing to further the movement towards tolerance & pluralism?

I don't understand the label of 'facetious' to my article - I did not write it as a sarcastic glimpse of today's youth, but rather an earnest attempt to shed light on a grassroots activism which is being replicated all over the country (according to feedback from countless interfaith organizations). It gives me hope for the future if our youth are not afraid to engage in honest dialogue...

OK - English lessons for all! Everyone pay attention. Including you girls (or guys? can't say) in the back, in burnooses!

My quote : How much more facetious can we get in this country!

One of meanings of the word facetious is: lacking serious intent; concerned with something nonessential, amusing, or frivolous.

American journalism has descended to levels where almost any fool can appear to be 'intellectual' and say whatever he or she wants and people are too scared to say anything to the contrary.

I know that the author was not being facetious when she wrote it. She thinks too highly of her teenagers to realize how facetious the whole concept of 'top of the mind recall' is!

'Facetious in America' applies to the act of listening to teenagers. To consider the thoughts of pretentious teenagers to be a serious exercise is - to me - (stay with me now - Mrs.A et al, I quote from the dictionary)"lacking serious intent; concerned with something nonessential, amusing, or frivolous".

By the way, in this case they are not even 'thoughts', they are just fleeting, fanciful notions that come and go.

In all seriousness - does anyone here think it matters what a bunch of kids in some remote desert think? What you guys need to worry about are the teenagers on my side who are joining the Military to mindlessly throw their lives away in Iraq because they are brainwashed by Fox TV, and teenagers on your side who are preparing to strap on vests to blow themselves up (yes - Mrs.A, hard to believe, but they are still doing it in droves all over the world).

These Arizona colts, including some in burkas, you write about, will most likely end up in some equally remote place teaching something irrelevant to even more irrelevant people than themselves. To take people like this seriously is, in a word, facetious!

Wow - thanks for writing off the 5th largest city in America! Last time I checked - greater metropolitan Phoenix has a population nearing 5,000,000.

As some of these 'irrelevant' teens are off to Ivy League colleges - I have a feeling that you'll be reading about them in the future & NOT because they're brainwashed by Fox or strapping on vests w/ bombs, but because they're the inventors, writers, lawyers, & leaders of this world.

You dismiss an important, growing interfaith movement due to lack of information - how can you ignore the importance of discussion in opening up hearts & minds to future growth?

As an Arizona resident, I'll second the questioning of your use of "remote desert". We're anything but remote. And then we have this:

>> "the teenagers on my side who are joining the Military to mindlessly throw their lives away in Iraq"

As a Muslim who did join the Military, I can say we don't much appreciate you disparaging our freinds and comrades who have died in combat. And, we are not on "your" side. I suppose you'd have a lot more regard for the teenagers joining the Israeli Defense Forces, huh. So, anything that can get people talking and less likely to sink a weapon into the other is fine by me and should be fine by you, too.

nice try weisskopf- no cigar-
that is not one of the meanings of the word- it is the 3rd preferred meaning- (why use a 3rd meaning when there are so many clearer or more concise words?)

as i suspected- you made an attmept to abuse the definition that i supplied for you!

in the future- when you want to get a round and complete understanding of a word to communicate more effectively-
i suggest you look them up in a thesaurus and get the synonyms-
it will also give you hints for usage- and to add to your repertoire, for future abuse- i've capped other interesting words


Synonyms for facetious
Adjective
1. bantering, facetious, tongue-in-cheek, humorous (vs. humorless), humourous
USAGE!!!: cleverly amusing in tone; "a bantering tone"; "facetious remarks"; "tongue-in-cheek advice"

so if you're suggesting americans are becoming a bit more WRY or SARCASTIC- or more HUMOROUS- i am not seeing such a level of sophisticated BANTER regarding the education of our children in general-

most people do not approach their future generations ability to interact so MOCKINGly INDIFFERENT or INCONSEQUENTIAL as to make a sweeping denigration as such-

thats a rather JADED view- if its yours- maybe you are projecting it-
i still believe americans care deeply about their children and dont view them with anything apporaching BEMUSED APATHY- but we are all free to express ourselves as we see fit in here.

part of that freedom includes teaching them and encouraging them to
embrace and understand the pluralistic landcape of america's melting pot- engaging all of our neighbors with understanding and acceptance-

thats the american way weisskopf-
you wouldn't be posting unamerican ideas, would you?

"nice try weisskopf- no cigar-
that is not one of the meanings of the word- it is the 3rd preferred meaning- (why use a 3rd meaning when there are so many clearer or more concise words?"

"3rd preferred"? That is news to me! There are literllay thousands of words in the English language with multiple meanings. The way most dictionaries define them is by listing them out. The order of occurance does not imply one is 'better' than the other. In fact many times 'obsolete' is added as a description if a certain meaning has not been used for a couple hundred years. But even that does not mean one should not use it. Someone needs to teach Mrs.A to use a dictionary...oh wait! I forgot! You have no use for the dictionary...You find 'everything you need to know' in the Quran! Right?!

No wonder!

DH, 5 million people huh? I wonder how many of them are illegal Mexicans and do they add to the intellectual power of 'greater Phoenix'?

Even assuming you are right in that just numbers alone make the region an important one, how many of these 5 million participated in this moronic discussion which involved nothing more than rattling off the first thing that came to the mind of - I repeat - 'a scatter-brained teen-ager'? EIGHTEEN!

Eighteen kids who had nothing better to do came together and wrote whatever came to their minds and you guys are telling me this is a great movement?

The great 'inventors' and 'Lawyers' are NOT attending interfaith meetings - I assure you. They are either working on more concrete and fruitful things than trying to solve problems that are ill-defined and have been around for thousands of years.

These kids (I have nothing against them) will amount to nothing more than those inconsequential middle aged men and women you see on the streets of San Francisco sporting piercings and tattoos and tie-dyed shirts. Except of course, being Muslim this lot will probably be wearing Burqas too!

Omar,

I still maintain: Teen agers who join the Military today because they are lied to by recruiters, are throwing away their lives in Iraq. Sorry to hurt your sentiments, but there is absolutely no need for any more Pat Tilmans. Incidentally - didn't Pat Tilman go to Arizona state and if I remember correctly he was drafted by the Cardinals...strange that we should be talking about this!

As for Arizona not being remote...well..it is all a matter of perspective. Nobody thinks of AZ as the 'place to be' and that makes it 'remote'.

After checking up on you kids I was looking at the NASA website for details on the Mars lander when, imagine my surprise, I find that the Lander project is led by the University of Arizona at Phoenix! Not bad for a godforsaken place afterall!

You, sir, are a class 1 clown. Your bitterness shows through loud and clear. *Men* like Tillman deserve our remembrance this Memorial Day, while it is indeed you has become the "amount to nothing more than those inconsequential middle aged men". No one remembers the clowns...

weisskopf
he argues that exploring the most god forsaken place-a place so remote as mars- which is not even on the planet- actually validates and substantiates arizona as a place of consequence-

"In fact many times 'obsolete' is added as a description if a certain meaning has not been used for a couple hundred years. But even that does not mean one should not use it."


ob·so·lete
–adjective 1. no longer in general use; fallen into disuse: an obsolete expression.
2. of a discarded or outmoded type; out of date: an obsolete battleship.
3. (of a linguistic form) NO LONGER IN USE, esp., out of use for at least the past century. Compare archaic.


is english your second language weisskopf?

you just cant let go of that bone, can you?

another abuse of the english language- you just keep digging yourself into a hole-

read how to use a dictionary-
the first definitions are the preferred meanings- and the following ADD to the definition- but do not override it-

i reccomend you 1) access the visual thesaurus
2) go spend a day at a vet's center

i know you are compluslive and will not be able to control yourself- and will try to explain how obsolete- which means no longer in use-
actually encourages its use!

keep digging that hole weisskopf-

insult veterans on memorial day-
continue to misunderstand the english language-

we are all mightily impressed

Ah - I see the problem you are having Mrs.A. You are conditioned by the quran to think literally. So if the dictionary says something is obsolete, in your simple mind that is a fatwa that dare not be violated. I understand that. No worries.

But you see, the world outside of the little black book is rather different. Just because something is deemed to be out of fashion does not mean people who use that will be beheaded (as I am sure your simpleton friends have advised you is the case in Islam). In any case, the point I was making (obviously lost on you) is that EVEN in cases of something being labeled obsolete, it is ok to use it. The word you objected to 'facetious' and the "3rd preferred" meaning are not obsolete.

But never mind, crawl back into your burka and read up on your tiny black book full of secrets. Enjoy the stale air inside. Neither light, nor fresh air, shall be impediments in your quest of total stupidity! Who needs fresh air on earth when you will soon go to heaven and enjoy eternal light! Right? Ka boom!

Omar G,

Tilman's own mother is bitter about Tilman's futile death at the hands of 'fellow Americans' - why should I not be bitter about it? If you had any courage you too would be bitter about it. but you are too scared to say anything against the military and are toeing the line of PR people who are full of deception!

As for your incoherent accusation that I HAS become something...whatever! Go take some grammar lessons from Mrs.A, she seems like a literalist who may not be creative in the least but is probably good at following the rules of grammar to the hilt!

By the way - Is Omar G some kind of a fantasy about being General Bradley's alter ego?