Word: present
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...religious tradition in the families of the students reveals some parallels to present positions. Those students who have become agnostic in opinion characterize the influence of this tradition as "slight" or "moderate"; the fourteen strong Catholics predominantly characterized their background as including a "marked" religious tradition, although a sizable segment of the orthodox evaluated their tradition as only of "slight" or "moderate" influence...
...might be said with some justice that the true effects of Harvard will be observed only after ten or twenty years. But present Catholic tallies can be compared with over-all totals for the University to arrive at some interesting observations. In general, there seemed to be nothing which distinguished Catholics from the rest of the College in the political sphere. Family income actually exerted a greater influence in determining a party preference and position on various issues...
...respondents, however, was the religious tradition of their childhood a "very marked" influence. Most claimed that its effect on them was only "moderate," in the case not only of present Christians and Jews, but also with those now in no faith. Curiously, 40 per cent of those now belonging to no religious group wished to raise their children in the faith in which they were raised. On the basis of this data, we are encouraged to believe that the tradition in which these students were raised neither made them feel bound to it nor did it make them so resentful...
When asked their views of the Deity, a very small number of non-believers--16 per cent--felt that God was "a fiction unworthy of worship." When asked their reasons for their present attitude to religion only 8 per cent of the non-believers attributed it to "parental influence." These students' decisions were very definitely individual and independent--of the nine suggested reasons for their apostasy, none received a significant majority. These non-believers are, however, generally willing to recognize the value of religion for other students; only 10 per cent felt any need to "enlighten others by persuading them...
...imply as much obedience as such other human institutions as the state, the school, or the corporation. This view of the Church as a useful adjunct to religion but not at all necessary is borne out in several other places in the poll. Only 23 per cent of present believers considered "active connection with a church or synagogue as essential to my religious life"; the same percentage attended religious services weekly. A great majority of students indicated that they attended religious services more at home than at Harvard, which leads to another frequently-discussed matter, the influence of Harvard...