1) "In your experience, how do our current generations look differently at faith?"

That is a very, very interesting topic.

If Astrology is the faith being discussed, one could only conclude that the current generation's faith is growing by leaps and bounds. This is quite obviously so, since almost ten out of ten Americans know what their zodiac sign is. And they tend to categorize each other according to their zodiac sign by picking their friends, dating, and marriage partners by their zodiac sign, and in many cases, they also make their daily decisions based upon what they have read in their daily horoscope.

In fact, this faith is growing so rapidly that the 'Horoscope' column runs every day in the LJWorld.com, but 'Faith Forum' runs only once a week.

But, if the subject is restricted to spirituality, religious faith, or religious affiliation, the situation is very different. First off, many seem to have a great deal of confusion distinguishing among those three things, although all are an expression of personal faith. But the distinction between those three things is totally lost on many.

"Faith" to many represents "an invisible man in the sky", or "an imaginary man in the sky", or some such, as any regular reader of this column is aware. It is absolutely amazing how many demonstrate their ignorance by making such a claim.

In no case in the Tanakah (the Jewish Bible, more or less the Old Testament) or the Bible is G-d ever described as being a "man in the sky", but since the people that think of G-d that way have never educated themselves upon the matter of what different religions describe G-d as, they espouse their ignorant opinions upon the matter of that they "think" the texts say by announcing their own "inspired" version of what they "think" the texts claim.

2) First off, in Jewish thought, G-d cannot be described at all, that is totally impossible.

In Jewish thought, only aspects of G-d can be described, and nothing more. So anyone that thinks that a Jewish person thinks that G-d is "an invisible man in the sky" is suffering from a terrible delusion akin to schizophrenia, in that a total rejection of the truth is being expressed. There are therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists available to help people that are suffering from such delusions, but they are of no assistance unless the person first expresses a desire for help.

I don't believe that the various concepts of what G-d is in Christian thought in the many dozens of denominations can be generalized that way, since they vary a great deal.

Some believe that G-d Himself intervenes in our everyday lives by regularly performing miracles. I don't believe that, but I know that some do.

Others believe that he sends angels to perform those duties for Him. That could be the case, I would not want to argue the matter, I believe that is certainly possible, but I'm sure they certainly won't do it unless asked or allowed to.

Back to the original question: "In your experience, how do our current generations look differently at faith?"

It's quite obvious that we live in an increasingly secular age here in the United States.

3) But if you are educated enough to read any media that covers people in other parts of the world, you will find that is certainly not the case elsewhere. Religious fundamentalism is running rampant in other parts of the world, and for anyone that doubts that, I can only suggest that they read more about what is happening in other parts of the world.

However, the fundamentalism that is running rampant in other parts of the world today certainly appears to be rushing the world backwards in time, back to when their religious texts were written, about the year 700 AD.

So in summation, I suppose the answer to the question: "In your experience, how do our current generations look differently at faith?" depends entirely upon how you define "faith", and what parts of the world you are looking at.

Do you mean "Faith" as fundamentalism" In that case, it is running rampant in other parts of the world, but it appears to be on the decline in the United States, although many denominations are growing at a phenomenal rate, as many are looking for answers and reassurance that they cannot seem to find any other way in these uncertain times.

If you mean "Faith" as religious affiliation? In that case the picture changes. Many choose their religious affiliation in the same way that they select which social group to identify themselves with. Rather like a selected tribal affiliation.

If you mean "Faith" as something that you use as a guidance for your daily life? I'm not sure what the portion of the population does so, but many do consider the precepts of various faiths in order to determine what their daily actions should be.

If you mean "Faith" as some sort of fantasy that is only for others, and you yourself are the supreme authority on what is right and wrong, perhaps you are looking at is as many commenters on this forum do, and then it is likely that you think of it as being alarmingly on the increase in the United States.

I consider it to be very frustrating that the pastors and worship leaders are given a week, and perhaps more, to express their thoughts on the subject that is being discussed on the 'Faith Forum' column that appears every week on the LJWorld.com website, while I am given perhaps 45 minutes to an hour to express mine.

As a direct result of that, it seems that I cannot get my all of my grammatical and typographical errors removed before it goes online!

However, I believe that the meanings that I express are clear, if you ignore my very obvious grammatical and typographical mistakes.