DOES ANYONE THINK AUTHENTIC WHEN THEY THINK KERRY?:

Bush's openness about religion connects with American youth (DAVID TARRANT, Mar. 16, 2004, The Dallas Morning News)

Today, as he campaigns for a second term, the president's unabashed candor about his faith is hitting the mark among an emerging group of voters: young conservative Christians. [...]

When it comes to their faith, "a lot of people are uncomfortable talking about it. President Bush has broken that barrier by not being afraid in a public setting to talk about how a higher being has affected his life," said Shelby Ricketts, also a member of the local Young Republicans. "That makes him attractive to a lot of young people."

Indeed, studies and polls show that a substantial number of college students are expressing strong interest in religion, along with a more socially conservative outlook.

Enrollment at conservative Christian colleges and universities is growing rapidly. Even on secular campuses, membership in religious clubs has skyrocketed.

At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, "On Thursday nights, you can't find a large lecture hall that doesn't have a religious group using it," said Dr. Christian Smith, a sociologist and director of the National Study of Youth and Religion.

Campus Crusade for Christ has chapters on more than 1,000 campuses - up from about 300 in the early 1990s, said Nathan Dunn, the group's communications director. There are 200 chapters in Texas. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship has chapters on 560 college campuses, including about two dozen schools in Texas.

What this generation of students wants, Dunn said, is "authenticity in every area of their lives. They're looking for what's real and what's true."

They look for genuine qualities in their leaders, he said.

"They want to be able to trust who they're putting their faith in," he said, "and they are drawn to leaders who are not hesitant to talk about what they believe."

John Kerry's not hesitant to talk about what he believes, once he's seen the polling data that tells what that is...today.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 16, 2004 10:48 PM