[Buddha-l] Demographics of religions in the United States of America

[Richard P. Hayes]

On Sun, 2005-07-03 at 23:22 -0700, Catalina Castell-du Payrat wrote:

> < And in all
> but one category (reincarnation) the percentage of believers increased
> with age. Far more people under than age of 30 than over 60 believe in
> reincarnation. (That's because old people are smarter about some
> things.) >
>  
> You know Richard, old people are just more affraid of disappear......

Anxiety over death tends to reach its maximum in people around the age
of 18-20. As people get older, the tendency is to become less afraid of
death. The belief in reincarnation, however, does not submit to such an
easy analysis as older people being smarter or younger people people
more afraid of death. Older people reportedly believe in heaven more
than younger people, while younger people believe more in reincarnation.
I suspect this reflects nothing more than the fact that there is more
cultural cross-fertilization now than there was when people who are now
old were young.

-- 
Richard Hayes