FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Question: Does increasing education among Mormons lead to decreased faith or religious practice?
This page is based on an answer to a question submitted to the FAIR web site, or a frequently asked question.
Contents
Question
I've heard that increasing education leads to decreased faith or religious practice. How do Mormons fare in this instance?
Answer
Members of the Church seem to buck the general trend in which more education results in a person becoming more secularized.
The classic study on this matter is:
- Stan L. Albrecht, Tim B. Heaton, "Secularization, Higher Education, and Religiosity," Review of Religious Research 26/1, Special Issue Co-Sponsored by the Society for the Sociological Study of Mormon Life and the Family and Demographic Institute of Brigham Young University (Sepember 1984): 437ndash;58. off-site
As one example, note that Church attendence for Mormons actually increases as they gain more education:
Other resources are available in the "Further reading" section below.
Among other things, such statistics put the lie to claims by critics that believing Mormons are either ignorant, dupes, or ill-informed. As members of the Church become better informed, they give more, not less, attention to their beliefs. This suggests that LDS beliefs provide a spiritually and intellectually satisfying aspect of their lives.
Endnotes
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