Discuss how religious involvement impacts moral development

What will be an ideal response?

In resolving real-life moral dilemmas, many people voice notions of religion and spirituality. Religion is especially important in U.S. family life. As adolescents search for a personally meaningful identity, formal religious involvement declines. Nevertheless, teenagers who remain part of a religious community are advantaged in moral values and behavior. Compared with nonaffiliated youths, they are more involved in community service activities aimed at helping the less fortunate. And religious involvement promotes responsible academic and social behavior and discourages misconduct. It is associated with lower levels of drug and alcohol use, early sexual activity, and delinquency. Religiously involved young people are more likely to report trusting relationships with parents, adults, and friends who hold similar worldviews. Furthermore, religious education and youth activities directly teach concern for others and provide opportunities for moral discussions and civic engagement. And adolescents who feel connected to a higher being may develop certain inner strengths, including prosocial values and a strong moral identity, that help them translate their thinking into action. Because most teenagers, regardless of formal affiliation, identify with a religious denomination and say they believe in a higher being, religious institutions may be uniquely suited to foster moral and prosocial commitments. For youths in inner-city neighborhoods with few alternative sources of social support, outreach by religious institutions can lead to life-altering involvement. An exception is seen in religious cults, where rigid indoctrination into the group's beliefs, suppression of individuality, and estrangement from society all work against moral maturity.