In a telephone survey of 1,200 American college students, 7 out of 10 said religion was somewhat or very important in their lives, and 1 in 4 said they'd become more spiritual since entering college.

Fifty-four percent said they were concerned about the moral direction of the country.

Students who were surveyed said abortion policy, stem cell research and gay marriage provoked questions of morality. In a finding that surprised the institute, 50 percent said the U.S. government's response to Hurricane Katrina raised questions of morality.

While wealth has a modest impact o­n well-being, other social factors appear to have greater influence.

"It's a lot of fun to see what the correlations are for happiness," said Glenn Van Ekeren, an elder care executive in Omaha, Neb., who has published three books o­n the secrets to happiness. "There are some real affirmations of life in this poll."

One of the most important things Americans can do to improve the odds of being happy, the survey found, is to get married. Sixty percent of married people are very happy, compared to 41 percent of singles.

But the questions undertaken are truly universal. Some of the stars evince a fairly traditional stance on faith, including observant Muslim basketball star Hakeem Olajuwon, who prays in Arabic daily and runs all of his businesses according to the anti-interest tenets of Islamic law; novelist Anne Rice, who has recently returned to the Catholic faith and written a novel about Jesus' childhood; or Bush speechwriter and policy wonk Michael Gerson, a committed Protestant who like Falsani is a graduate of Wheaton College in Illinois.

Yet In a paradox worthy of o­ne of his books o­n the cosmos, none of these accomplishments really won him the prize. The Templeton is unusual because it recognizes people whose careers have, in some new way, bridged the schism between science and religion. John D. Barrow's popular books o­n such weighty questions as the origins of the universe have helped people look at science and theology as different ways of answering the same questions: Is there o­ne answer to everything? How big is the universe? Will time end?

Only o­ne of the 1,000 adults polled in the telephone survey could name all five freedoms guaranteed under the First Amendment. Yet more than o­ne in five (22 percent) could identify all five major characters in Matt Groening's cartoon family.

Similarly, o­nly 8 people in 100 could name at least three First Amendment freedoms. Four in 10 surveyed (40 percent) could name two of the three judges o­n the star-making show American Idol, and o­ne in four (25 percent) could name all three.

The General Social Survey at NORC conducts the nation’s most comprehensive, nation-wide, scientific survey o­n altruism and empathy, including measures of altruistic behaviors as well as altruistic love. Its most recent data is in the report, "Altruism and Empathy in America: Trends and Correlates," authored by Tom W. Smith, Director of the GSS.

The finding will have churches and church-affiliated schools rethinking their approach to religious education, if they have not already done so.

"To their credit, they are already exploring a variety of new ways of engaging students about religion," says the Christian Research Association's senior research officer, Reverend Philip Hughes.

The three-year study was not designed to examine religious education, but Dr Hughes conceded "it does have implications for how religious education is done: you cannot 'hand o­n' your faith".

"While Americans do count freedom of religion as o­ne of our most precious rights," says Audrey Smith, acting director of the Council for America's First Freedom, in Richmond, "many citizens aren't sure how they exercise those rights, or what is not allowed under our Constitution."

A national survey by the council in October, for instance, revealed a deep ambivalence about a fundamental principle of religious freedom: the separation of church and state.

Considering what other trouble they could have with their teens, parents, obviously, aren’t too opposed to their teen going to another church, even more than o­ne each week. But some church leaders see a danger in the shallow sort of commitment this sort of church hopping may produce o­n the part of young believers who act more like consumers than congregants.

The survey also exposed the fact that nearly 50 percent of church attendees in America have not heard a sermon on poverty in the past year, and 30 percent of those people did not have an opportunity to serve the poor through their church.

The purpose of World Spirituality Day is to supercharge your New Year’s transition, celebrations and resolutions with the deepest power of your own spirituality. December 31st is considered by many to be a day, not only of transition from one year to the next, but also between the old and the new. What a great time then, to reflect on how your most important and profound past spiritual experiences can influence and support your future in a positive and uplifting way.

The event opened with an introduction of the HIC board and brief speeches from Gross and Graham.

"This is a terrific learning environment," Gross said, adding that it is a challenge for people to come together and learn about religion.

Graham noted that interreligious dialogue can often end up o­ne-sided, but said that service projects can effectively bring people together.

"The world needs the capacity of people of different faiths to work together with the great problems that face humanity," Graham said.

I corralled my two main tutors to show them, because this was contrary to the ancient version of cosmology I had been taught, which held that the moon was a heavenly body that emitted its own light. But through my telescope the moon was clearly just a barren rock, pocked with craters. If the author of that fourth-century treatise were writing today, I'm sure he would write the chapter o­n cosmology differently.

"Among the most significant forces is the rising tide of anti-science sentiment that seems to have its nucleus in Washington but which extends throughout the nation," said Stanford's Philip Pizzo in a letter posted o­n the school Web site o­n October 3.

Cornell acting President Hunter Rawlings, in his "state of the university" address last week, spoke about the challenge to science represented by "intelligent design" which holds that the theory of evolution accepted by the vast majority of scientists is fatally flawed.

According to the survey, the growing acceptance of divorce is also occurring among religious conservatives. o­nly 34% of evangelical Christians and 30% of traditional Catholics say that divorce is a sin.