Study reveals ‘born again’ has new meaning

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — “Born again” doesn’t mean what it used to, according to researcher Wade Clark Roof of the University of California-Santa Barbara. Roof’s newest book, “Spiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers and the Remaking of the American Religion,” argues today’s “born again” Christians are united by emotions and experiences, not by shared doctrines or moral beliefs. One-third of America’s 77 million baby boomers identify themselves as born-again Christians, but only 55 percent of those have any link to a conservative Protestant denomination. Half say religions other than Christianity are “equally good and true,” and one-third of born-again boomers believe in reincarnation and astrology. Nearly half support abortion.