Iraqi Youth Becoming Skeptical of Religion

Today's Seattle Times, carrying an article published earlier this month in the New York Times, reports that Iraqi youth are becoming disenchanted with religion. Religious restrictions on their lives and religious violence have led at least some young people to reject Islam, a trend that runs counter to developments elsewhere in the Middle East. While the scope of this Iraqi disillusionment is unclear, there has been a decline in enrollment of graduate students in religion classes, and attendance at weekly prayer services appears to be down. The lengthy article is the second in a New York Times series on the lives of youth in the Muslim world at a time of religious revival.