Pagan Retention Rates

Deborah Lipp from New York writes in about Eric Scott’s recent essay,
“Lughnasadh“:

I can’t thank you enough for this. As one of those Pagan parents who dragged The Kid to rituals and Pagan festivals, I am moved to near tears by how our children grow.

Today my son is a young man who has begun teaching at festivals. Today we continue to raise children in our ways, and at a festival last week, one of our adults was pregnant, two more arrived with their toddler twins. We hand them little wooden athames and little toddler-sized robes and we wonder about the future.

I have done some informal surveys of the children of Pagan parents; children like Eric who were raised in a Pagan manner. My very unscientific results suggest about 50% of such children become Pagan; the rest appear to be agnostic or atheist. I haven’t personally met any Christians or Jews who were raised Pagans, but I’m sure they must be out there.

I think 50% is a very satisfying number, especially when young people like Eric are among them.

What do you think? What does it take to pass on an uncommon faith?