Bless these children, for they will lead the way ...

Sounds biblical, no? Which sort of contrasts with this new, enlightening and joyful news from a small UK survey which basically tells us that teenagers are abandoning their religious faiths – and that's for those who even had a religion to begin with. In fact, up to two thirds of children don't believe in gods at all.

Teenagers even say family, friends, money, music and even reality television are more important than religion.

It also emerged six out of ten 10 children (59 per cent) believe that religion "has a negative influence on the world".

The survey also shows that half of teenagers have never prayed and 16 per cent have never been to church.

Is it just me, or are kids and youths from across the pond always a few steps ahead from the kids and youths we have over here in North America in terms of spiritual beliefs and overall behavior? Rather disheartening for us, really ... Though you can't help but smile at this news, nonetheless.

How 'bout some more good news?

The research also found 55 per cent of young people are not bothered about religion and 60 per cent only go to church for a wedding or christening.

Only three out of 10 teenagers believe in an afterlife and 41 per cent believe that nothing happens to your body when you die, but one in 10 reckon they come back as an animal or another human being.

And what does the Church have to say about these revelations? Tired, repetitive and unsubstantiated crap, of course:

A Church of England spokesman said: "Many teenagers aren't sure what they believe at that stage of their lives, as is clear from the number who said they don't know whether they believe in God.

"On the other hand many of these results point to the great spirituality of young people today that the Church is seeking to respond to through new forms of worship alongside tradition ones."

Right. Chalk it up to those dumb kids not knowing what to believe in and being rebellious. Never mind that they may just be opening their eyes to the possibility of a world without the poisoning aspects of religiosity.

In the end, it's as this lady puts it:

Hanne Stinson, chief executive of The British Humanist Association, said: "It confirms that young people - like adults - do not need a religion to have positive values.

"The 'golden rule', which is often claimed by religions as a religious value, is in reality a shared human value - shared by all the major religions and the non-religious and almost every culture - that predates all the major world religions."

Exactly.