Sect Appeal

Always on the cutting edge, students at the University of California at Berkeley have been showing a renewed interest in religion. According to an informal survey this year, 8,000 of the school's 29,000 students volunteered a religious preference, up 1,000 over 1978. Catholics, Jews and Episcopalians were in the majority, and there was a smattering of Mormons, Quakers, Hindus and Taoists. Says Peter D. Haynes, an Episcopal minister on campus: "I honestly think that there is an increased interest in religion, an openness among people to find a God-centered life."

But the survey also showed that some Berkeley students had their doubts about the validity of established churches. In listing their affiliations, they created some brand-new sects, most of which sound suspiciously secular: The Holy Order of Our Lady of Perpetual Motion; Southern Pedestrian; New Emeryville Church of Voodoo and Imported Beer; Polyester Pagota of the Palpitating Pulpit; Born Again Atheist. Says the Rev. Gustav Schultz, a Lutheran minister who helped take the survey: "There are a lot of things in religion that ought to be laughed at. This is the students' way of expressing that. We think it's a good thing to have a healthy, critical attitude." Amen.

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