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Author Topic:   Christianity's public image problems
Modulous
Member
Posts: 7801
From: Manchester, UK
Joined: 05-01-2005


Message 1 of 14 (427419)
10-11-2007 11:54 AM


A group calling themselves The Barna Group have recently been looking into the public image of Christianity...what people's perceptions of it are etc. The Barna Group is a Christian association whose aim is to 'partner with Christian ministries and individuals to be a catalyst in moral and spiritual transformation in the United States.'
They have titled their article based on these findings, "A New Generation Expresses its Skepticism and Frustration with Christianity" and some of its findings are rather interesting. It appears to be a summary of the findings published in a book called unChristian - and given the discussion What Is A Christian (Remix) I thought EvC might be interested in exploring it. I figured it was suitably diversionary to warrant its own thread and I believe Coffee House is the most suitable place. Admins - feel free to move it if you feel it is errantly placed. Directors - feel free to append it to the other thread if you think it best.
quote:
Christianity is judgmental (87%), hypocritical (85%), old-fashioned (78%), and too involved in politics (75%) - representing large proportions of young outsiders who attach these negative labels to Christians. The most common favorable perceptions were that Christianity teaches the same basic ideas as other religions (82%), has good values and principles (76%), is friendly (71%), and is a faith they respect (55%).
Even among young Christians, many of the negative images generated significant traction. Half of young churchgoers said they perceive Christianity to be judgmental, hypocritical, and too political. One-third said it was old-fashioned and out of touch with reality.
...
Today, the most common perception is that present-day Christianity is "anti-homosexual." Overall, 91% of young non-Christians and 80% of young churchgoers say this phrase describes Christianity. As the research probed this perception, non-Christians and Christians explained that beyond their recognition that Christians oppose homosexuality, they believe that Christians show excessive contempt and unloving attitudes towards gays and lesbians. One of the most frequent criticisms of young Christians was that they believe the church has made homosexuality a "bigger sin" than anything else. Moreover, they claim that the church has not helped them apply the biblical teaching on homosexuality to their friendships with gays and lesbians.
quote:
David Kinnaman, who is a 12-year-veteran of the Barna team, pointed out some of the unexpected findings of the research. "Going into this three-year project, I assumed that people’s perceptions were generally soft, based on misinformation, and would gradually morph into more traditional views. But then, as we probed why young people had come to such conclusions, I was surprised how much their perceptions were rooted in specific stories and personal interactions with Christians and in churches. When they labeled Christians as judgmental this was not merely spiritual defensiveness. It was frequently the result of truly ”unChristian’ experiences. We discovered that the descriptions that young people offered of Christianity were more thoughtful, nuanced, and experiential than expected."
Source of above quotations
It seems as though the anti-homosexual rhetoric of the public faces in Christianity has become a source of disenfranchisement amongst young Americans Christian and non-Christian alike. If we assume for the moment that the TruthTM is that homosexuality is a sin, then we can say that its recent overemphasis is hampering efforts to spread the WordTM. Time for a new tactic, methinks. I'd assume that means a changing of the guard for Christianity. Perhaps we shall have to wait for the younger generation of Christians to step forward as public ministers...but is the damage done, is a quick recovery possible? If the more moderate Christians are being turned off, does that mean the population of Christians that remain have an increased frequency of the judgemental variety? Religious selection seems to be in play, which tactic will we be left with when it reaches equilibrium?
Food for thought for some of our members, perhaps.
In the interests of full disclosure: The Barna Group is a protestant group; I have not examined the methodology of the study to determine its validity
Edited by Adminnemooseus, : Added "Source of above quotations" link.

No - I don't believe a cosmic Jewish zombie can make me live forever if I eat his flesh and telepathically tell him that I accept him as my master, so he can then remove an evil force from my soul that is present in all of humanity because a dirt/rib woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree about 6,000 years ago just after the universe was created. Why should I?

Replies to this message:
 Message 2 by dwise1, posted 10-11-2007 7:35 PM Modulous has not replied
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 Message 8 by Minnemooseus, posted 10-11-2007 10:47 PM Modulous has not replied
 Message 10 by AnswersInGenitals, posted 10-12-2007 1:13 AM Modulous has replied
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Modulous
Member
Posts: 7801
From: Manchester, UK
Joined: 05-01-2005


Message 14 of 14 (427607)
10-12-2007 8:20 AM
Reply to: Message 10 by AnswersInGenitals
10-12-2007 1:13 AM


Re: How, exactly, are these surveys conducted?
I don't doubt that the results of this survey are true, but I certainly would not rely solely on this Barna group to present the facts accurately. This survey is just too self serving for them. They are in the business (spelled with capital $$'s) of helping churches attract or retain (paying) members so that these results would tend to scare churches into believing their (the Barna group's) services were needed.
Agreed.
Surveys that rely on the results of 1000 respondees to telephone interviews, and that is about all of them, are very suspect. They are far too weighted towards people who are willing, or dumb enough, to answer personal questions from a total stranger over the phone.
Refusal rates are often high, and refusal rates are often one of those pieces of data that are neglected to be mentioned.
That's why I give no credence to polls that continually show that about 10% of Americans are atheists. These polls also use phone interviews usually using automatic dialing systems and are thus limited to people who don't have the skills and intelligence to install a telezapper, i. e., they automatic exclude most atheists.
Perhaps. I'm not sure on the methodology used in this paper, however I do know that most of the people they spoke to were not Christian. According to usatoday: "The findings were based on surveys of a sample of 867 young people. From that total, researchers reported responses from 440 non-Christians and 305 active churchgoers." - I'd certainly agree that their sample size is small - but it doesn't look like they employed the random ringing around tactic. However, it does raise other questions...such as how random was their sample, exactly? To me it looks like they asked about 20 people from each state - which doesn't seem particularly useful, but as I noted in the OP, I haven't got the materials necessary to examine potential flaws in the methodology.

This message is a reply to:
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