By Dan Barker [of Freedom From Religion Foundation]:
————–
This comes up sometimes in debates: morally and practically, are
Christians better off than non-Christians.
I just read George Barna’s book, The Second Coming Of The Church (Word
Publishing, 1998). Barna is a born-again Christian, sociologist, founder
and president of Barna Research Group, which releases many meaningful
survey results.
Although 90% of Barna’s book is just a sermon to Christian ministers on
how the church should regain its lost status, he does report some frank
statistics showing how the present church has “failed” in its mission.
The numbers are based on his own studies, and other national studies.
On page 6 he gives a table: “Examples of the Similarity of Behavior
Between Christians and Non-Christians.” The 25 items on this list
include:
“Have been divorced (among those who have been married)”
Born Again Christians – 27%; Non-Christians – 23%
“Gave money to a homeless person or poor person, in past year”
Born Again Christians – 24%; Non-Christians – 34%
“Took drugs or medication prescribed for depression, in past year”
Born Again Christians – 7%; Non-Christians – 8%
“Watched an X-rated movie in the past 3 months”
Born Again Christians – 9%; Non-Christians – 16%
“Read all or part of a book for pleasure, in the past week”
Born Again Christians – 50%; Non-Christians – 57%
“Donated any money to a nonprofit organization, in past month”
Born Again Christians – 47%; Non-Christians – 48%
“Bought a lottery ticket, in the past week”
Born Again Christians – 23%; Non-Christians – 27%
“Attended a community meeting on local issue, in past year”
Born Again Christians – 37%; Non-Christians – 42%
And so on . . .
On page 121, he gives another table, “Examples of the Similarity of
Attitudes Between Christians and non-Christians”
“Feel completely or very successful in life”
Born Again Christians – 58%; Non-Christians – 49%
“It is impossible to get ahead because of your financial debt”
Born Again Christians – 33%; Non-Christians – 39%
“You are still trying to figure out the purpose of your life”
Born Again Christians – 36%; Non-Christians – 47%
“Satisfied with your life these days”
Born Again Christians – 69%; Non-Christians – 68%
“Your personal financial situation is getting better”
Born Again Christians – 27%; Non-Christians – 28%
Barna concludes: “We think and behave no differently from anyone else.”
[p. 7]
He also sheds some light on the definition of “God” that most Americans
claim to believe in:
“Since more than nine out of ten Americans own at least one Bible, and
86 percent call themselves Christian, you might expect people to pay
homage to the deity described and followed by the Christian Church. In
July 1997, we asked a nationwide sample of 1,012 adults to describe the
God they believe in. Two out of three adults (67 percent) said they
believe that God is the all-knowing, all-powerful Creator of the
universe who rules the world today. The remaining one-third described
their god as ‘the total realization of personal, human potential’; or ‘a
state of higher consciousness that a person may reach’; or said,
‘Everyone is God’; ‘There are many gods, each with different power and
authority’; or ‘There is no such thing as God.’ The remaining 5 percent
said they did not know.” [Page 25-26]
So, according to Barna, one American out of three does not really> >believe in “God” at all.
Dan Barker
Naturalism and Religious Experience 