The Changing Faith of African Americans

According to a recent study by The Barna Group, African Americans continue to exhibit strong Christian faith in comparison to other ethnic groups within the United States. The study, which examined a number of different areas of Christian belief and behavior, found that black Americans had the highest score on most of the categories when compared to Asian Americans, Hispanics and whites.

The topics considered in the study included beliefs about the Bible, importance of a relationship with God, and the existence of Satan. In regard to personal behavior, areas considered included church-going habits, prayer, and making a personal commitment to Christ.

A particularly interesting finding from the research was that, in comparison to 15 years ago, African Americans have grown even stronger in their faith in a number of areas:

"Six of seven measures of belief had changed significantly. Blacks today are more likely than they were in the early 1990s to believe that the principles taught in the Bible are totally accurate; to say that their religious faith is very important in their life; to have a biblically orthodox understanding of the nature of God; and to be born again.

Three of the five behavioral measures that were evaluated both recently and 15 years ago showed substantial change. Those efforts included an increase in the proportion of African-Americans who have made a personally important commitment to Christ, church attendance, and Bible reading.

As with any study such as this, these are general findings and do not hold true for everyone that is an African American. But the importance that many in the black community place on the Christian faith indicates the resilience of the black church in the midst of sweeping cultural change within the American mainstream.

You can read more about the Barna study here.

Americans Experiencing God Differently

A new study conducted by respected pollster George Barna indicates that many American Christians are open to expressing their religious beliefs differently than previous generations. Although most Americans define themselves as "religious", an increasing number of people are seeking to experience their faith apart from organized religion and the institutional church.

Barna found that 7 out of 10 people are more likely to develop their own religious beliefs rather than to accept an entire set of beliefs of a particular church.

"Levels of distrust toward churches, church leaders and organized Christianity have been growing over the past two decades. That concern – along with the heightened independence of Americans and the profound access to information that has characterized the past decade – may have led to the emergence of a large majority of adults feeling responsible for their own theological and spiritual development. Other studies have shown an inclination for people to view a local church as a supplier of useful guidance and support, but not necessarily a reliable source of a comprehensive slate of beliefs that they must adopt.

Across the board, the research showed that women are driving these changes. This is particularly significant given prior research from Barna showing that women are more spiritually inclined, are the primary shapers of family faith experiences, and are the backbone of activity in the typical conventional church. Specifically, Barna discovered that women were more likely than men to pursue their faith in a different type of structure or environment (68% of women, 59% of men); to sense that God is motivating people to experience faith in different ways (79% vs. 60%, respectively); and to be willing try a new church (50% vs. 40%)."

To read more about Barna's report click here.

How People of Faith Voted in the Election

George Barna, the well-known Christian pollster, recently did a study on how the various religious subsets of Americans voted in the presidential election last week. You can read the full report here, but here are some highlights:

Evangelicals
Evangelicals are a small proportion of the national population - just 7% of all adults. But they tend to capture the imagination and attention of the national media and political pundits. The survey data consistently show that evangelical Christians have among the highest rates of voting turnout among all voter groups and are, in fact, strikingly different from the rest of the population - even from other born again Christians who are not evangelical.
As was true in the past two presidential elections, two-thirds of all evangelicals who were registered to vote (65%) were aligned with the Republican Party. One out of five (21%) was Democrats and just one out of ten (10%) was registered independent of a party. That puts evangelicals at odds with the national voter profile, which shows a plurality of Democrats (42%), one-third Republican (34%) and two out of ten (20%) independent of a party affiliation.
Most remarkably, however, was the overwhelming support registered among evangelicals for Republican candidate John McCain. In total, 88% voted for Sen. McCain, compared to just 11% for Sen. Obama. The 88% is statistically identical to the 85% of evangelicals who backed George W. Bush in 2004. Surveys conducted by Barna throughout the campaign season showed that evangelicals were not enthusiastic about either candidate, but on Election Day evangelicals came through in a big way for the most conservative major candidate on the ballot.

Born Again Christians

Evangelicals represent just one out of every six born again adults. The survey data among all born again adults found that they were much more likely to vote for Sen. McCain (57% did so) than for Sen. Obama (42%). As substantial as that margin is, the 15-point gap was considerably less than the 24-point margin accorded to George W. Bush in his 2004 campaign against Sen. John Kerry.
However, it is identical to the 15-point spread they gave to Mr. Bush in 2000, and more than double the 6-point margin they gave Sen. Bob Dole in his 1996 loss to Democratic incumbent Bill Clinton. However, born again Christians in general chose their candidate based on different criteria than did evangelicals. The major motivations among born again Christians who are not evangelical were political experience (20%), ideas about the country’s future (18%), character (17%), and economic policies (17%). To highlight the contrast in priorities, note that just 7% of evangelicals identified economic policy as a motivator, and only 8% of the non-evangelical born again Christians listed the candidate’s positions on moral issues.

Racial Identity
Among non-white voters, racial identity played a larger role in influencing their vote than did their religious beliefs and affiliations. Assessing the voting outcomes by race and faith, the survey showed that there were no statistically significant differences between black born again voters and black non-born again voters. Similarly, there were no meaningful distinctions in candidate preference between Hispanic born agains and Hispanic non-born again voters. Overall, Sen. Obama claimed more than 90% of the African-American vote and three-quarters of the Hispanic vote. He won just 41% of the white vote.
Among white voters, faith had a significant correlation with their candidate selection. White born again voters chose Sen. McCain by a 73% to 26% outcome. Whites who were not born again chose Sen. Obama by a 56% to 39% margin. White voters were also more affected by their understanding the candidates’ moral positions and political experience than were other voters.

Very interesting findings, indeed.