Other demographic Info >>

44% of Americans say that Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence among its followers

The new nationwide survey of 2,002 adults, conducted June 24-July 8 by the Pew

Research Center and the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, shows that 44% of Americans say that Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence among its followers, a sharp rise from 25% who held this view in March 2002. A separate Pew Research Center study found that nearly half the public thinks that half or more Muslims worldwide hold anti-American views, up from just a third who felt this way in 2002.

The poll finds declining overall opposition to gay marriage, and growing religious differences on this contentious issue. Roughly half of all Americans (53%) oppose allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally while 38% support that idea. The shift in favor of gay marriage is seen in nearly every segment of society with two notable exceptions -- white evangelical Protestants and African-Americans. 

Poll Archive

In a postmodern society, evangelism is a controversial activity.

Do believers still engage in evangelism despite the pressure to abstain from "imposing" their beliefs about Christ on others? In examining evangelistic activity among born again Americans we discovered: 

• Almost one-quarter of adults who attend a Protestant or Catholic church are both born again in their faith and have shared their faith in Jesus Christ with a non-Christian in the past twelve months.
• Of the nine denominational groups studied, just three had at least half of their adherents who were born again and had shared their faith in the past year: individuals associated with an Assemblies of God church, those who regularly attend a non-denominational Christian church, and adults aligned with a Pentecostal church.
• The lifestyle and demographic profile of evangelizers is marginally different from that of born-again non-evangelizers, but their religious beliefs and practices are substantially different.

 (www.barna.org) June 2003

Why are small churches small?
Why are large churches large and more likely to grow?

These are some of the factors explored in this week's report. In that summary you will discover:

• Small churches have a higher proportion of downscale adults, who tend to be less aggressive, less inclined to assume leadership, and less oriented toward institutional growth.

• Larger churches attract a greater proportion of conservative adults, who tend to prefer knowing acceptable boundaries and working within them. Church-going conservatives substantially outnumber church-going liberals.

• Baby Busters are more likely to attend a small church than a large church. They have energy but they are less interested in numerical growth, have less leadership experience and fewer resources to invest in a church.

(www.barna.org) 9/2/03

Has America's faith changed since 9-11? 

Has our faith helped us to handle 9-11?  How do people rate the work of their church in helping them to process the 9-11 tragedy and its implications?  That's the focus of our new release, with interviews completed this past weekend.  Among the findings:

• Almost nine out of ten Americans say the terrorist attacks have had no lasting impact on their faith, though millions of adults (roughly half of the US adult population) claim to have turned to their faith to help them personally process the tragedies

• Half of all adults say their church has done nothing at all to acknowledge, address or help people process the terrorist attacks

• Compared to just prior to the attacks, there has been no change in personal religious activity levels such as church attendance, Bible reading, prayer, Sunday school and small group involvement.

• People's religious beliefs have gone unchanged in the past year, based on the nine core beliefs we have tracked.  That includes no growth in the percentage of born again adults.

• Adults are no more likely to believe in absolute moral truth today than they were on

(www.barna.org)September 10, 2001.

Poll Archive