Barna Survey: The God Gap in American Politics Alive and Well

US News & World Report ^ | March 31, 2009 | Dan Gilgoff

[Alex Murphy]

After Barack Obama won culturally conservative Indiana and North Carolina, doubled his support among traditionalist Catholics over the previous Democratic presidential nominee, and made inroads among white evangelicals, there was lots of talk about the end of the God gap between Democrats and Republicans. The gap, it seemed, had been overtaken by the economic tidal wave.

An important new survey from the Barna Group shows why that's not exactly the case. Not even close. It finds that political conservatives are much more religiously orthodox than liberals. The key findings:

The Religious Beliefs of Liberals and Conservatives

Liberals are less than half as likely as conservatives to firmly believe that the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches (27% versus 63%, respectively); to strongly believe that Satan is real (17% versus 36%); and to firmly contend that they have a personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs with others (23% versus 48%).

Liberals are also far less likely than conservatives to strongly believe each of the following:

- their religious faith is very important in their life (54% of liberals vs. 82% of conservatives);
- a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by doing good deeds or being a good person (23% vs. 37%);
- their faith is becoming an increasingly important moral guide in their life (38% vs. 70%);
- the church they currently attend is very important in helping them find direction and fulfillment in life (37% vs. 62%);
- their primary purpose in life is to love God with all their heart, mind, strength and soul (43% vs. 76%);
- Jesus Christ did not commit sins during His time on earth (33% vs. 55%).

The Religious Practices of Liberals and Conservatives

The Barna study examined five specific religious practices and found that conservatives were more likely than liberals to engage in all five. In a typical week, the survey showed that conservatives were more likely than liberals to:

- read the Bible, other than at church events, during the past week (57% vs. 33%, respectively)
- attend a religious service during the past week (62% vs. 35%)
- pray to God, other than at a religious service, during the past week (91% vs. 76%)
- share their religious beliefs with others, during the past year (56% vs. 39%, among the born again Christians interviewed from each segment)
- have ever participated in a short-term missions trip, either within the U.S. or in another country (12% vs. 6%)

The research also revealed that liberals are twice as likely as conservatives to be categorized as "unchurched" (40% vs. 19%, respectively), while conservatives were twice as likely as liberals to be categorized as having an "active faith" (45% vs. 21%, respectively, defined as having read the Bible, attended a religious service and prayed to God during the past week).

Read full survey results here.

[Alex Murphy]

By the numbers:

Percentage of "liberals" who:
33%: read the Bible, other than at church events, during the past week
35%: attended a religious service during the past week
76%: prayed to God, other than at a religious service, during the past week
39%: shared their religious beliefs with others, during the past year (among the born again Christians interviewed)
06%: have ever participated in a short-term missions trip, either within the U.S. or in another country

Percentage of "conservatives" who:
57%: read the Bible, other than at church events, during the past week
62%: attended a religious service during the past week
91%: prayed to God, other than at a religious service, during the past week
56%: shared their religious beliefs with others, during the past year (among the born again Christians interviewed)
12%: have ever participated in a short-term missions trip, either within the U.S. or in another country

Percentage of "liberals" who believe:
27%: "the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches"
17%: that Satan is real
23%: have a personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs with others
54%: their religious faith is very important in their life
23%: a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by doing good deeds or being a good person
38%: faith is becoming an increasingly important moral guide in their life
37%: their church is very important in helping them find direction and fulfillment in life
33%: Jesus Christ did not commit sins during His time on earth
43%: their primary purpose in life is to love God with all their heart, mind, strength and soul

Percentage of "conservatives" who believe:
63%: "the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches"
36%: that Satan is real
48%: have a personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs with others
82%: their religious faith is very important in their life
37%: a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by doing good deeds or being a good person
70%: faith is becoming an increasingly important moral guide in their life
62%: their church is very important in helping them find direction and fulfillment in life
55%: Jesus Christ did not commit sins during His time on earth
76%: their primary purpose in life is to love God with all their heart, mind, strength and soul

[uptoolate]

I’ll guess that these numbers were much higher for both ideologies prior to the 60’s.

Court decisions have consequences.

[Alex Murphy]

I’ll guess that these numbers were much higher for both ideologies prior to the 60’s.

"...Ours is a post-Christian world in which Christianity, not only in the number of Christians but in cultural emphasis and cultural result, is no longer the consensus or ethos of our society.

Do not take this lightly! It is a horrible thing for a man like myself to look back and see my country and my culture go down the drain in my own lifetime. It is a horrible thing that sixty years ago you could move across this country and almost everyone, even non-Christians, would have known what the gospel was. A horrible thing that fifty to sixty years ago our culture was built on the Christian consensus, and now this is no longer the case..."
- Francis Schaeffer, The Great Evangelical Disaster [1983]

[Joann37]

Glad to see them differentiate between liberal and conservative “Christians”. I use the quotes because I think liberals feel so contrary to the Bible with so many of their positions that it’s hard to see how they can be considered followers of Christ.