Free Republic

Throughout history, America has been known as “the land of the free” and “the home of the brave.” Or as we learned as children, America is a melting pot of different cultures, backgrounds, and beliefs. Yet, despite those differences, America is a land of unity. At least that’s the beacon of hope, the “city on a hill” that it was meant to be and remain. However, all it takes is a glance from any news outlet to see that this country is now plagued with division.

On schools, the Father of the Reformation, Martin Luther, said: I am much afraid that the universities will prove to be the great gates of hell, unless they diligently labour in explaining the Holy Scriptures, and engraving them in the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not unceasingly occupied with the Word of God must become corruptTragically, the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in America have proven this wise adage true. In the world today, there are few things more corrupt than the...

African American churchgoers are more likely to politically identify as Democrat than the overall African American population, according to a report by the Barna Group. In the report released Thursday, Barna found that while around two-thirds of all black adults considered themselves Democrat, a little over three-quarters of churchgoing blacks said the same. Sixty-seven percent of all African American adults said they were Democrat, while 19% said independent, 8% said they had no affiliation, and 6% said Republican. By contrast, 76% of African American churchgoers said they were Democrat, while 14% said they were independent, 5% said they were Republican...

According to a new survey by veteran researcher Dr. George Barna and The Cultural Research Center (CRC) at Arizona Christian University, President Trump received a record number of votes from conservative Christians in the 2020 election. The survey, which was conducted after election day, looked at a group of conservative Christians known as SAGE Cons (Spiritually Active Governance Engaged Conservative Christians). A near universal amount of SAGE Cons turned out in the 2020 election with 99 percent (representing 23 million voters) casting their ballot. Meanwhile, 97 percent cast their ballot for Trump, giving the president a net margin of more...

A new survey shows that the majority of Americans no longer believe that Jesus is the path to salvation and instead believe that being a good person is sufficient. As part of the ongoing release of the Arizona Christian University-based Cultural Research Center's American Worldview Inventory, the latest findings — exploring perceptions of sin and salvation — from George Barna, the group's director, show that nearly two-thirds of Americans believe that having some kind of faith is more important than the particular faith with which someone aligns. Sixty-eight percent who embrace that notion identify as Christians, including 56% of self-described...

As part of an ongoing release of research about the worldviews of Americans, new data show that just over half hold a biblically-informed view of God, a 22% drop from 30 years ago.Longtime researcher George Barna, whose work is now based at the recently-founded Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, released another installment in his findings that reveal the erosion of the Judeo-Christian worldview in the United States. The new report shows that only 51% of Americans consider God to be "all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect and just creator of the universe who still rules the world today.” In 1991, 73%...

Manhattan hedge fund bro Brett Barna allegedly took it upon himself to trash a $20 million mansion with his annual, unfortunately-dubbed #Sprayathon party. There were 1,000 guests in attendance. There were "scores of bikini-clad women and costumed gun-toting midgets," according to the NY Post. Barna apparently name-dropped his boss, billionaire hedge fund manager Louis Bacon, when booking the Airbnb, and implied the event would have something to do with the Robin Hood Foundation. Regardless of what charity the party was purportedly supporting, the property owner said that "the only animals there were the people, a thousand of them." He told...

At The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (of the Southern Baptist Convention), a recent blog post details the "Six principles of a Jesus-centered moral order." The post is an excerpt from a recent book co-authored by David Kinnaman, the president of Barna Group, a Christian research and communications company. The piece notes that, "in the twentieth century, more and more people began to see Christian morality as standing in the way of a new moral code: the morality of self-fulfillment. Throwing off burdensome traditional mores, people began to imagine life without a bothersome God standing watch." The post also reveals...

December 29, 2014 - Every December, Barna Group compiles its top findings and trends from research conducted in the past year. From legalizing marijuana to increasing secularization trends to America’s complicated relationship with sports—2014 was an interesting year. 1. Bible Skepticism Is Now Tied with Bible EngagementFor the first time since Barna Group and American Bible Society’s Bible engagement tracking began, Bible skepticism is tied with Bible engagement. The number of those who are skeptical or agnostic toward the Bible—who believe the Bible is “just another book of teachings written by men that contains stories and advice”—has nearly doubled from...

January 21, 2014 - In the not-so distant past, institutions were trusted and valued as important parts of a functioning society—from government, corporations and schools to marriage and even organized religion. Yet trust in institutions is quickly giving way to a nation of cynics. New Barna research reports that Americans are ranking their confidence in institutions at abysmal levels. And this institutional skepticism comprises a significant backdrop for the major faith and culture trends of 2014... During 2013 alone, citizens lamented the failure of their leaders and institutions. From the government shutdown to Pope Francis' public callout of the Vatican...

Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee for president this year, received the lowest level of support among evangelicals of any Republican presidential candidate since Bob Dole in 1996, according to a report by Barna Group, a Christian polling organization. Romney received the support of 81 percent of evangelicals, compared to 88 percent for John McCain in 2008, and 83 percent and 85 percent, respectively, for George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004. Only Dole received a lower level of evangelical support at 74 percent in Barna's polling. Barna's results differ from other polls showing Romney received a higher proportion of the...

A recent study released by the Barna Group—a leading research company focused on the intersection of faith and culture—has been the spark plug for a surge of editorials around the country because of the study’s eye-opening, statistical revelations regarding Christianity and divorce. Among the findings, divorce rates among conservative Christians are not only counter to Christian ideals, they are significantly higher than that of other faith groups, including atheists and agnostics. George Barna, the director of the study observed, “There no longer seems to be much of a stigma attached to divorce. (Instead), it is now seen as an unavoidable...

As I mentioned Monday afternoon, I've got a new book sitting here that will be a dynamic book to read and blog about. It's one of the most encouraging and myth-busting books of the last two decades. The book is by Bradley R.E. Wright, and he's a professor at the University of Connecticut where he teaches sociology.  Wright's book is called: Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites...and Other Lies You've Been Told: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media .  Here's a big insight from Wright, and it speaks to me about something I know I've made a mistake...

Mainline Protestant churches seem to have weathered the past decade better than many people have assumed, but the future is raising serious challenges to continued stability, said a Christian pollster. George Barna analyzed data for The Barna Group's latest report examining mainline denominations. Weekend attendance at mainline churches has remained relatively stable, ranging from 89 to 100, over the past decade but the report suggests that they may be "on the precipice of a period of decline." Mainline bodies – which the research group identifies as American Baptist Churches in the USA; The Episcopal Church; the Evangelical Lutheran Church in...

Cultural Christians. Captive Christians. American Jews. Pantheists. Muslims. Spiritual Skeptics. Mormons. The U.S. can be broken down into seven main faith groups, according to the pollster George Barna in his latest book — “The Seven Faith Tribes” — which is at least his 40th. Even he may have lost count. “These have more to do with lifestyles and values and draws parallels with faith inclinations,” Barna said in a recent phone interview from his office in California, where he oversees The Barna Group, a research organization. The faith groups are not the nation’s seven largest but are rather clusters of...

It's a long and ignominious list. First there was Newt Gingrich. Then came Larry Craig, Mark Foley, David Vitter, Chip Pickering and Vito Fossella. Now starring John Ensign and Mark Sanford. Politically, sex scandals are equal-opportunity destroyers. For every David Vitter, there is an Eliot Spitzer. For every John Ensign there's a John Edwards. For every Bill Clinton there's... well, there's only one Slick Willie. But you get the point: Sexual scandal knows no party. Yet, a common denominator linking many political sex scandals of the last few years is the involvement of conservative Christian politicians who, it seemed, had...

What if America's greatest enemy is not al Qaeda or Iran, but America itself? The United States is hailed as a melting pot of ethnic and religious diversity. But could this trait actually stand in the way of a common vision that once made our nation so great? Researcher George Barna has spent 25 years analyzing faith and culture in America. In his new book "The Seven Faith Tribes," he breaks the nation down into seven belief groups: 1.Casual Christians 2.Captive Christians 3.Skeptics 4.Jews 5.Mormons 6.Pantheists 7.Muslims To renew America, each tribe must seek common ground, open dialog, and shared...

Nearly six out of ten Christians either strongly agreed or somewhat agreed with the statement that Satan "is not a living being but is a symbol of evil," the survey found. Forty percent strongly agreed with the statement while 19 percent of American Christians somewhat agreed. In contrast, about 35 percent of American Christians believe Satan is real. Twenty-six percent strongly disagreed with the statement that Satan is merely symbolic and about one-tenth (9 percent) somewhat disagreed. The remaining eight percent of American Christians responded they were unsure what to believe about the existence of Satan. Interestingly, the majority of...

The percentage of Hispanic Catholics in America has dropped, while the proportion of born-again Hispanics has increased, a new survey by the Barna Group found. Over the past 15 years, the proportion of Hispanics in America that is aligned with the Catholic Church has fallen by 25 percent. By comparison, the proportion of born-again Christians for this ethnic group has increased by 17 percent. “You cannot help but notice the changing relationship between Hispanics and the Catholic Church,” commented George Barna, whose company conducted the research. “While many Hispanic immigrants come to the United States with ties to Catholicism, the...

The majority of American Christians do not believe that Satan is a real being or that the Holy Spirit is a living entity, the latest Barna survey found. Nearly six out of ten Christians either strongly agreed or somewhat agreed with the statement that Satan "is not a living being but is a symbol of evil," the survey found. Forty percent strongly agreed with the statement while 19 percent of American Christians somewhat agreed. In contrast, about 35 percent of American Christians believe Satan is real. Twenty-six percent strongly disagreed with the statement that Satan is merely symbolic and about...