VENTURA, California, USA - January 20, 2003 — Results of a recent poll by the Barna Research Group indicate many non-Christians in the United States hold a less than favourable opinion of evangelicals.
In a nationwide survey, among a representative sample of adults who do not consider themselves to be Christian, the image of "evangelicals" rated tenth out of 11 groups evaluated, beating out only "prostitutes".
The terms used to categorize the people groups were not defined. In an apparently contradictory finding, other Christian group labels were ranked more favourably. "Ministers" and "Born again Christians" both placed in the top three.
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Question:
Is your impression of people in this group generally favourable, generally unfavourable, or somewhere in-between?
|
| |
Favourable |
In-
Between |
Unfavourable |
Don't
Know |
Military
officers |
56% |
32% |
6% |
6% |
| Ministers |
44 |
40 |
9 |
7 |
| Born again Christians |
32 |
41 |
17 |
10 |
| Democrats |
32 |
47 |
12 |
9 |
Real Estate
agents |
30 |
51 |
11 |
8 |
Movie & TV
performers |
25 |
54 |
17 |
7 |
| Lawyers |
24 |
53 |
18 |
5 |
| Republicans |
23 |
47 |
22 |
8 |
| Lesbians |
23 |
38 |
30 |
11 |
| Evangelicals |
22 |
33 |
23 |
22 |
| Prostitutes |
5 |
29 |
55 |
11 |
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Source: Barna Research Group
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Pollster George Barna, whose firm conducted the research, says the apparent discrepancy in the survey data suggest people form impressions of others on the basis of one- dimensional images created and communicated by the mass media. "Our studies show that many of the people who have negative impressions of others are often driven by incomplete, inaccurate or out-of-context information conveyed under the guise of objectivity when, in fact, there is a point-of-view being advanced by the information source. Too often, we develop mental images of others without knowing those people."
Barna said the research also reveals the power of language. "Somehow, 'born again Christians' have a more favourable image than do 'evangelicals,' although few adults are able to identify any substantive differences between those two groups. This is most likely a result of the thrashing that evangelicals receive in the media. It seems that millions of non-Christians have negative impressions of evangelicals, even though they cannot define what an evangelical is, accurately identify the perspectives of the group, or identify even a handful of people they know personally who are evangelicals. There appears to be a lot of religious divisiveness in America based on caricatures and myths rather than on the basis of true ideological or theological differences."
The survey was conducted by telephone among a random sample of 1002 adults (age 18 or older) living within the 48 continental states in May, 2002. Among that sample were 270 adults who indicated that they do not consider themselves to be Christian.
The Barna Research Group, Ltd. is an independent marketing research company that studies cultural trends related to values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours.
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