George Barna, the evangelical author popular with conservative Christians for his research into faith and culture, has said that common stereotypes of gay people and their relationship to Christianity are wrong.
As his research company, The Barna Group, released the results of a survey on homosexuals and faith, Barna said:
People who portray gay adults as godless, hedonistic, Christian bashers are not working with the facts. … A substantial majority of gays cite their faith as a central facet of their life, consider themselves to be Christian, and claim to have some type of meaningful personal commitment to Jesus Christ active in their life today.
Despite finding some significant differences between the faith of straight people and that of gays, Barna concluded that “there may be less of a spiritual gap between straights and gays than many Americans would assume.”
HT: Warren Throckmorton.
Where does that leave godless gays like me?
Same place as godless straights, I guess.
It’s about time the untrue stereotypes many Evangelicals have are being challenged by one of their own.
I think my faith is stronger since I’ve come OUT.
These are some *very* interesting findings, particularly given the source. I know that as a bisexual woman, I found Paganism far more congenial than Evangelical Christianity, but if I hadn’t fallen in love with the girl who would become my wife, something else would have happened. Straight Pagans tell stories that are so similar to mine aside from the sexual orientations and genders involved.
I guess what I want to say is that it’s obvious Barna made an effort, and I’m glad. I hope the people who need to take this to heart, do. I hope Barna is not ostracized for trying to actually listen to gay people for once.
What are the chances that Exodus or Focus on the Familiy will report on this poll?
Exodus and FOTF will probably report that the report also says this [emphases mine]:
Oh, they’ll report, Mike. Eventually, when they’re good and ready. But I would about bet my favorite aquamarine earrings that there will be a negative spin put on it, including attempts to discredit Barna or paint him as having a momentary lapse in judgement.
It is still interesting to me that Barna identified even a small portion of gay people as his idea of real Christians and mentioned that straight people leave the church as much as gay (or, ahem, bi) ones do.
Emily K, jinx! You gotta buy me a Coke! 😉
I object to the title of this piece.
“Christian Pollster Barna Dispels Anti-Gay Myths”
I don’t see Christianity (or any other religion) as a good thing. To say that gay people are not religious is not a negative comment.
TRiG.
Thing is, TRiG, that it is a myth and it is used against gays, which makes it an anti-gay myth in one way or another.
In any case, what Barna is disputing is not merely that gays are not religious, but that they are “godless, hedonistic, Christian bashers”. That’s clearly a stereotype that’s meant to reflect badly on gays – and it’s a myth.
*nods at Dave* I’m so happy to have left Christianity I can weep, but I know very well that lots of other LGBT people are strong Christians. Unfortunately, so many conservative Evangelicals want to ignore that or make excuses. For them, “not-Christian” becomes “anti-Christian,” and both are bad things. TRiG, I am sure that you as an atheist have seen how the same people hate and insult both religious and sexual minorities–I definitely have as a Pagan. Barna’s results are intended for conservative Evangelicals, not so much gay people. So it’s good and newsworthy that someone from the inside–one of them–is challenging some of their pet assumptions.
I wouldn’t give Barna publicity. He supports Battlecry, one of the most ardent anti-gay groups in America.
It would be interesting if another poll is done, to see how many ex-gays that ex-gay ministries created in comparison to ex-Christians.
The ex-gay ministry that I came out from only have three ex-gays and is trying to indoctrinate another one… while I have personally known more than 50 ex-Christians caused by the same ministry… after more than a decade of “service”….
It seems if Barna’s stats shows the Christian lifestyle gays exist, then surely the line that shows the lack of prioritization by gays may be directly caused by ex-gay ministries and the churches.
Just how is anyone going to be a Christian if he or she is constantly told to “change” in order to be part of Christianity or be cast away?
As a child, when I was told of bible stories of Jesus calling for the prince to give away all his riches, I wondered, if it was moral – as the beneficiaries themselves were being condemned to hell for receiving goods they never worked for. Surely the best thing would be to burn all the goods, so no one gained any riches, and at least, everyone went to heaven? Isn’t it like passing a grenade around? I was always bothered, too, that doing good in itself was slefish – it came with the promse of a reward, in the afterlife. I came to the conclusion, that the most moral, altruist position possible, was atheism: if I give up my seat on an overcrowded bus to an old lady, I do so, with no expectation.
This is why I agree with Timothy above. And why it is pompous, pious nonsense and frankly an insult to a great many people, to assume faith brings with it any moral superiority, as the evangelical author of this report clearly does.
It is possible to be a non-believer and be a non-hedonist: as if religious people have the monopoly of deep thought! The 2,500 year tradition of philosophy and science, from Epicurus, to Carl Sagan tells us otherwise. Sixty percent, 200 years after the birth of Charles Darwin, is a lamentably high figure.