Barna: Texans most likely to discuss religion_62303

Posted: 6/13/03

Texans most likely
to discuss religion

VENTURA, Calif.–Texans are the most likely of all Americans to discuss morality and religion among their peers during a typical week, according to new data from the Barna Research Group.

Nationwide, the things Americans say they most often discuss with others, in order, are the content of movies and television programs, money, sports, politics, and then parenting.

Moral and spiritual issues fall below discussions of parenting in frequency, but nearly half of all American adults say they discuss morality or faith in a typical week.

Except for Texans, that is, where people discuss morality and religion at above-average rates, the Barna poll found.

Nationwide, others most likely to discuss morality are adults under age 55, people who hold college degrees and have above-average household incomes, African-Americans, and those who attend mid-sized and large churches.

Others most likely to discuss religion are women, baby boomers, people who hold college degrees and have above-average household incomes, African-Americans, residents of the South, Republicans, conservatives and people attending churches of more than 100 people.

Those least likely to discuss either topic include Asians, Hispanics, the poor and those not registered to vote. Senior adults are among the least likely to discuss morality, and men and Californians are among those least likely to discuss religion.

While Christians, and especially evangelical Christians, are highly likely to talk about religion and morality, they're not alone. The survey found one-third of atheists and agnostics also talk about faith issues during a typical week.

Pollster George Barna spotted a cultural warning in the report that Asians and Hispanics, the two cultural groups fueling most of the nation's population growth, are not likely to discuss religion in the typical course of a week. “As their influence grows with their swelling numbers, the effect may be to further dampen the frequency of dialogue on these critical matters, further diminishing the influence of faith on the nation's culture,” he said.

Churches also should heed a message about men's ministries, Barna added, since men are more comfortable discussing moral issues than religious issues.

“As churches strive to help men focus more directly on their spiritual beliefs, initiating such conversations with a discussion of moral convictions and then moving into a deeper understanding of the spiritual basis of those convictions may help men see the significance of their faith and more easily relate their religious beliefs to their moral behavior,” he said. “Our studies consistently show that many men consider their faith to be isolated from their personal behavior and lifestyle.”

Data in this study was drawn from a national telephone survey of 1,002 adults in May 2003. The survey carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.