Two in Five Dems are Born Again Christians January 21, 2008
Posted by Zack in California , trackbackThe Barna Group, the premier Christian opinion research firm just completed a fascinating study. I want to fully digest it before writing more, but this really stands out:
Tag: Barna groupParty Lines and Faith Allegiance
Faith affiliation does not neatly follow party lines: about two out of every five registered Democrats are born again voters, while roughly three out of every five Republicans is classified by the Barna team as a born again. Analyzing the interplay between faith and party reveals some unique relationships.
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Peace Zack,
Just wanted to say that this looks like an interesting blog here. I am a Muslim myself and can relate to a lot of what you say regarding justice, etc.
Do you mind if I take the tour too?
Abdur Rahman
When I first saw these numbers, they looked terribly high. How can so many “born-again” Christians account for the electorate (approximately half of voters are born again?)
The answer is that the study defines “born-again” the way most people would define “Christian”, and defines “evangelical” the way most people would define “born-again.”
Born again Christians” are defined as people who said they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today and who also indicated they believe that when they die they will go to Heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. Respondents are not asked to describe themselves as “born again.”
So, it doesn’t surprise that 40% of committed Christians vote for Democrats. What continues to surprise me is that 60% of committed Christians continue to vote for Republicans.
[…] Barna does a fascinating political report [via] […]
The answer is that the study defines “born-again” the way most people would define “Christian”, and defines “evangelical” the way most people would define “born-again.”
Well, I also wonder about the numbers, but I’m skeptical that it’s a semantic issue of that kind. Your “most people” here wouldn’t include, say, Roman Catholics, eartern Orthodox, or mainline Protestants. None of them would define “Christian” as being the same thing as Barna’s two conditions for being considered “born-again.”
Zach, I love your blog, but I’d really encourage you to be a little big more skeptical in your description of Barna, whose work is always interesting but definitely has some clear methodological problems, starting with the theologically loaded classifications