"People who portray gay adults as godless, hedonistic, Christian bashers are not working with the facts," declared the best-selling author of numerous books about faith and culture. "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.
What's surprising is the "best-selling author" who has made this startling statement is none other than George Barna – who is a conservative author and pollster. His latest poll is a spiritual profile of "homosexual adults" and the "surprising insights" are that gays and lesbians are just as apt to believe in God and be Christians as any other human being, despite their sexual orientation.
As a Christian who happens to be a lesbian, the findings, for me, are a big, "Well, duh." But, it's heartening to see Barna doing such a survey and then making a very big and important statement that gays and lesbians are not the "godless, hedonistic, Christian bashers" that the media and right wing Christian organizations portray us as. The best thing about Barna's latest research is that, finally, a respected conservative voice has given credibility to the idea that one can be both gay and Christian.
Even though this is a significant step - and we should praise Barna for his words - that's as far as my praise goes. His comments, as well as much of his survey, still produces a slanted and incomplete picture of the reality of gay and lesbian Christian lives.
First, the second part of his quote is a veiled and backhanded slap at gays and lesbians who claim Christianity. Read carefully.
"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."
A majority claim to have some type of meaningful personal commitment to Jesus Christ. He acknowledges our "claim" to "some type" of relationship with Jesus, but by the comparisons made in his survey, gay and lesbian Christians can simply feel Barna rolling his eyes as he makes this statement.
For instance, the study finds:
One of the most basic beliefs has to do with one's understanding of God. This proved to be one of the biggest differences noted in the study. While seven out of every ten heterosexuals (71%) have an orthodox, biblical perception of God, just 43% of homosexuals do.
So, while gays and lesbians "claim" to have faith – they don't hold an "orthodox, biblical perception of God."
Again, from the study:
And even though a majority of adults have made "a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in your life today," such a relationship was more common among non-gays (75%) than among gay adults (58%). The research also revealed that straight adults were nearly twice as likely as gays to qualify as born again Christians (47% compared to 27%, respectively).
So, while gays and lesbians claim faith, their "some type" of relationship with Jesus Christ is not the same type of relationship claimed by the heterosexual majority – and most gays and lesbians don't "qualify" as "born again Christians."
It's Barna who has conveniently defined what "born again Christian" means:
"Born again Christians" were defined as people who said they had made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that was still important in their life today and who also indicated they believed that when they die they will go to Heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. Respondents were not asked to describe themselves as "born again."
And, here I thought "born again" simply meant baptized. But to Barna it comes with a whole list of things one must assent to – which means we're back to the problem of the straight majority being the gatekeeper. They're the ones who get to define who is "born again" and who would not "qualify" for such a coveted title.
The two most telling measurements in the survey that show Barna is still rather clueless about gay and lesbian faith concerns the Bible and church attendance.
Heterosexuals were twice as likely as homosexuals to strongly agree that the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches …
If Barna had cared to really research this question, he would have found some interesting information from gays and lesbians. Many gays and lesbians are so-called "Bible believing Christians" who would agree with this statement about biblical accuracy. However, many gay and lesbian Christians are not, and with good reason. The Bible has been used as a weapon against gays and lesbians for so long, our relationship with the book is definitely a bit schizophrenic. We have been long taught that condemnation of homosexuality is enshrined in at least seven passages with the pages of the Bible. We have been taught that homosexuality is a sin and that it is one of the worst sins and will surely be our ticket to eternal flames.
When that's been your introduction to a text – you tend to be shy about giving it ultimate authority in your life. But, what has happened for most gay and lesbian Christians is that they have dedicated themselves to in-depth study of the Bible – not just a surface reading. Many books have been written about what the Bible really says about homosexuality when the text is put in its proper context and not read straight from the English translations of Greek and Hebrew texts.
After such in-depth study, it's fairly impossible to assent to a question that asks you to agree that the Bible is totally accurate in anything. In fact, the book is contradictory, sometimes from verse to verse. That's not to say the book is not holy or not worthy of veneration or authority in one's life – but the study that gay and lesbian Christians have done of the text have helped them put the book in its proper place – as a companion on the spiritual journey, and not its destination.
The place where the study shows its greatest ignorance of gay and lesbian spiritual lives is in the question of church attendance:
In any given week the research discovered that heterosexuals are the more likely of the two groups to attend a church service, attend a Sunday school class, pray to God, or read the Bible. Gay adults are 50% more likely than straight adults to be unchurched (42% versus 28%).
What Barna misses here is the reason why gay adults are 50 percent more likely to be unchurched than straight adults – there are simply fewer churches where we can go and be accepted. Straight adults can walk into any town anywhere in the country and walk into any church on the corner without fear. They know that the majority of the time they will walk into a church that will affirm their beliefs, welcome them warmly, and make them feel safe and loved. The gay and lesbian Christian has no such assurance.
Gay and lesbian Christians have to do a thorough study of the landscape before they can even attempt to go church. We have to look up the church – check out the denomination and realize there are some churches we can probably never worship in, like an Assemblies of God or a Southern Baptist church. Even the mainline denominations are tricky. Some of them are welcoming, some are not. We know we've lucked out when we find a church that has openly declared that it welcomes gays and lesbians through denominational programs like the United Church of Christ's Open and Affirming program or the Presbyterian's More Light program. In short, we cannot simply drive by a church on Sunday morning and just walk in and sit down. We have to do our homework first.
The saddest reality, however, is that many gay and lesbian Christians who desire to go to church have absolutely no options. They may live in more rural areas or areas where the closest affirming church is a two or three hour drive so they only go once a month. Of course gay and lesbian Christians are more likely to not have a church home! The question Barna should have asked is, "Would you go to church every week if you had the opportunity?" I'll bet his numbers would have been much higher for gays and lesbians who desire to go to church but are unable to find a welcoming pew.
All in all, I'm grateful for Barna even wandering into the subject of gay and lesbian religious belief. I think his study is important and can go a long way to dispelling the old "gays vs. God" dichotomy that too often gets played out in the media. However, his overall message is still harmful: Gays and lesbians are Christians – they're just not as good as straight ones.
Many folks of all persuasions profess to be Christian or say that they believe that there is a God. However, only about 10% or less are actually experiencing God through a personal relationship only made possible thorough the Lord Jesus Christ. Accepting his sacrificial death as payment for our sins, agreeing with Him that we are sinners, repenting or turning away from our sins and obeying His Word are the ultimate requirements. We receive the Holy Spirit who is responsible for regenerating our
Spirits through a life long process of spiritual growth. We begin to experience the life of Christ as expressed in Galatians 2:10 -
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
10% or less? Where does that stat come from and who made it up?
Candace - this is a great study. Thanks for posting the link and for your analysis. I think your comments are spot on. This study confirms much of what I have been saying using my own anecdotal observations. GLBT folks identify as Christian and recognize the role of faith in their lives on par with the rest of society. Even though by lesser degrees, gays do so often even after the doors to their churches of tradition are closed to them and they no longer have location to practice their faith and the community it represents.
But, let me take it a step further from the study and your analysis. The consequence is that many GLBT folks, in my opinion, replace the void brought from attending Sunday morning church to 12 hours earlier. Unconsciously, I believe, many of them make their Saturday night outing to the gay club the comparable social outlet that Sunday church and their family used to be. I think part of the reason is an attempt to try and help fill the void left in the absence of church. Many have been forced to give up a lot and lost a lot in their process of coming out. They are grieving and mourning this loss.
Most faith believers are seekers and people of community. When they lose something like church, that does not mean their drive as seekers and their need for community goes away. To the contrary, sometimes they are even stronger. Because they’ve often lost so much, they seek so much more.
They can’t replace the religious communal sacraments that represent their faith. Yet, the yearning for social connectiveness once provided by church and communal fellowship is still there. Gay clubs and bars can’t substitute for church or faith. But, in my observation, they appear to go a long way to heal the grief and substitute for the loss of community the church used to provide. That is, in part, why I feel bars & clubs are such a vital force in the GLBT community.
Many Christian leaders ministering in the gay community have issue with the secular gay community that the scene at clubs, bars and many other gay social outlets represent. Some of those concerns I feel are rightly placed. Yet, I think when we can begin to understand the social and group dynamics of why they exist and the needs they meet, it can go a long way to our understanding of how to reconcile GLBT people of faith back into the church community.
but not surprising. GLBT is not a new category or even one well understood--see Foucault--but the churches having to face the reality of the mutifariousness of all human experience is also nothing new.
Thank you for posting this reference. Great resource.
George Barna, I had forgotten all about him. I had stopped reading him several years ago.
Well, this is an interesting micro-step forward. It seems like George Barna is less interested in understanding queer spirituality than in comparing it to his own understanding of what constitutes real-true Christianity. Born-again evangelicalism is NOT the norm, it's just George Barna's bias.
While it is laudable for a conservative to realize - and even admit - that some in the GLBT community express a belief in God, it is the sampling I find interesting.
"In the course of the 9,232 interviews conducted, each respondent was asked if they considered themselves to be “heterosexual, lesbian, gay, or bisexual.” These surveys were conducted between January 2007 and November 2008. In total, there were 8,548 adults in the heterosexual category and 280 adults in the homosexual category. An additional 404 people said they did not know what category they fit or declined to identify their sexual orientation."
I would be interested in knowing the geographic relationships in the phone survey. How did they identify phone numbers - by area code - random? It seems somewhat stilted to me.
I am also grateful that Barna is acknowledging that "religious people" and "LGBT people" are not mutually exclusive groups, even though his message is skewed. Each individual has a layered and often complicated identity; highlighting the religiosity of the LGBT community reminds us of the nuances of identity.
Here's the buried finding that I find most interesting about this study: "Gays are less likely than heterosexuals to be white and are also much more likely to earn less than $30,000 annually." Just before that, another tip-off to sample representation: "Gay adults are considerably younger than average: half are under age 40 compared to just three out of ten heterosexuals are under 40."
I don't know what to say about the first one, other than: how different from the dominant representations.
Of the second: How might spirituality findings in "gay adults" be weighed differently if compared to age-representative sample?
Clearly this study is wonky (scientific term) for a number of reasons, but still-- fascinating.
Yes, I saw those findings and wondered about them. I'd like to know more about how they discovered that heterosexuals are more likely to be white than gays and lesbians. That seems to go against the meme that the majority of gays and lesbians are white. Also, the income finding debunks the right wing myth that gays and lesbians are all rich. It would be great if some other pollster took on these numbers and investigated them further!
Interesting article - though I'd guess the figures are more relevant to to the US than to us in the UK.
The words that caught me, however, were
"a companion on the spiritual journey, and not its destination."
Many of my church friends worship the Bible to point of idolatry and are apt to look askance at my views. It's come to the point where I mistrust just about anyone who refers to the book as "The Word" using a capital 'w'.
Your line there is a good antidote to the pressure they put on me. I'll keep it mind next time I hear that capital 'W' in someone's voice.
What's so great about one's approach to God or the bible being "orthodox"? And what orthodoxy? Which one?
As an increasingly agnostic gay person, this has less effect on me than avowed Christians. Regardless of that, I'm starting to wonder why we even care what other people think of us.
I am lucky to live in a place where finding a welcoming church of my denomination was not that hard- though my denomination is certainly not universally welcoming to LGBT people. As a fully ensconced parishioner (acolyte,altar guild, healing ministry)I can't imagine how hard it would be to be without my church. I would love to have seen the wording Candace suggests in this survey.
I have found many if not most of the LGBT people I meet are quite spititual if not Christian.
I was with ya Candace, for the most part, until this paragraph beginning with:
"After such in-depth study, it's fairly impossible to assent to a question that asks you to agree that the Bible is totally accurate in anything..."
I would not go so far as to relegate the bible to just another spiritual guide to put on your shelf... that's dangerous since this book is set apart from all others and is HOLY!
Perhaps it's your understanding of passages and verses that seem to contradict themselves that is faulty and not the bible itself... but, that being said, I thank you for your exploration of the subject and your opinion and pray the Holy Spirit will lead us all to deeper and greater truth.
Hugs to you in Him!
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