A surge in communications technology in the past decade has expanded religious dialogue, but the discussions have led to little change in people’s lives, The Barna Group found in a recent survey.
When asked, “Has anything related to your religious beliefs, practices or preferences changed in the past five years?” just 7 percent of respondents could think of anything that had changed.
The types of people most likely to have changed included 13 percent of young adults, 12 percent of independent voters and 11 percent of adults who describe themselves as “mostly liberal” on social and political matters, Barna said in a report Sept. 27.
Those least likely to have changed included people age 65 and over, registered Republicans and social conservatives.
George Barna said the survey results raise questions about the impact of church-related activity, such as whether “the courses of action currently pursued are capable of facilitating and reinforcing significant change.”
Barna added that the results are consistent with a pattern he has seen over the years indicating that most of the religious beliefs, behaviors and expectations that define a person’s life have been developed and embraced by the age of 13.
Given the fact that only 7 percent of respondents could think of any change in their religious lives, Barna suggested that religious leaders may not be “provoking people to think deeply and practically about the major issues of life and culture from a religious perspective.”
The data reflected relatively generic shifts that had occurred in lives without much evidence of a deeper level of intellectual or spiritual struggle taking place, he said.
“Because the survey revealed that more than two-thirds of adults say their religious faith is very important in their life, and a large majority of adults regularly talk to others about matters of faith, the nature of their religion-focused reflection and discussions may not be as substantive or thoughtful as some observers might imagine,” Barna said. “People do not appear to be turning to religion as often as assumed for answers to troubling questions.” – BP