Though not allowed to marry in most of the US, 60% of gays in America say their faith is very important in their lives.
“Gay Liberation” sculpture, NYC / Photo: Tony the Misfit
As people in the US continue to debate over whether or not two people who love each other tremendously, but are the same sex, should be allowed to marry, a new survey shows that gays may be more religiously devout than their non-gay counterparts.
The Barna Group, apparently a well-known evangelical pollster, surveyed 9,000 gay, lesbian, and bisexual Americans and found that 70% describe themselves as Christian, with 60% saying their faith is “very important” in their lives.
David Gibson of Politics Daily added:
…Both anecdotal evidence and some research shows that gays and lesbians who are involved in their churches and denominations are often more committed to the church and more involved in ministry than their straight brethren.
Scott Thumma of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research has been studying gays in churches since the 1980s, and says that he has found gay congregants in every denomination, even evangelical and Mormon congregations.
What are some of the reasons for the stronger showing of faith? Gibson noted a few possibilities, including the desire to “avoid the risk of eternal punishment,” or the draw to minister to others because of their own experiences, which brings in the Christian ideals of forgiveness, redemption, and acceptance.
There is also the theory that once a person has discerned one call from God, they are more adept at understanding God’s call to ministry.
No matter the reason, it certainly makes me wonder if conservative, straight churchgoers will continue to call gay people heathens. This survey seems to throw that insult out the window.
What do you think about the survey’s findings? Share your thoughts below.
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The findings of this study make me extremely proud as a Christian! I have a good friend in LA who pastors to an all gay congregation, and he’d probably agree from firsthand experience, though that isn’t even the point. It’s the enlightenment that these findings can bring to people who are less tolerant and do not understand people that are unlike themselves in any way.
However, I feel that this piece was a little irresponsibly written in that the author betrays her lack of understanding of this issue in a few ways. For one thing, if you have to say that the Barna Group is “apparently well-known,” it probably means you haven’t done much research here, having never heard of them before. The author wraps up the piece with what seems to be her own idea that, “it certainly makes me wonder if conservative, straight churchgoers will continue to call gay people heathens. This survey seems to throw that insult out the window.”
Actually, at the end of the official Barna Group report, it states, “George Barna, whose company conducted the research, pointed out that some popular stereotypes about the spiritual life of gays and lesbians are simply wrong,” and it goes on to quote Barna directly, who said, “People who portray gay adults as godless, hedonistic, Christian bashers are not working with the facts.”
So, in other words, the author of this piece maybe breezed over that part or is consciously avoiding attributing those words to the same “conservative, straight churchgoers will continue to call gay people heathens.” It just seemed like odd reporting to claim a part of the official survey that you are reporting on as your own “wonder,” as if it wasn’t explicitly addressed in the Barna report.
Altogether I’m very glad Brave new Traveler posted about this study because I am truly ashamed of the reputation that a fraction of Evangelicals have given to the rest of us (those who truly follow Jesus’ call to “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:36-40)
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Allison, you are right. I had not previously heard of the Barna Group. But I did not attribute being “conservative, straight churchgoers” to them in any way. I appreciate that they conducted this report and shared their findings.
I made the point about the loud vocal majority of conservative religious churchgoers that say gay people are going to hell because of their sexual “choices.” I find it hard to believe that most wouldn’t agree this is the largest contingent who weighs on the subject. This is in no way to imply that every straight Christian spouts hatred or intolerance to gays and lesbians, but unfortunately, there are quite a few that do.
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Christine-
Fair enough, I must have misunderstood what you were getting at. Thanks for replying and clearing it up. Actually, I think that maybe what most got under my skin a bit about this post–and what began me misunderstanding where you were coming from here– was that you hadn’t heard of the Barna Group, yet you don’t attribute finding out about their study from any other (news) source. So, maybe it just confused me a bit from a journalistic standpoint, not even having to do with the content. Or maybe it was Politics Daily that was your source? But honestly I read your posts all the time and all others on this site and quite enjoy the information. Just the editor in me that felt uncomfortable about the way the post was written and I’m being finicky because I think it’s important for us to always be clear about that stuff as writers and editors.↵ -
Thanks for your reply, Allison. I’m still not 100% sure why the Barna Group was connected with the conservative, straight churchgoers sentence, but I will be sure in the future to make the delineation more clear.
As for the “apparently” I inserted before the “well-known evangelical group,” I actually simply meant I hadn’t heard of them, but I can see how it might be misconstrued as a negative implication. I’ll be more aware in the future.
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This doesn’t surprise me in the least. I despise the claims that gays are heathens; my gay friends are some of the most spiritual and god-loving people I know. And if they weren’t religious, would it be so shocking? They’ve spent their lives being told that God doesn’t love them. Maybe that’s something the religious right should think about.
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