Truth is relative, say Americans Truth is always relative to people and their situations say adults by a 3-to-1 margin (64 percent vs. 22 percent), according to Barna Research. People were asked if they believe moral absolutes are unchanging or are they relative to circumstances. The perspective was more lopsided among teenagers, 83 percent claiming moral truth depends on circumstances, and only six percent saying moral truth is absolute.
The surveys also asked how people make their moral and ethical decisions. By far the most common basis was doing whatever feels right or comfortable.
The chart shows results from the question: Do you believe there are moral absolutes that are unchanging, or that moral truth is relative to the circumstances?
ILLUSTRATION BY DALE GLASGOW
Source: Barna Research Online, February 19, 2002
A shift to the left Todays college freshmen are more liberal than any freshmen since the early 1970s. The Los Angeles Times Rebecca Trounson reported on a UCLA study that points to growing popularity of left-wing ideas. The poll found that 57.9 percent support gay marriage, 32.2 percent oppose capital punishment, more than a third support marijuana legalization. A record 15.8 percent of freshmen say they have no religious preference.
Source: World, February 9, 2002
You dont say!If people are allowed to wear bracelets that say WHAT WOULD JESUS DO, they should be allowed to say WHAT WOULD SATAN DO.
Tenth grader Ashley Williams, of Kaimuki High School in Honolulu, on the schools ban on clothing promoting Satanism.
Source: Newsweek, February 18, 2002
The Gospel according to LukeSkywalker When asked to name their religious preference on the 2001 British census, more than 10,000 fans of the Star Wars movies wrote down Jedi Knight. The number was substantial enough to prompt the census office to assign an official code for a new Star Wars religion.
The census classification does not translate into a formal recognition of The Force by the government.
Other faiths that have been assigned classification codes by the British census include the Church of Free Love, the Wiccans and the Divine Light-Mission.
Source: Citizen, January 2002
Growing diversity of American faithsAt least five major and distinctive faith groups have been identified today in America by a new Barna Research study. The findings suggest that many Americans have developed a form of faith that is comforting but only vaguely Bible-related. The faith groups are not based upon denominational lines but more along the lines of beliefs.
The study surveyed 4,000 adults across the nation. Evangelicals make up eight percent of the population; non-evangelical, born-again Christians are 33 percent; and notional Christians (defined below) are 44 percent. Atheists and agnostics make up eight percent, and other faith groups have seven percent.
The largest of the five segments is one that Barna termed notional Christians. These are people who consider themselves Christians but dont claim to know their eternal destiny (whether they will experience eternal life, eternal damnation or some other outcome). A majority of these individuals believe they will have eternal life, but not because of a grace-based relationship with Jesus Christ.
One of the smallest segments are the evangelicalsa group of individuals who believe their relationship with Jesus Christ will provide them with eternal life, and who accept Bible teachings as accurate and authoritative. The non-evangelical born-again Christians also believe they have eternal salvation through their relationship with Jesus Christ, but they do not believe in various core Bible doctrines.
The evangelical segment includes 15 to 20 million adults in the United States. Demographically, they are more likely than most other adults to have a college degree (29 percent) and to be married (68 percent).
Source: Barna Research Online, January 29, 2002
The Christian Film & Television Commission reported that movies released in 2001 with a very strong Christian worldview earned nearly twice as much money on average, $43,593,518, than movies with a very strong non-Christian or anti-Christian worldview which averaged only $23,422,536.
Source: Christian Film and Television Commission, March 19, 2002
Movies influence kids, duhA study shows children in grades 5 through 8, who were allowed to watch R-rated movies, were three times more likely to smoke or drink alcohol than those who were not allowed, according to Effective Clinical Practice, published by the American College of Physicians and the American Society of Internal Medicine.
An R rating means the material is restricted for people under the age of 17, right? Amazingly, the study found that only 16 percent of the children surveyed said they were never allowed to watch R-rated movies.
Source: ABCNews.com, February 19, 2002
Whos reading On Mission?Almost all of On Missions readers (99.5 percent) have talked to someone about believing in Jesus Christ or accepting Him as Savior, according to a recent survey by the North American Mission Board. However, only 38 percent were successful in their efforts by actually leading a person to make a commitment to Christ.
The survey also found that six out of seven respondents (85 percent) attend church two or more times a week. And seven out of 10 respondents (70 percent) participated in a church-related mission project in their local community within the past year.
About 53 percent of On Missions readership are female. And 76 percent are married.
Source: On Mission Readership Survey, Research team, NAMB, January 2002
Church on the goThe Armys Natick labs has developed a containerized chapel to provide a place of worship for military personnel on the field. Containing a 64-foot tent, the chapel kit can be dropped from a cargo plane and put together in six hours.
The chapel can accommodate services for 100 Protestants, Catholics, Jews or Muslims. Some kits allow for variations: the Jewish version includes camouflage prayer shawls and yarmulkes. The kit also includes a television, VCR and coffee maker for informal Bible study sessions. The chapels come equipped with altars, podiums, offering plates and digital keyboards with 1,000 pre-programmed, spiritual tunes.
Source: Christianity Today, January 7, 2002
Pink slip survivorsA new report shows that a major corporate downsizing can be tough on the survivors as well as those who are severed. Research conducted by an Institute of Occupational Health in Finland found that survivors experienced physical symptoms up to four years later.
Survivors were more than twice as likely to take sick leave and were six times as likely to experience severe musculoskeletal pain.
Researchers suggest that possible explanations for the increased risk of poor health include more job insecurity and increased stress due to a greater workload and a decreased ability to participate in decision making.
Workers at many companies in the U.S. may be facing these risks as the economy remains shakey, consumer confidence stays low and financial experts talk of a recession with no end in sight.
Although Christians are not exempt from the painful consequences of downsizing, we do have spiritual resources for dealing with the fear, insecurity and stress. Consider hosting an evangelistic Bible study for those affected by downsizing.
Source: Reuters Health, September 14, 2001; U.S. Department of Labor; Screeching to a Halt, Newsweek, October 1, 2001
Editors note: See The Fear Factor, January-February 2002 issue of On Mission, about starting an evangelistic Bible study to help people deal with their fear and anxiety in a society plagued by multiple crises.