TruthBook Religious News Blog

By Nathan Black
Christian Post Reporter
Nov. 20 2007

Despite concern over the negative influence of media on young people, Christian parents are likely to spend more than $1 billion on media products this Christmas season, a new survey showed.

Seventy-eight percent of Christian parents had purchased DVDs of movies and TV programs in the past year for their teenagers and 87 percent had purchased DVDs for their children under 13, the latest Barna Group study found. Yet 26 percent of them did not feel comfortable with the DVD products they purchased.

About six out of 10 parents bought music CDs for their teen children but one out of every three of them had concerns about the content. Also, slightly more than half of all Christian parents had purchased video games for their children yet nearly half (46 percent) of parents of teens admitted to concerns about the content of those games.

Christian parents who were generally the least comfortable with the content of the media products purchased were non-whites and parents involved in a house church, according to the survey, which was released Monday. Those most comfortable were single parents, mothers and parents least active in practicing their faith. Moreover, the study found that the more media consumed by the parent, the more comfortable they were with all forms of media they bought for their children.

The Parents Television Council (PTC), a non-profit organization that focuses on family-friendly television programming, reported earlier this year that television violence has increased 75 percent since 1998 and that the increase may pose a threat to children who may mimic what they see.

Among other media purchases that Christian parents had purchased for their children were magazines (51 percent), with 31 percent saying they were not very comfortable with the content. Thirty-nine percent bought their teens computer software although 24 percent were not comfortable with the software.

Researcher Barna noted that selecting appropriate Christmas gifts is "a microcosm of the spiritual tension millions of Christian adults wrestle with."

The Barna report is based on a nationwide survey on 601 Christian adults who were the parents of children between the ages of 2 and 18.

Labels: Barna Group, Christian, Christmas, Media, Nathan Black, parents, Parents Television Council, teenagers

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Monday, November 05, 2007

Survey: Wealthier Nations Less Religious

By Nathan Black
Christian Post Reporter
Mon, Nov. 05 2007

"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Results from a recent survey may agree with that familiar Scripture passage.

A Pew Research Center report recently showed that religion is less likely to be central to the lives of individuals in richer nations than poorer ones.

The survey found a strong relationship between a country's religiosity and its economic status. According to the report, which released last month, African and some Asian countries – which are among the poorest in the world – scored highest on the religiosity scale. Meanwhile, rich Western European countries are among the most secular. Canada, Japan and Israel are also wealthy nations that have low levels of religiosity.

The United States, the wealthiest nation, was "most notably" an exception, scoring higher in religiosity than those in Europe. The level of religiosity in the United States was found to be similar to less economically developed countries such as Mexico. Americans tend to be more religious than the publics of other affluent nations, the survey stated.

Other exceptions include the oil-rich, predominantly Muslim kingdom of Kuwait which has a much higher level of religiosity than its economic situation would predict.

Over the last five years, the percentage of people who think believing in God is necessary for good values has increased in nine countries, stayed about the same in 10, and declined in 13. Sharp decreases were found in Eastern Europe, India and Kenya.

The survey was done as part of the Pew Global Attitudes Project, which is a series of worldwide public opinion surveys that encompass a broad array of subjects.

Labels: economics, Nathan Black, Pew Global Attitudes Project, religiosity, wealth

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Poll: Do People Need God to be Good?

By Nathan Black
Christian Post Reporter
Wed, Oct. 24 2007

Atheists can be good, but people who believe in God are more likely to value being good, a recent study showed.

An analysis by sociologist and pollster Reginald Bibby of the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, addressed the question "Do people need God to be good?"

Polling 1,600 Canadians, the nationwide survey found that those who believe in God are consistently more likely than atheists to highly value such traits as courtesy, concern for others, forgiveness, generosity and patience. Believers are also more inclined to place high value on friendship, family life, and being loved.

While God and religion are not the only sources of such traits, the survey reported that they are among the most important sources. And without them, "it is not at all clear that comparable equivalents currently exist that could fill the void," according to the report.

Bibby suggests that the primary reason believers place higher value on being good is that they are far more likely than atheists to be part of groups that work hard to instill those values. Although not all believers translate their values into action, they are at least inclined to hold the values, according to the study.

The debate on whether God is necessary to have good morals has increasingly taken public stage between staunch atheists and Christian apologists.

Nearly half of Canadians (49 percent) say they definitely believe God exists and 33 percent say they think He exists; 11 percent have doubts and don't think there is a higher power; and 7 percent say they definitely do not believe God exists.

Labels: atheism, Canada, God, goodness, Nathan Black, Reginald Bibby

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Halo 3: Effective Outreach Bait or Not Fit for Church?

By Nathan Black
Christian Post Reporter

Mon, Oct. 08 2007

Another massively popular Halo video game is out, which means another controversial opportunity for churches to outreach to youth.

Already passed $300 million in sales, Halo 3 is being picked up by some churches to draw youth, causing some Christians to shake their heads.

Five years after Halo 2 was released, Halo 3 gives loyal gamers answers to what happens in the end with all those angry aliens and to the game's mysterious, armor-clad protagonist.

Microsoft Corp. announced last week that Halo 3 has become a global phenomenon and the game is one of the most successful entertainment properties in history.

Given that, hundreds churches are utilizing Halo as an effective tool for outreach.

“We play Halo, take a break and have something to eat, and have a lesson,” said Austin Brown, 16, of Sweetwater Baptist Church in Lawrenceville, Ga., explaining that the pastor tried to draw parallels “between God and the devil."

Youth ministries specialist Lane Palmer of the ministry Dare 2 Share says the game speaks to the very real spiritual war going on today.

Dare 2 Share encourages youth to use Halo 3 as conversation starters to witness to their friends.

Studies have shown the negative influence of media, including video games, on young people. A recent Barna Group poll revealed that American children will have seen countless murders among the more than 30,000 acts of violence that they are exposed to through television, movies and video games.

But youth workers say churches need to be up-to-date on the latest cultural trends especially something that young people are inevitably going to participate in.

An Ellison Research study found that churchgoers and pastors are not very familiar with video and computer games. Half of lay people are not informed and more than 70 percent of clergy are disengaged from that area of culture.

"Pastors need to be informed about what’s out there in order to understand how the culture is influencing the people they are trying to reach," said Ellison Research President Ron Sellers.

But how relevant is too relevant especially when it involves killing?

Halo 3, for example, is rated “M” for mature audiences.

Still, Christian gamers online say "it's a way to fellowship."

And others call it a fishing hook.

"Teens are our fish," Gregg Barbour, youth minister of Colorado Community Church in the Englewood area of Denver, told the Times. "So we’ve become creative in baiting our hooks."

Since the Sept. 25 launch of Halo 3, more than 2.7 million people have logged on to Microsoft's online service, Xbox Live, to collectively play 40 million hours of "Halo 3" with other gamers, Microsoft reported.

In the game's first 24 hours on sale in the United States, sales hit $170 million, the company added.

Labels: Barna Group, church, clergy, Halo, Nathan Black, youth