Americans See Many Positive — And Negative — Contributions By Christians

Christians, on the whole, have done a lot to help the poor but at the same time are blamed being hateful in the name of their faith, particularly toward homosexuals.

These are the overall findings of the most recent survey by The Barna Group, a leading Christian polling organization.

A fairly open-ended poll of 1,000 Americans conducted in August revealed that 19 percent of Americans recognized Christian outreach to the poor as a positive contribution. This was most recognized age-wise by young adults under 25. This was the case across most demographic groups except for conservative evangelical who saw sharing of faith testimonies and leading other toward salvation as the most significant contribution of contemporary Christianity.

On the negative side of the ledger, committing violence in Jesus’ name was the most noted, followed by opposition to gay marriage. The gay marriage issue was most significant for young adults and people in all ranges who are skeptical of faith. Other negative highly noted were the involvement of churches in politics and the Catholic priest sex abuse scandals.

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