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TechnoratiINDIANAPOLIS – Christian pollster George Barna reached out to members of the Christian press Wednesday night, insisting that United States is being destroyed from the inside and that the way to restore the country is through returning Americans to their core values.
(Photo: The Christian Post)George Barna, founder of The Barna Group, shares ideas presented in his latest book, 7 Faith Tribes, on the opening night of the Evangelical Press Association/Associated Church Press Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana on Wednesday, May 6, 2009.
(Photo: The Christian Post)George Barna, founder of The Barna Group, shares ideas presented in his latest book, 7 Faith Tribes, on the opening night of the Evangelical Press Association/Associated Church Press Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana on Wednesday, May 6, 2009.
The once great United States is decaying, declared Barna to hundreds of Christian journalists on the opening night of the joint annual convention of the Evangelical Press Association and the Associated Church Press.
America's rates of divorce, abortion, STD transmission, spousal abuse and crime are the highest or among the highest compared to other developed nations, he added. And the percentage of students graduating from high school on time has not changed in 32 years.
"The enemy of America today is not Iraq. It is not Afghanistan or communism. It is not Somalian pirates. It's the moral degradation and spiritual complacency of Americans," contended Barna, founder of the research firm The Barna Group. "In essence it is the willingness of Americans to become victims of the imposition of values and objectives that defy our common good."
Barna pointed to what he sees as the many factors that are leading America to its deterioration, including moving from mass production to mass consumption, moving from common values to now radical individualism with personal values, and competition among faith groups rather than cooperation.
"Just think about the shift in mottos that characterize our nation," Barna noted. "We talked about one nation under God, but today really we are one nation under self, sometimes aided by one or more gods.
"We shifted from a nation that said ‘In God We Trust' to ‘Reality and self we trust,’" he continued. "We transitioned from being a land of the free and the home of the brave, to now we are the land of the indebted and the home of the self-indulgent. We also shifted from a land that believes you can be all you can be to now it's get all you can get."
According to Barna, the deterioration of American society is fueled by the breakdown in leadership and core institutions such as family, government, and education. The nation as a whole has lost its shared vision and the shared values that help manage society, the well-known pollster said.
But Barna said he believes there is still hope for restoration if the country's seven faith tribes return to their core values.
The seven faith tribes are the religious groups that Barna categorized based on the more than 30,000 interviews he conducted over the years. These tribes are: casual Christians (66 percent of the U.S. population), captive Christians (16 percent), Jews (2 percent), Mormons (2 percent), pantheists (2 percent), Muslims (0.5 percent), and skeptics (11 percent).
Barna lamented how these groups have for too long contributed to the problem of social decay. Instead of instilling values and morality in their congregants, these groups focus on building more and bigger buildings, offering more programs, establishing more nationally recognized leaders, and raising and spending more money, he noted.
But Barna says it is it is now time for the faith tribes to return to their core values and start restoring America.
Barna believes that by harnessing the 20 common values shared by faith tribes – including developing inner peace and purity, representing the truth, practicing self-restraint, respecting life, and being a good citizen – Americans can start to rebuild the country to one of civility, accountability, commitment and unity. Continue »
