• Eleven percent of 12- to 14-year-old youth belong to families that are heavily involved (five to seven days per week) in some form of religious activity during the week (such as attending church, pray ing, or reading scriptures together).
• These youth are significantly more likely than youth whose families do not engage in religious activities throughout the week (34 percent of all youth) to report better relationships between their mothers and fathers, according to multiple measures.
• Youth from less religiously active families (8 percent for three to four days per week; 47 percent for one to two days per week) also are more likely to report many but not all of the stronger parental relationship characteristics.

The North American Mission Board estimates that 70 percent of the United States population, almost 200 million people, are lost; yet the Barna Research Group indicates that 85 percent of the population self-identify themselves as Christian—what gives? The truth of the matter is that there are a number of different measures of the religious composition of the United States, and it becomes necessary to understand the definitions and sources of the statistics being used.

• The 85 percent mentioned above is an example of religious preference data. This figure was derived by asking a large sample of adults “What is your religious preference?”
• The Gallup Organization collects similar statistics and estimates somewhere around 80 percent of adults consider themselves Christians.
• In a similar vein, Gallup reports that 95 percent of the population believe in God or a universal spirit, 92 percent state a specific religious preference, and 86 percent say religion is at least fairly important in their lives. So, it seems that most people are, to some extent, religious.

Assessing the Nation’s Religious Composition, full report

(Ventura, CA) - People's faith affects some aspects of their behavior but not all of it, according to a new survey released by the Barna Research Group (Ventura, California). 

• Churched adults were more likely than unchurched individuals
  • to choose not to watch a particular movie or video only because the rating indicated that it contained objectionable material (22% compared to 7%, respectively);
  • to have a discussion with someone about a moral issue (51% versus 41%);
• Unchurched adults were more likely to have viewed "adult-only" content on the Internet (19% versus 8% among the churched).  

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