At face value, this is a pretty eye-opening survey of the PCA, which you'd suppose is one of the more conservative evangelical denominations. I wonder how representative this is for evangelical denominations generally:
http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/religious-denomination/presbyterian-church-in-america/
i) Do the survey results reflect massive ignorance of what Christianity stands for?
ii) Ignorance regarding the reasons for traditional Christian beliefs?
iii) Willful disbelief?
Steve, this study is...worthless.
ReplyDeleteThe sample size was 156--meaning the standard margin of error is approximately plus-or-minus 10%. That is massive and telling when you look at the questions asked. http://www.pewforum.org/about-the-religious-landscape-study/#data-details
For example, the Pew summary may cause some people to believe that 49% of members in the PCA believe homosexual behavior ought to be accepted and tolerated *in the church.* The actual question they are asked, however, is more broad:
Q.B2 Now I’m going to read you a few pairs of statements. For each pair, tell me whether the FIRST statement or the SECOND statement comes closer to your own views — even if neither is exactly right. The first pair is [READ AND RANDOMIZE ITEMS, BUT DO NOT ROTATE
WITHIN ITEMS]. Next, [INSERT NEXT ITEM].
a. 1 - Homosexuality should be accepted by society
OR
2 - Homosexuality should be discouraged by society
I know many people in the PCA that would agree *more* with 1 than 2 but nevertheless believe in biblical sexual morality.
Additionally, if you go back and look at the study completed in 2007, this question only sees an increase in the acceptance of homosexuality by 8%--within the margin of error--and is not substantial given rapid social changes.
All of this to say, the data here is suspect and highly unreliable. The data is not robust enough to make any meaningful conclusions about the PCA.
Sorry, one follow up. The questions utilized by Pew are located here: http://www.pewforum.org/files/2015/11/201.11.03_RLS_II_questionnaire.pdf
DeleteBrandon,
DeleteYou’re reading too much into this. The question of whether x should be accepted means just that... anywhere. In fact, I’m sure I have no idea what it means to accept homosexuality in the culture but not in the church.
RA,
DeleteNot to me. What should society be doing to discourage homosexuality? Enacting sodomy laws? Portray homosexuals negatively? Affirm masculine identity? Laud procreation?
There is significant ambiguity and the one answering is asked to give an answer, even if they aren't sure they like either answer. But even if you don't find the question as opaque as me, there is not a large enough sample size to draw well justified conclusions.
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DeleteBradon:
Delete"Steve, this study is...worthless. The sample size was 156--meaning the standard margin of error is approximately plus-or-minus 10%. That is massive and telling when you look at the questions asked."
How does that make it worthless? You can still come to reliable conclusions from that sample size. Isn't the 10% moe based on a 99% confidence level? If Pew reports 64% of PCA members believe in Hell, then you can be all but certain somewhere between 54% and 74% of PCA members believe in Hell. Similarly, with abortion, you can be all but certain that somewhere around half of PCA members believe it should be legal in all or most cases.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.
I've met a number of members of PCA churches who are more liberal in their social ethics. It seems more common in urban areas, but this is just my own experiences. The survey data are far more reliable.
Steve, under each survey result you can click to see results of other denominations..
ReplyDelete