Three quarters of American churchgoers agree that the US is a “better country than most other countries” but the same percentage say there are some things about the US today which make them feel ashamed of it.
Those are among the findings of new research based on several surveys conducted last year by Barna in partnership with Seed Company.
Aimed at exploring how expansive the world of the individual American churchgoer is, the research also showed that almost two-thirds of American churchgoers have travelled outside of the US in their lifetime but that 38 per cent had not.
While 75 per cent of churchgoers generally agreed the US was a “better country than most other countries” – just under the national average of 81 per cent but above the figure of 67 per cent for non-Christian adults, this figure rose to 81 per cent among evangelicals.
And while 75 per cent of churchgoers who agreed or strongly agreed that there are some things about the US today which made them feel ashamed compared to the national average of 79 per cent, the data showed that millenials and members of ethnic minorities were more likely to feel this way while evangelicals are more likely to agree with the sentiment than practicing Christians generally.
Some 86 per cent of churchgoers said they still enjoyed learning about other cultures at least somewhat but this interest declined with age – while 54 per cent of “Millennials” strongly agreed, only 33 per cent of “Elders” did.
The study also showed that the level of openness to learning about new cultures correlated to an individual’s experience abroad or the length of time they have spent outside the US.
“For instance, churchgoers who have never been outside the US are much less likely to enjoy learning about other cultures (41 per cent compared to 66 per cent who have spent between a month and six months outside the US),” said a commentary accompanying the data.
