“…the Christian Church … Breeds Hate and Intolerance and Fear”

Christians Are a Problem

The problems we heard from the unchurched nones and dechurched dones were consistent in tone and content across all eight focus groups, men and women from around the country. And remember—these were free-flowing conversations among total strangers. They hadn’t met until they introduced themselves at the start of their group. They had never met the professional facilitator who convened their gathering. They knew they were being recorded in audio and video. They knew their conversations were part of a research project, although they did not know which project in particular. The facilitator asked open-ended questions, not leading questions that would drive the conversation in any particular direction.

In the end, every focus group invariably spent substantial time discussing the nine top issues uncovered in the phone surveys, even though the participants were not prompted in that direction. What we learned in the face-to-face focus groups confirmed the findings of the phone surveys. People take issue in very specific ways with what we believe and how we act out our faith. They have a major problem with Christianity. The question is how we will respond.

Understandably, Christians reading this will likely feel emotional and defensive. We should immediately quit our pity party. We know that Christians often talk about outsiders in ways that are no more tolerant, loving, or kind than what we overheard from the unchurched and dechurched. But the statements we heard in the surveys and focus groups probably put us on our heels. We wonder what to do. Or what to say. Or what not to do or say. We find it awkward to stick around, strike up a conversation, and attempt to explain our faith. We want to duck and cover. We will discuss these issues in detail in the next blog.