"No-faiths" verses "Active-faiths" Barna Survey

The Barna Group has done a survey investigating the rising presence of atheists and agnostics ("no-faiths"), and comparing them to those people who are active Christians (have attended church, read their Bible, and prayed in the week before the survey). The survey makes for some interesting reading.

Here is part of the conclusion of the survey:

"Neither the 20 million no-faith adults nor the 58 million active-faith Christians are as internally consistent as those who write and speak on behalf of their groups make them out to be. Proponents of secularism suggest that rejecting faith is a simple and intelligent response to what we know today. Yet, most of the Americans who overtly reject faith harbor doubts about whether they are correct in doing so. Many of the most ardent critics of Christianity claim that compassion and generosity do not hinge on faith; yet those who divorce themselves from spiritual commitment are significantly less likely to help others."

I must say that I'm not very surprised by these results. Without my own Christian convictions, I'd most certainly horde my money, instead of just giving it away. But reorienting my life around Christ, with the total revision of values that it brings, means other people become far more important, and money becomes less.