The Seven Faith Tribes by George Barna
George Barna. Love him or loathe him, we take his polls, and read his results – as well as his interpretations of them. He’s earned the reputation of ‘maverick’ in recent years, making a 180 from years of supporting megachurch growth to advocating on behalf of the millions of ‘revolutionaries’ leaving institutional churches in favor of house churches and other relationally-based expressions of faith. At the same time, his investment in endeavors like BarnaFilms – providing faith-and-family-friendly programming – make it clear that he hasn’t abandoned his conservative evangelical commitments. So what on earth is making neopagan blogger Jason Pitzl-Waters ask [1] “could a prominent conservative Christian be calling for a new attitude in Christian-Pagan relations…[and] an end to the culture wars?” Jason is referring to The Seven Faith Tribes, and George Barna is at it again. In The Seven Faith Tribes Barna identifies, describes, and analyzes seven major “faith tribes” in America—documenting who they are, what they believe, how they vote, and what they are passionate about. Barna provides helpful insight into how these groups influence our economy, politics, and values—and what their potential is to change America. Through his in-depth study of all seven tribes, Barna has identified potential strategies that faith tribes—if they choose to—could employ to facilitate healing and restoration in American culture, and cultures across the world. The seven tribes are as follows: Captive Christians, Casual Christians, Jews, Mormons, Pantheists, Muslims, and Skeptics. The United States harbors a long and deep tradition of faith. From its founding as a nation of people who sought religious freedom to the present-day conversations regarding the appropriate expression of religious beliefs, American spirituality remains a hot topic of personal conversation, political intrigue, social commentary, and economic significance. But what do we know about the faith of Americans? Most analyses are woefully inadequate, lumping people into generic categories such as Protestant and Catholic, evangelical and mainline, charismatic and fundamentalist. These general portraits are of limited value. In The Seven Faith Tribes, Barna draws upon 25 years of research—and interviews with more than 30,000 people—to identify and closely study the seven dominant “faith tribes” in America. Who are they? What holds them together? How do they differ from each other? And what difference might understanding them make for the future of our country? Barna offers insightful information on each of these tribes and reveals astonishing insights about how they are influencing our economy, politics, and values. Most importantly, he predicts what lies next for faith in America—and how we all might come together to set the nation on a better course, no matter what faith we embrace. [hide] This Title Has Been Closed for Review :: Special Viral Blogger Section :: Link-love for your review: Invite your readers to download a PDF chapter [2] of The Seven Faith Tribes America's Seven Faith Tribes Hold the Key to National Restoration [3] - article by Barna about the book Can Barna Unite the Tribes In Time to Save America? [4] - interesting neopagan preview of The Seven Faith Tribes Interview Availability: Barna’s availability for blog and podcast interviews is unknown at press time. Let me know if you’re interested in an interview – I’ll keep you posted! Your Commitment: Remember, your commitment is to write a blog post (minimum 50 words) about The Seven Faith Tribes within 30 days of getting it. Please cut & paste your post underneath this entry. Thank you! [/hide] [1] http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/05/can-barna-unite-the-tribes-in-time-to-save-america.html [2] http://www.tyndale.com/products/nonfiction/details.asp?isbn=978-1-4143-2404-3&subpage= [3] http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/13-culture/262-americas-seven-faith-tribes-hold-the-key-to-national-restoration [4] http://wildhunt.org/blog/2009/05/can-barna-unite-the-tribes-in-time-to-save-america.html
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