News+and+politics religion philosophy the cynic librarian: 1 in 5 Americans Holy?

Friday, February 24, 2006

1 in 5 Americans Holy?

A recent survey shows that 1 in 5 Americans consider themselves "holy." What this means remains vague. Whether it's an Emersonian sense of inner genius or some form of Xtian pneumatology, you have to wonder whether this means that many Americans really think they should be revered by the rest of the world. Sarcasm aside, do sentiments such as this feed the idea that America has a special destiny in the world? ...

According to Nathan Herpich at Religion News Service:

The study also asked Americans to define holy. The largest category of respondents (21 percent) admitted they didn't know how to. The highest number that had an idea said "being Christ-like'' (19 percent), while 18 percent said "making faith your top priority.'' [my emphasis]

The survey's director, Christian researcher George Barna, said that "the results portray a body of Christians who attend church but do not understand the concept or significance of holiness. ... The challenge to the nation's Christian ministries is to foster a genuine hunger for holiness among the masses who claim they love God but who are ignorant about biblical teachings regarding holiness.''

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good point. God only has relations with the well regarded, therefore He finds out who loves him by reading polls.

Holiness is something you win at an awards ceremony?

What does it mean for the runners up?