Barna: Go After the Kids

Often lamenting the sorry state of Christianity in the United States, Christian researcher George Barna thinks he has come across the key to the revitalization of American Christianity: kids. Yup, that's right, his newest data reveals that moral and religious beliefs seem to be pretty settled by an early age, so if Christianity is going to be expanded, Christians are going to have to start going after children (and not just theirs, presumably).

Agape Press reports:

He says a person's moral foundations are generally in place by age nine; that the majority of people come to a lasting determination of the significance of Christ's death and resurrection by age 12; that in most cases, people's spiritual beliefs are "irrevocably formed" when in the pre-teen years -- and that 80% of adult church leaders today had "serious involvement" in church life and training before they turned 13. "In essence, what you believe by the time you are 13 is what you will die believing," Barna says. While he does not discount belief-altering, life-changing experiences among individuals beyond that age, he claims his research indicates that "most people's minds are made up and they believe they know what they need to know spiritually" by the time they become an official teenager.

Of course, I can say from personal experience that Barna's generalizations aren't always true. When I was 13, I was a Christian. By the time I left college, I was in graduate school, I was an atheist - and not due to any "life-changing experiences." No, it was simply a matter of education and careful thinking about all the issues involved. Still, the above will probably appeal to many conservative evangelicals and give them added reason to proselytize to other people's children - like in public schools.

Read More:

• Religious Right
• Evangelicalism
• Religion in Public Schools