"Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites...and Other Lies You've Been Told" - Book Review

Church attendance is plummeting. The youth are abandoning their Evangelical heritage in droves. The church has become too feminized, and men are leaving the church. Evangelicals behave no differently than the rest of the culture.

You've undoubtedly read similar headlines recently, but are they true? Enter Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites...and Other Lies You've Been Told: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media by sociologist Bradley Wright of the University of Connecticut. Using the most reliable data sources, Wright takes us on an insightful journey through the statistical data that address these issues. He exposes the all too frequent statistical malpractice of the press and the misrepresentations by stalwart Evangelical advisers like Josh McDowell and the Barna Group. The actual shape of the evangelical world is frequently far different than the pundits portray.

The book is written in an accessible, conversational language with charts and graphs highlighting key points. You won't get lost in a lot of technical, sociological, and statistical minutia, but the book will give you enough insight to assess the claims made in daily headlines critically. While the book is targeted toward understanding the shape of the Evangelical world, it also touches on other Christian traditions. Anyone interested in Christianity, in general, will benefit from the analysis.

This book is a real treasure. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get beyond punditry and fear-based marketing campaigns to the real nature of religion in the United States.

Comments

[ZZMike]

One of those doing the telling is Bruce Reyes-Chow, San Francisco pastor and Moderator of the PC(USA) 218th General Assembly.

The desire for the Inner Ring

"I also read the speech to make sure I actually heard correctly that he had stated that those who take the Bible literally are screaming “hatred, oppression and injustice." (read below)"

That's Viola Larson's blog. She's a friend of Reyes-Chow's, and has been hurt by his comments.