Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites...and Other Lies You've Been Told: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media [Paperback]

Bradley R.E. Wright (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2010

According to the media, the church is rapidly shrinking, both in numbers and in effectiveness. But the good news is, much of the bad news is wrong. Sociologist Bradley R. E. Wright uncovers what's really happening in the church: evangelicals are more respected by secular culture now than they were ten years ago; divorce rates of Christians are lower than those who aren't affiliated with a religion; young evangelicals are active in the faith. Wright reveals to readers why and how statistics are distorted, and shows that God is still effectively working through his people today.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A sociologist at the University of Connecticut, Wright examines recent survey data on Christian evangelicals to see if they substantiate the often misguided and hyperbolic public perceptions of this faith group. Separating the wheat from the chaff, he explains how some poorly worded, ill-sampled statistics give the wrong impression of evangelicals and why people should avoid giving them credence. Though he often blames the media for gleefully reporting bad news about devout Christians, he doesnÖt spare evangelical polemicists such as Josh McDowell and Lee Strobel for their false exaggerations of evangelical shortcomings. His biggest target may be the pollster George Barna, whose surveys on Christianity have generated intense controversy. WrightÖs colloquial writing style gives this volume the feel of a folksy college lecture series. The abundant use of graphics adds to the impression the bookÖs genesis was cribbed from introductory sociology of religion classes. The conclusions drawn here--no surprise--are that the most committed Christians practice what they preach, performing better than the rest of the population on a host of social measures including divorce, domestic violence, sexual misconduct, crime, substance abuse, and everyday honesty.
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From the Back Cover

What if all the bad news you've been hearing about Christians isn't true?


Here are some facts that may surprise you:
• Evangelicals are more respected by society today than they were twenty years ago.
• Divorce rates of Christian couples are lower than those of nonbelievers.
• The percentage of young people who attend church has held steady over the past twenty years.

All these statements are true, yet we've been told the opposite time and time again. Why is the church being misled? And what is the true state of Christianity in America today?

Sociologist Brad Wright shatters popular myths by sifting through the best available data. He reveals how Christians are doing when it comes to everything from marriage and morality to church growth and public perception. While not all the news is good, it turns out there is a wealth of encouraging information that we're not being told.

Get the truth behind the statistics you've been hearing and how the numbers are being manipulated, and discover what is really happening in American Christianity.


"Buy this book and read it carefully. Then buy one more and give it to your best friend and ask that person to do the same thing. I hope this book goes viral because this book shows that there's lots of good news when it comes to the condition of the church in the West."

Scot McKnight
Karl A. Olsson, Professor in Religious Studies, North Park University

"Amid the widespread, distorted, alarmist, and erroneous claims about American Christianity, it is always good to learn some basic, reliable facts. Brad Wright pulls together a lot of good ones in these pages to reconnect people to reality. Let us hope that the misinformed critics and alarmists pay attention."

Christian Smith, Professor of Sociology, University of Notre Dame

"This is an extremely needed book that is a delight to read."

Rodney Stark
Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences, Baylor University

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 249 pages
• Publisher: Bethany House Publishers (July 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764207466
• ISBN-13: 978-0764207464
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #449,897 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A voice of sanity in the exaggerating world of statistics, July 10, 2010

By 

Andrew D. Rowell (Durham, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites...and Other Lies You've Been Told: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media (Paperback)

Bradley Wright's new book Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites...and Other Lies You've Been Told: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media calmly and clearly sorts through statistics about Christians in America today.

Wright is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Connecticut. Sociologists Rodney Stark and Christian Smith blurb the book positively as does Scot McKnight. In the book, he wisely points out the many reasons statistics can get garbled and exaggerated. Many hyperbolic reports of the demise of Christians and evangelicals from a variety of sources are exposed as faulty. Wright is generally gentle in his criticisms and his sense of humor pops up throughout the book.

The conclusion includes this summary judgment, "You know, I'm kind of enjoying this oversimplification, so let's take it a step further. That's right, after about a year of reading the scholarly literature and analyzing scores of data sets, I am distilling my evaluation of Evangelical Christianity to a single grade. I give American Evangelical Christianity a B" (213). To a large extent, he finds evangelicals are doing quite well. He is most concerned about the tendency of white evangelicals to be suspicious of people of other races. But even this area has a bright spot as the trend appears to be improving.

What is perhaps most refreshing about Wright's book is his encouragement for regular people to have a healthy skepticism toward statistics. "If nothing else, I hope you realize the need to be more skeptical when it comes to statistics about Christianity" (218). The sloppy use of statistics is a stain on both secular journalists and Christian authors. Wright's book is a significant dose of truth and sanity among the cacophony of shrill pronouncements. Get it and become a voice of reason in your sphere of influence.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Solid "B" for American Christians, October 14, 2010

By 

George P. Wood (Springfield, MO) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites...and Other Lies You've Been Told: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media (Paperback)

A few years ago, the Barna Group polled 270 non-Christians regarding their impressions of eleven different social groups. Only 22% of respondents held a favorable impression of "Evangelicals." Evangelicals thus ranked tenth out of eleven on the poll, below lesbians (23%) but above prostitutes (5%). As this statistical factoid traveled through print and online media, it morphed into proof that American society as a whole, not just a small sample of non-Christians, held evangelicals in contempt. One blogger wrote: "Only prostitutes rank lower than evangelicals in terms of respect in the mind of the public."

Brad Wright begins Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites... with the story of this statistical factoid to make a point and to ask a question.

The point? Caveat lector. Statistics require interpretation. In the case of Barna's poll, "Evangelicals" ranked tenth but "Born-again Christians" ranked third, indicating respondent confusion about what evangelicals are. (Door-to-door evangelists, perhaps?) Twenty-two percent of respondents didn't even know what an Evangelical was. The "don't know" response for all the other ten groups was 11% or less. Moreover, the poll's sample was small. But even if its findings were accurate, what was their significance? According to the poll, 22% of respondents held a favorable impression, 33% no impression, 23% an unfavorable impression, and 22% don't know. Only one in four respondents had an unfavorable impression of evangelicals. Given that all the respondents were non-Christians, is this so bad?

The question? Why do so many people believe the worst about Christians? The reason secular media reports negative statistics about Christianity is obvious: "If it bleeds, it leads." People love to read bad news. If the bad news is the hypocrisy of Christians, so much the better for sales! But why do Christian media report the same negative statistics. "Why," as a religion reporter once asked Wright, "do you evangelicals love to make up and say such bad things about yourselves?" The answer has to do with incentives: "Christian authors, speakers, and leaders will sometimes pass along inaccurate, negative information in their effort to help the church" (emphasis added). If only 22% of non-Christians hold a favorable impression of evangelicals, for example, then perhaps a more favorable impression will lead to more converts. Hence we see the flood of books and seminars about how to make a better impression on potential converts.

What if the state of Christianity in America is not so dire, however? Wright is associate professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut and an evangelical Christian. The core of Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites... is an examination of the best statistical information on six topics: church growth, demographics, beliefs and practices, sinning, loving others, and non-Christian attitudes toward evangelicals.

The alarmist reading of the statistics on these six topics can be expressed this way: Christianity in America is dying. Christians are "largely poor, uneducated, and easy to command" (an actual quote from a Washington Post reporter). American Christians don't hold orthodox beliefs or practice spiritual disciplines anymore. They sin as much as non-Christians. They love less than non-Christians. And non-Christians hate evangelicals.

The best statistical information on these six topics leads Wright to conclude otherwise. As a teacher, Wright even offers a grade for each topic he explores. Here are his grades for the topic of sinning:

Divorce and living together, B: Relatively low rates, and less among frequent [church] attendees, but increasing over time
Sex, A-: Relatively low rates of adultery, premarital sex, porn; these decrease with [church] attendance
Drugs, A: Low rates, but no consistent changes with attendance. Need better data.
Youth's behavior, B: Doing well in areas of sex, drugs, and stealing. Need to watch the fighting. Could do better with everyday honesty

The picture on some topics isn't good. Wright gives Christians a C+ on "Loving behaviors," writing: "Could act more charitably to others, but this does increase with [church] attendance." And white Christians get a D on "Attitudes toward Blacks": "Um, being black is not a sin," he writes. "Gets worse with [church] attendance [you read that right, unfortunately], but improving over time [fortunately]."

Overall, Wright gives the church in America a B: "the church is doing well overall on the issues covered in this book. It's not excellent, because many things could be improved, but it's not average or worse, because in many ways the church is doing quite well."

Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites... is well researched, smartly written, and a good book for pastors to read before they preach the worst news about other Christians.

Highly recommended.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Taking The Pulse of Churches in America, July 13, 2010

By 

Susan F Carozza - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites...and Other Lies You've Been Told: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media (Paperback)

Wright's book offers a fascinating glimpse of the state of different religions in America. I appreciate his careful analysis of statistics -- that gives me confidence that he has no hidden agenda -- and his clear and often humorous writing style. While not an academic myself, I am a committed Christian and a faithful member of the Roman Catholic Church. I was intrigued by the chance to get an overall view of how Christianity is doing in America, as well as a specific glimpse of how my Church is fairing. Wright's insights would be very helpful to anyone in a leadership position in one of the major religions that he analyzes. In fact, I plan on sending a copy to my bishop...