Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites...and Other Lies You've Been Told: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media [Bargain Price] [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
• ASIN: B004HB1BR4
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #642,064 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bradley Wright is an associate professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut where he studies American Christianity and, in general, in fascinated by the interplay between faith and data.

His first book, Christians are Hate-Filled Hypocrites... and Other Lies You've Been Told, was a modest success, winning a Christianity Today book award. His second book, Upside: Surprising Good News about the State of Our World, not so much. It supports the idea that good news doesn't sell.

His hobbies include photography, cycling, and hiking. He is married and has two children and a small dog.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 34 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

Format: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. Read more ›

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun and Clarifying July 30, 2010

By N. Taylor

Format:Kindle Edition

Sociological data, charts galore, and religion. All of these components put together make me just giddy. For reasons completely unknown to me even now, I found myself in sociology classes with people that can only be described as "the granola." Discussing survey questions, statistically significance, aggregating and disaggregating data, standard deviations, and best of all, a little book called "How to Lie with Statistics." The experience left me with an affinity for picking apart statistics and a 20 year old sociology degree. The bachelor kind. That gets you hired at JCPenney, doing the same thing the high school graduate does, muttering, "I hate my life."

Filled with charts, engaging explanation, and elbow-patch college professor humor, this book sets out to debunk commonly quoted myths regarding religion, focusing on Christianity and, more specifically, Evangelical Christianity.

Statistics are fascinating things. People tend to believe them when quoted. A few things to keep in mind when seeing a statistic. What is the thesis question, who is gathering the data and for what purpose, what is the N or population for data (the smaller the study size, the less reliable the data and does it represent a fair amount of different groups), and is it statistically significant?

The author addresses, through statistics and surveys, how Christians, and more specifically, evangelical Christians, are doing in regard to Christian lifestyle. For instance, why do we hear so much bad news about Christianity? (It sells stories) Is Christianity on the Brink of Extinction? Are we losing our youth? Are evangelical Christians all poor, uneducated, southern whites? Do Christians think and do Christian things? Do Christians love others? What do non-Christians think of us?... What do Christians think of themselves? The author is not attempting to attribute causality but simply report the differences between groups with available statistical data.

I loved it. I really, really did. It was fascinating and read very much like a college lecture series. In order to keep the book spicy, the author included a photo of "the future"; a sullen teenager with disco shirt open to his belly button and gold chains (slightly exaggerating) and big disco hair. In 1980, this was the future. In 2010, he's the author of a book describing statistical data in terms anybody can understand. He gave up the disco shirt, I hope.

The book is easy to read. The graphs are self-explanatory but the commentary is nothing less than engaging. For instance, the author discusses sexual behavior and extramarital sex. He says, "At this point, allow me to interject that there is a crucial distinction between extramarital sex and extra marital sex. One is committing adultery, the other represents a better than average week, and they have very different consequences."

Regarding drug use: "What does this mean? Well, the white powder on the church pew is probably just baby formula."

The book is riddled with this kind of humor and it tickles my funny bone. Because I am a nerd. I know it. I embrace it.

My one complaint is definitions. I happen to be a member of a church the author did not define as necessarily Christian, and this niggled me throughout the book. Not until page 224 does the author explain that he used the word "Christian" to describe Protestants and Catholics. This leaves out the members of a 14 million strong religion, mostly found in Utah, called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. These members were clumped together with Jehovah's Witnesses (who, although I know little about the religion, probably claim Christianity, as well) Muslims, Jewish, and Hindus.

Is it statistically significant to leave out these people? No. It would increase the number of Christians by just under 2%. It simply matters to me, a Mormon and a devoted follower of Jesus Christ.

But before I could properly get my panties all in a wad, I had to admit that even using statistics regarding Mormons was validating. So the half star I planned taking off from my review for my own tantrum, I will grudgingly return half of the half back.

Completely enjoyable read. Easy to understand charts and statistics, not dry at all. Funny and a little sad. The man spent his 47th birthday working on his book. A far cry from the scowling, disco-shirt-too-cool-to-care attitude. Read more ›

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Solid Source of Skepticism ... and Hope September 28, 2010

By Linda Wightman

Format:Paperback

Frankly, my expectations were not high when I picked up this book. The title may be eye-catching, but for that reason it doesn't inspire confidence that there's serious writing between the covers.

There is, however, and serious research, too. Bradley Wright is a sociologist, a professor at the University of Connecticut. His words are aimed at the layman, not the academic, and he writes with a nice sense of humor; even so, the array of facts and graphs and studies is dizzying.

Why are we so quick to believe bad news, and to propagate it? Bad news titillates, and what titillates, sells. Bad news also frightens, and that sells, too.

Wright tackles several areas in which both the secular and the Christian world have been flagellating the church:

* Is American Christianity on the brink of extinction?
* Are we losing our young people?
* Are Evangelicals all poor, uneducated, southern whites?
* Do Christians think and do Christian things?
* Have Christians gone wild?
* Do Christians love others?
* What do non-Christians think of us?

As you might expect from the book's title, Wright's studies reveal that on nearly all these fronts the news is much better than we have been led to believe, and gets better still with increasing frequency of church attendance. Contrary to what bombards us almost daily from the media, when you look at well-ordered studies, Christians are doing significantly better than average with respect to personal habits, the strength of our marriages, charitable behavior, and the character of our children. We are reasonably orthodox in our beliefs.... Young people are not leaving the church in droves, even though many continue to follow the age-old pattern of sloughing off as they gain their independence and returning to the church when they start families of their own. We are a diverse lot, and on the whole are better thought of by others than we think we are.

The bad news? We still have a long way to go with respect to the second of the greatest commandments: loving our neighbors. We're measurably prone to forgetting that the second part of "hate the sin, but love the sinner" is as important as the first.

We're also far too gullible, believing anything that's written down, that comes from a "study," that throws around statistics, or that is said by a popular Christian leader. What's more, we worry too much about what others think of us, which causes us to circle the wagons, further weakening our attention to the neighbors it is our job to love.

Ever the professor, Wright gives the Church an overall grade of B. Not what we'd hope for, not what we should settle for, but more than enough reason to work diligently rather than drop out in despair.

Wright enjoins us not to fear statistics, and not to trust them if they don't jibe with our experiences, especially if we have reason to doubt the motives or biases of the person citing them. "Christians are Hate-Filled Hypocrites..." is not light reading, but a solid weapon for the arsenal of those who hope to counter fear-mongering and hand-wringing with knowledge and intelligence.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from the publisher. Read more ›