Customer Reviews

The Seven Faith Tribes: Who They Are, What They Believe, and Why They Matter

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I've known of George Barna for years as the man who does polls and research on what Christians are thinking and doing. So I was more than happy to pick up his latest book to see what info I could glean from it.

I think it should be recommended reading for anyone who is responsible for reaching out to their community. And really, isn't that all of us? Because if you don't know what your neighbors are thinking, you could be making assumptions about them and missing the issues they're concerned about. The way he breaks down the predominate groups of religious thought in America, with their concerns, beliefs, and values, is a great help in understanding others who don't believe like we do.

Barna's tremendous volume of research will help anyone, from those who want to find common ground with others to those who want to know how to reach out and help care for their neighbors.

This book hits the nail on the head describing the traits of different religions in our country...anyone interested in the "personality" traits of varying religious groups..must read it...clergyman of all faiths should read it too..as well as social workers, therapist, etc..so much of "who were are" lies in the roots of our religious upbringings.

Barna asks the reader, "Do you want the United States to be great again, badly enough to do what it takes?"

Barna argues that the United States is self-destructing because Americans no longer defend the moral values of the founding fathers. As a result, we now face issues in our government leadership, families, and mass media that threaten our future.

It is crucial for us to address the root of these problems, as Barna's research shows that leadership, family, and media are the top influences on American's lives, shaping worldviews and subsequent behaviors.

Barna urges Americans to publicly support twenty shared values that are common to all regardless of their faith.

If you want the U.S. to be great again, read Barna's book.

This book was better than I expected.

Barna does a great job outlining the 7 basic faith tribes in America and then helping us get a better picture of what they're like. I thought he'd stop there but he doesn't.

Barna then outlines his ideas for how we can impact America by focusing on the "Shared values" of these groups (which includes everyone from atheists to Muslims).

His premise is that it's going to take all of us to turn America around.

I learned a lot about the adult population of America from this book. While I'm not sure how on board I am with his premise and reason for writing the book, I appreciate his passion and vision for a better America and how the church (and I) can be a part of loving people

Well...I have to be honest. When I received this book in the mail, I dropped all my other reading to devour it. When I finished (July 1st 2009), well -- it's now the end of August and what I want to say about this book required some digestion -- almost two months of digestion.

First and foremost, an admission: I am and have been for almost 20 years a consumer of George Barna's research, writing, public speaking enagagements and his take on the state of the Christian, Christianity and the Church in the U.S. More recently, I have become acquainted with the outstanding published work of Barna's protege (since 1995 and currently President of The Barna Group), David Kinnaman. Kinnaman's book - UNchristian - What a New geeneration Really Thinks About Christianity and Why It Matters remains, in my opinion, the pre-eminent sysnthesis of reliable research illuminating the challenges for the Christian, Christianity and the Church in the U.S. in the 21st century.

What I observed in The Seven Faith tribes that I had not recognized is Barna's forty odd other books in print is the following:

1. Patriotism and Nationalism - Heck, the first chapter is entitled, "America Is On A Path To Self-Destruction." Personally, I share a similar sense of patriotic fervor toward this great nation. Furthermore, I share the author's hope for a bright future and an emergence from the myriad of ills this nation is currently struggling with. However, I have never witnessed Barna write about these issues as the guiding lenses through which he appears to interpret the implications of body of research he is grappling with. This is not a value judgment - simply an observation.

2. A Call for Inter-faith Cooperation and Understanding - As Barna States:

"Rather than asking the various faith tribes to accept the unacceptable, I am advocating that they admit they possess significantly different worldviews but within the framework of those worldviews lies a base of values that we can all agree upon. The power of those shared values constitutes the glue that can hold this country together." (p.111)

In the Seven Faith Tribes, Barna summarizes the thesis of the book in the following:

"Rather than asking the various faith tribes to accept the unacceptable, I am advocating that they admit they possess significantly different worldviews but within the framework of those worldviews lies a base of values that we can all agree upon. The power of those shared values constitutes the glue that can hold this country together." (p.111)

Wow! a died-in-the-wool evangelical calling for inter-faith understanding, a consensus on shared values, and an admonition to create "a new narrative together":

The American Narrative is outdated; now is an opportune time to construct a new story about our views, values and vison (p.203) - break down barriers between faith tribes (p.203) - build bridges of trust and respect among the tribes (p.204) and encouraging cross-tribal interactions (p.204)."

Folks like Eboo Patel have got to be jumping for joy reading Barna's words excerpted above!

3. A Distinct Sense Of Urgency - As Barna States in the final chapter, "A Vision For Restoring America":

"The future of America is at stake. The future can best be advanced by the efforts of our faith tribes. Play your role in the process to help restore vitality to America. Your life, and that of millions of other people, will be better for it." (p.205).

As I "digested the above," I came to several conclusions, after reviewing, re-reading sevral segments of the book again, on more than one occasion. These include the following:

a. Barna's work has always been prophetic - His observations and calls for action typically precede the awareness of most people. Remember, from a biblical perspective, the vast majority of people ignored prophets. However, for a prophet to be considered prophetic, the prophecies espoused by the prophet would have to be correct. The exhortations of George Barna, recorded in print throughout his career, merit prophetic consideration. The Seven Faith Tribes volume, his most recent, merit perhaps his most heartfelt clarion call.

b. Courage - It takes guts to author a work like this one, particularly when it is laden with issues that include ethnicity, belief systems, value attribution, socio-economic, socio-political, geo-political and terribly personal calls for change...dynamic change...supernatural change -- no matter what faith tribe you may deem yourself affiliated with (or not).

As Barna points out, the challenge for this country are not "process problems, as much as they are people problems." (p. 196). He calls for healing the heart of this nation, envisioning a new America and illuminates the fundamental and indispensible role of America's seven faith tribes in this process. He shares the words of Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, when Senator Kennedy was faced with the task of informing a gathering in Indiannapolis of the assasination of Dr. Martin Luther King:

"What we need in the United States is not division, what we need in the United States is not hatred, what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black." (p.195).

Barna asks:

"Forty years later, what progress have we made toward the goals the Senator set forth that day?"

Barna's - The Seven Faith Tribes - Who They Are, What They Believe, And Why They Matter is a present day wake-up call that progress in the United States requires the coming together for people of all different faith persuasions to:

"rise to the occasion during times of crisis. In such perilous moments, a nation's future demands that it dig deep into its soul and draw on a reservoir of moral and spiritual strength to do what is right." (p. 197).

Prophetic? Well, that depends upon what you do with what you hear.

Listen to Barna in this book. Act upon what he admonishes each of us to do...individually and collectively.

Surrender is a verb.

Barna provides research results - what are the seven faith tribes; 20 behaviors, which he terms "values," the tribes have in common; an analysis of the impact of the breakdown of the American family unit; and what he believes we should do to restore America. It is interesting to consider how America could change if the remnant of its Captive Christians trusted God enough to truly demonstrate Christ through their actions. These people would in turn embrace the other faith tribes based on our commonality rather than emphasize our differences. The result would be a new America that in many ways is more consistent with our Founders' vision. It's a great book. Don't miss it.

What Mr. Barna writes is very important. We Americans need to get a grip on who we are, our differences and similarities. What values do we hold in common? These we must assess and uphold. We must tolerate differences that are not contradictory to our most important values. If we don't sort this out and make adjustments that WORK, we stand to loose what democracy and capitalism HAVE ACHIEVED. I want our children to grow up and function in a free society that does consider others here and around the world. Freedom allows all of us to have the chance to make a good life. Personal responsibility is necessary for a good life. A good life must be earned. Mr. Barna, I believe, has done a great deal of research that should help us sort out the truth. I am a teacher and a preacher's daughter. I am not a conformist for the sake of conformity. Mr. Barna has a message we need to pay attention to very seriously.

The value of the book is how it shows we have more in common than the media ever says. Sure the author is a Christian, but he have never hidden that fact.

Typically I do not like the idea that I can be categorized into a neat set of categories like George Barna does when he develops seven "tribes" of beliefs that cover 99% of the people in the United States. But then I read his book and go through his data and he makes a pretty good point. I would suggest that the most useful aspect for The Seven Faith Tribes is to get an overall view of the religious and philisophical views of those of us in the US.

I would fault the book in two areas. First, he does a little bit of circular logic in creating his groups. For example, his "Captive Christian" group is probably a bit too narrow and does not really include the faithful liberal. If you read the surveys, you realize it is really based on answers to three questions and they are almost 100% for that group. I think his bias shows here. Second, I was underwelmed by his suggestions for what to do about any of this data and finally came to the conclusion this was a book about what, not what-to-do-about-it.

In general, Mr. Barna gives a good lay-of-the-land for belief in America and it is helpful for understanding the context of the country we live in. If you are an avid reader of books on American culture, beliefs, and Christianity, read this. If you are going to read one book on the subject, I wouldn't pick this one.

As always, Barna's research was interesting and valuable. I was disappointed in his ideas of how to apply the research he did on the seven basic faith groups in America. The last half of the book was less valuable than the first half. I would have subtitled it, "Can't we all just get along?"
The appendix with basic world-views is useful.