Alena Nicholson

MIN 5218

06 May 2021

Barna Research

The Post-Post Modern World

Section 1

Media

The ‘media’ in its various forms and uses, has had a major impact on the lives of

everyone of every age. The most recent considerable impact of media Americans have seen is on

the 2016 Presidential Election. According to Barna, “the fairness of the media’s 2016 election

coverage was frequently called into question throughout the campaign by [former] President

Trump, who continues to label the mainstream press as ‘fake news’” (Barna, pg. 24).

This election had an unprecedented impact on society that was enhanced by the media.

“The election was closely contested, with controversies over the use of a private e-mail server by

Hillary Clinton, assistance to the Trump campaign from Russian hackers…” (Streissguth, pg.

101). All of these controversies were covered by the media (TV, newspaper, social media…) and

only spurred the population to wonder what is truth and what is actually ‘fake news’. “Despite

this level of distrust, the news media had the most decisive influence over personal decisions to

support a certain candidate in the 2016 election (60%) compared to other types of media, such as

TV (50%), social media (40%), campaign advertising (39%), and political commentators on the

radio (34%). (Barna, pg. 24). Regardless of facts and fiction intertwining with each other,

Americans still trusted ‘news media’ (print media, broadcast, and internet).
Politics

Expanding further on the aspect of media in politics, media distrust and misinterpretation

as been increasingly prominent since the 2016 Presidential Election. “In 2016, ‘fake news’

emerged into the public vernacular, first in connection to Facebook’s inability to keep misleading

articles from going viral. Post-election, accusing reports of being fake news has become a

political weapon wielded by all sides.” (Barna, pg. 26). This age-old phenomenon of

misinterpretation and political indoctrination did not start with Trump. In fact, it has been

happening for such a long time that Orwell warns us of this. “Decades ago, journalist and 1984

author George Orwell famously warned readers to be wary of ‘doublethink’ and ‘Newspeak’, in

which governments deploy phrases designed to disguise, distort or even reverse reality...”

(Goering, pg.53). The reverse reality Orwell mentions is of the likeness of “war is peace” or

“ignorance is strength”, both opposing beliefs with mass acceptance of both being right.

Regarding the misinterpretation of news, “three in 10 (31%) say the problem of fake

news lies in reader error- ‘misinterpretation or exaggeration of actual news on social media’ not

factual mistakes in reporting itself” (Barna, pg. 26). This is an unfortunate statistic as about 70%

of Americans believe that fake news comes from factual mistakes and not their own

interpretation of embellished news reporting. This shows that many Americans have not learned

how to fact-check and have learned to accept everything that they see as either fact or fiction the

minute that they see it. They deem something that they like “fact” and something they do not like

as “fake news” regardless if either of them is actually true.

Perspectives

Slightly tying into media portrayal and politics, “more than half of Americans (53%)

agree at least somewhat with the idea that ‘the police unfairly target people of color and other
minority groups’ Yet Barna’s data show that opinions divide starkly along generational, racial,

political and religious lines.” (Barna, pg. 49). This is partially due to the media’s portrayal of

police brutality and lived experience, as Black adults are most likely to state that they live in fear

of the police (56% according to Barna pg. 49).

However, police brutality is not the only controversial racial topic Americans face today.

Unfortunately, Trump has a lot to do with bias against Muslim populations in and outside of

America. “Trump’s focus on Muslim-majority nations in this executive order is based on the

belief that Muslims perpetrate the majority of terrorism. But the American public is still making

up its mind. For example, in 2016, 16 percent of Americans strongly disagreed that Muslims

perpetrated the majority of terrorism, compared to one-quarter only one year later in 2017.” (pg

50).

Another perception in America that is quite surprising is that “52 percent of practicing

Christians agree that the Bible teaches ‘God helps those who help themselves’’ and “28% of

practicing Christians have a common view that ‘all people pray to the same god or spirit, no

matter what name they use for that spiritual being’” (Barna, pg. 56). These are real practicing

Christians who attend Church and (hopefully) read their Bible. About half of American

Christians believe that the Bible is to help ourselves. About half of American Christians have

taken the good news and made it about themselves, becoming greedy.

This is harmful Christianity and has and will have continuing harmful effects on not only

American society but the places we go to do missions and how we respond online and in-person

to disasters and losses. Thankfully, Christians are skeptical about certain things. “When former

US President George W. Bush claimed that God had told him to invade Iraq, many Christians

were skeptical. How does one distinguish between the voice of God and one’s own imagination
or wishful thinking?” (Chryssides, pg. 16). This is an uplifting statement showing that sometimes

Christians can think skeptically about the right things.

Section 2

Vocation and Education

With many different forms of higher education, like universities, trade schools, or

community colleges, many teens are wondering what the point of a degree is. “Seven in 10

adults… believe the primary purpose of a college education is to prepare for a specific job or

career..” (Barna, pg.71). However, this cannot be the only purpose of a college education. With

over 5,000 colleges in the United States, there has to be more… right? According to Barna

“falling between job-focused highs and spiritual lows are aims related to personal growth and

practical skills: strengthening critical thinking and writing skills, growing in leadership skills,

discovering who you are, and learning about academic interests.” (Barna, pg. 71)

Relationships

“Ring by Spring” has been a common saying in college, but even that romantic feeling

and yearning for companionship can carry over into adulthood. “Overall, almost three in 10

American adults (28%) have either tried online dating once or twice (14%), use it regularly (5%)

or have used it previously but not anymore (9%)” (Barna, pg. 95). This is interesting as

Millenials and Gen Z has seen the rise of Christian dating apps such as Christian Mingle, C-Fish,

CrossPaths, and Collide. Despite this rise in Christian online dating, “almost three-quarters [of

all Americans] (72%) haven’t tried it all, and more than half (52%) would never do so.” (Barna,

pg. 95)

Romance is not just online, but even in the workplace, the last location one would expect

love to blossom. “One-quarter of all adults believers a coworker or supervisor has been attracted
to them and 16 percent say that coworker or supervisor actually told them about this attraction.

Nearly one in five (18%) has been asked out on a date by a coworker...” (Barna, pg. 97). That is

a whole lot of romantic attraction in a professional space. However, not everyone wants romantic

attention. “13 percent have had unwanted sexual or romantic attention from a coworker and 4

percent from a supervisor…” (Barna, pg. 97). This is supported by Holly Kearl, the founder of

Stop Street Harassment, stating that “thirty-eight percent of all women and fourteen percent of

men have reported experiencing sexual harassment at work...1 in 7 women and 1 in 17 men have

sought a new job assignment, changed jobs, or quit a job because of sexual harassment and

assault” (Kearl, 2019). Obviously, workplace relationships seem like they should be strictly

platonic and professional, not to mention that HR needs to do a better job at correcting

workplace harassment.

Section 3

Practices

Many think of teens as ‘lazy’ or ‘unmotivated’ and that is simply not true (Read

Dempsey et al to see social and cultural analysis on depression and laziness among teens). Many

teens in general in the United States are involved in service. For practicing Christian teens, this

service is mostly involved in their church or youth group, but “...there are some other key areas

in which teens express compassion and give of their time: 34% feeding the hungry/helping the

homeless, 31% educational, 26% environmental cleanup, 23% animals, 13% service trips…”

(Barna, pg. 146).

Church

When people say “churches are understaffed” they probably mean the youth group or

children’s staff, the two most supported ministries in the church yet have the least paid staff.
According to Barna, “more than half [of churches] have one paid staff member dedicated to

youth (55%) and 17 percent have two or more. The number of paid staff is weakly correlated

with youth group size, with the largest groups having an average of two paid staff members”

(Barna, pg. 158). Paid staff does not run a church, the people of God are supported by other

people of God. However, honoring the body of Christ by paying more “full-time volunteers”

would be beneficial to everyone. “Of course, volunteers also play a significant role in youth

groups. Overall, groups have an average of 12 adult volunteers on a regular basis, with an

average of seven who are parents of students” (Barna, pg. 158). 12 adult volunteers, most of

whom show up every week and contribute just as much as the youth pastor, but do not get paid.

Beliefs

Disturbingly, “almost half [of teens] (48%) agree at least somewhat that religious or

moral questions cannot be answered with as much certainty as scientific ones. Nearly six in 10

(58%) agree to some extent that morality is not a fixed concept but something that changes over

time based on society” (Barna, pg 176). Teens have a skewed view of morality, which is stated

clearly in the Bible. This should only motivate Christians to further reach teens with love and

good news of the standing truth and morality of the Bible.

A major drawback that teens have had with the Church is their doubt. With “smart”

people in leadership, it is difficult to ask questions, the really hard, faith shaking, groundbreaking

questions. “We need to change the stigma of doubt and allow Christians of all ages to inspect and

strengthen their faith” (Barna, pg. 176). Grandparents, parents, single young adults, and teens

alike need to be able to express their doubts in order to grow in their faith and make great strides

in their understanding of Jesus. This can only be done with love, especially living in a post-

postmodern world where truth is based on the individual and not on God.
 Resources

Barna Group. (2017). Barna trends 2018: what's new and what's next at the intersection

of faith and culture. Baker Books.

Chryssides, George D. (2010). Christianity Today : An Introduction. Continuum.

Dempsey, M., Foley, S., Frost, N., Murphy, R., Willis, N., Robinson, S., ... & McCarthy,

J. (2019). Am I lazy, a drama queen, or depressed? A pluralistic analysis of participant

and researcher data when analyzing accounts of depression posted to an Ireland-based

website. Qualitative research in psychology, 1-21.

https://cora.ucc.ie/bitstream/handle/10468/9166/11391.pdf?sequence=1

Goering, Christian Z., & Thomas, Paul L. (2018). Critical Media Literacy and Fake News

in Post-Truth America. Brill.

Kearl, H., Johns, N. E., & Raj, A. (2019). Measuring #metoo: A national study on sexual

harassment and assault. Available from Stop Street Harassment:

http://www.stopstreetharassment.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/2019-MeToo-

National-Sexual-Harassment-and-Assault-Report.pdf

Streissguth, T. (2018). The 2016 presidential election (Ser. Special reports set 3). Abdo

Publishing.http://ezproxy.crown.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?di

rect=true&db=nlebk&AN=1613172&site=ehost-

live&scope=site&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_102.