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The Faith of African-Americans

The Faith of African-Americans
Since the passage of Proposition 8 – the California initiative that defined marriage as between one man and one woman – a great deal of attention has been given to the overwhelming support of the initiative by African-Americans. Many have attributed Proposition 8’s passage to the influx of African-American and Latino voters who voted in the Presidential election. A recent study by Barna Research may explain why African-Americans who supported President Obama, also support a conservative, traditional belief in marriage. 
According to the report, How Faith of African-Americans Has Changed, African-Americans have maintained a deep-rooted commitment to their faith and religious beliefs. The study explored 12 religious beliefs and 13 religious behaviors of four of the nation’s most populous ethnic groups – White non-Hispanics, Africans, Hispanics and Asians. When comparing the four groups, African-Americans score highest on 10 of the 12 belief indicators. African-Americans also outpaced their counterparts by scoring highest in 8 of the 13 behavior indicators. The findings clearly demonstrate the importance of faith and spirituality to a majority of African-Americans.
The Barna study also compared the current statistics for African-Americans’ faith with findings from 15 years ago. The results of that comparison also showed that the faith of African-Americans is becoming more aligned with conservative biblical teachings. For example, the study finds that African-Americans are more likely to believe in the absolute authority of God and act in accordance with the Bible’s teachings. 
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