(RNS) A significant majority of gays and lesbians — six in 10 — say faith is important in their lives, but heterosexuals generally state such commitments more often, according to a new survey by a Christian research firm.
“People who portray gay adults as godless, hedonistic, Christian bashers are not working with the facts,” said George Barna, founder of the Barna Group, a Ventura, Calif.-based research company.
“A substantial majority of gays cite their faith as a central facet of their life, consider themselves to be Christian, and claim to have some type of meaningful personal commitment to Jesus Christ active in their life today.”
Among the findings:
— 72 percent of heterosexual adults say faith is important in their lives, compared to 60 percent of homosexual adults.
–85 percent of straight adults identify themselves as Christians, compared to 70 percent of gay adults.
— 75 percent of heterosexuals said their “personal commitment to Jesus Christ” is still important today, compared to 58 percent of gays and lesbians.
The survey is based on telephone interviews conducted between January 2007 and November 2008 of a total of 9,232 adults. The margin of error for the 8,548 heterosexual adults surveyed ranges from plus or minus 0.2 to 1.0 percentage points. For the 280 homosexuals surveyed, the margin of error is between plus or minus 2.5 and 5.8 percentage points. An additional 404 adults did not identify their sexual orientation.
