For Immediate
Release
Not Much to Celebrate in
New Barna AIDS Survey
Despite their
willingness to help children overseas, evangelical Christians are one of the
least likely groups willing to help children orphaned by AIDS.
The survey of more than 1,000 adults, sponsored by World Vision and
conducted by the California-based Barna Research
Group, found that 3 percent of evangelicals said they “definitely” would help
children orphaned because of AIDS, compared with 5 percent of all respondents.
“Nearly 2,000 years after Jesus gave us the parable of the
Good Samaritan, we are still asking the question, ‘Who
is my neighbor?’ And we’re still getting the answer wrong,” says World Vision
President Richard E. Stearns. “This
simple-yet-most-profound parable speaks to the AIDS epidemic. Today, it should challenge our own community
of faith, an
Evangelical Christians were one of
the least likely groups supportive of HIV/AIDS causes. However, evangelicals fared better than average -- 14 percent compared
with 7 percent overall -- when asked whether they would definitely help
underprivileged children overseas.
The most likely group to support children affected by AIDS were young
parents of young children who go to church every week, while the least likely
was an older white evangelical male who lives in the Midwest.
Other findings:
·
“Baby
Busters” (ages 18 to 37) are much more responsive to HIV/AIDS causes than
“Boomers” (ages 38 to 56) and “Elders” (ages 57 and up): 47 percent of
“Busters” were supportive or mildly supportive, compared with 30 percent of
“Boomers” and 21 percent of “Elders.”
·
The
sagging economy and financial hardships are having a significant negative
impact on plans to help children hurting from the effects of HIV/AIDS.
·
Ethnically,
the survey showed that white Americans were most resistant to addressing
HIV/AIDS: 27 percent of whites were supportive or mildly
supportive, compared with 52 percent of
Hispanics and 51 percent of African Americans.
As was the case two years ago when the survey was first conducted, public support for efforts to help those affected by the AIDS crisis is low across the board. David Kinnaman, Vice President of Barna Research Group and director of the study, said, “One of the big surprises from this study is the fact that evangelicals -- who are typically some of the most generous donors in our country -- were particularly unmoved by the plight of AIDS orphans. However, the other story is that few Americans were particularly sensitive to the issue of such children.
“Americans’ awareness of the HIV/AIDS crisis is a mile wide, but their personal commitment to fixing it is an inch deep.”
World Vision, the Christian humanitarian organization
serving the poor in nearly 100 countries, started its first AIDS programs a
decade ago, relatively early in the international response to the
epidemic. The agency’s first work
included assistance for AIDS orphans and their foster families in Uganda, care
for HIV-infected babies and children in Romania, and support for teens and
young women escaping prostitution in Thailand. Today, World Vision is combating
AIDS in several nations in
For more information on World Vision, go to www.worldvision.org