Most Evangelical Leaders Favor "Evangelizing Muslims Abroad"
EPPC-Beliefnet survey on evangelizing Muslims

Posted: Monday, April 7, 2003

PRESS RELEASES & NEWS
EPPC Online  (Washington, DC)
Publication Date: April 7, 2003

As debate erupts over the role of evangelical relief and missionary groups in post-war Iraq, a newly released survey of Evangelical Christian leaders reveals that 81% believe it is “very important” and 16% “somewhat important” to “evangelize Muslims in other countries.” Only 3% disagreed.

This topic has come into the news recently due to the announcement by Franklin Graham that his group, Samaritan’s Purse, would be working in Iraq after the war.

The survey found that 89% of the evangelical leaders said that when interacting with Muslims it was “very important” to “insist on the Truth of the Gospel,” compared to just 3% who disagreed. In addition, 79% disagree with the idea that Muslims “pray to same God” as Christians; 17% agree.

At the same time, the leaders surveyed expressed concern for individual Muslims. Overall, 79% said it was “very important” to “protect the rights of Muslims”; just 1% thought it was “not important.” Some 89% had a favorable view of Samaritan’s Purse, Franklin Graham’s group, and just 2% an unfavorable view. (This finding is consistent with earlier surveys in which these leaders believed Evangelical Christians should give top priority to international humanitarian assistance.)

The survey was conducted during the fall of 2002 and included 350 responses from a national sample of leaders of Evangelical organizations, ranging from churches and missionary associations to relief agencies and political groups. It was supervised by Professor John Green of the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron, as part of a larger study directed by the Ethics and Public Policy Center, supported with a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts.

“The imperative to evangelize is closely coupled with a desire to extend charity to needy people,” said the Bliss Institute’s Green. “These leaders feel that Islam is hostile to many of the values central to Christianity, but have a great desire to reach out to the Muslim population.”

Other key findings include:

•  77% had an unfavorable view of Islam; 13% had a favorable view
• 76% of those surveyed agreed that “Islam opposes religious freedom”; 10% disagreed
• 62% agreed that “terrorists have ‘highjacked’ Islam”; 27 disagreed
• 52% agreed that Islam “preaches justice and moral values”; 32% disagreed
• 45% said “the war against terrorism is a war between the West and Islam”; 45% disagreed

“At last we have some hard data to help explain the controversial drive of Evangelical groups to be involved in Iraq,” said Beliefnet’s Editor-in-Chief Steven Waldman. A major article on the website analyzes this topic in more detail.

For more information contact Michael Cromartie, vice president for the Ethics and Public Policy Center at (202) 682-1200

About The Ethics and Public Policy Center is a non-partisan think tank that sponsors research, conferences and writing on domestic and foreign policy issues that have a moral or religious dimension.

About Beliefnet.com is the leading multifaith religion and spirituality website, reaching 3.5 million people daily through email newsletters and its website. It provides religion content for AOL and ABC News and its book “Taking Back Islam” recently won the Wilbur Award for Best Religion Book of 2002.

Source Notes:  
A survey by Ethics & Public Policy Center and Beliefnet helps explain drive by Evangelical groups to be active in Iraq.

Related Links
Beliefnet.com Web site