CBN interviewed researcher Tim Carney, author of Alienated America, who researched the American dream and the state of communities across the nation. What he found is really encouraging to Christians.

“I wanted to know why so many people thought the American dream was dead. Because I think that attitude of hopelessness itself causes all sorts of bad outcomes.”

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“And the biggest difference was the strength in community institutions, particularly in middle America it was the strength of churches. Where they were strong and bringing people together regularly you had better outcomes and where they were disappearing and the population was disappearing the people left behind were really struggling,” he said.

“Popular culture likes to paint the dark picture of religion in America,” Carney writes in his book, “but the actual data point the other way.”

His re-definition of the American dream is very interesting, focusing on community engagement and interaction: “So many people have an economic explanation of the American dream. I think that’s related, but it’s off-base. It’s not owning a home, it’s not making a ton of money. It really is being connected – usually through an institution to your neighbors, to other people who share the same common higher purpose.”

He also explains the danger of removing  the church from the public square: “Another big thing is a push by some politicians for secularization. There’s a belief that the church doesn’t belong in the public square, that you should just go back and only do your worship services on Sunday. That’s a new idea and it’s a really dangerous idea. Because for the middle class in America and the working class, the church has always been the main place where they get a connection, where they get a little safety net, where they get a little sense of purpose.”

IFA has a variety of ways for you to connect with other believers who are praying for the nation. Check out these tools on our website–the prayer map, prayer wall, pray with others, interacting through comments. But we urge you to connect with a local church as well. The Body of Christ needs your unique gifting and calling: For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph 2:10)