A deliberative poll on religion

Pew Research guys have regularly polled people in the US about their religious preferences.  I am often frustrated by the simplified version of “religion” that gets assumed in their questions.  The version of “Christianity” that I recognize and follow is nothing like what the public media calls Christian, and I suspect that other faith traditions are equally mis-represented. What do people think about the Muslim faith if all they hear is about ISIS or ISIL? 
I’m waiting for the Pew Research guys to do something like what Professor James Fishkin (Stanford University) is doing in the African nation of Tanzania.  It’s called a “deliberative” poll.  The approach was developed to help leaders to consult their citizens before making difficult policy decisions. He says you can't just do a poll.
"If you have ordinary polls people usually are not well informed. You don't want to follow public opinion when the public just has a vague impression of sound-bites and headlines."  You gather a representative sample of a population for a one or two-day meeting.  You give them tutorials on the issue and a chance to question experts from all sides.  Then, you send them home and poll them.
I wonder what would be the results if Pew or someone did a deliberative poll about religion?  How would people respond if they actually were informed about what a belief system is, what the huge and complex variety of its content and practices are, and had they the chance to talk and question the people who actually practice it?  Would polling opinions change?  Just an idea…

Looking in the mirror

A funny thing about doing a self-evaluation--you might not like the picture you see.  Churches are places that are naturally self-effacing.  We don't like to look at ourselves because we think we're being self-absorbed and that can't be a good thing.
But every once in a while churches are challenged to see themselves as we are, not as others see us, but as we see us.  This isn't navel gazing; it's honest mirror looking.  Will we like what we see? And if we don't like what we see, what will others like about us?
The Pew Research folks have just released a new survey saying that people in the United States don't self-identify as "Christian" as much as they used to: moving from 78% to 71% in just the last 8 years.  The questions are why?  Could they point to a vision that the Christian life that is not particularly attractive to new generations?
Because of the long faithfulness of God to God's people (everyone!), I'm not existentially disturbed by these trends.  However I am motivated by rise of the unaffiliated as a wake up call to us within the church to see what its purpose might be.