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HEYENNE - Christians in western states share their faith more than those in any other region of the United States, a recent study shows.

The study, conducted by the California-based Christian research organization The Barna Group, found that 65 percent of born-again Christians in the West actively shared their faith with non-Christians in the past year.

This compares with 58 percent of born-again Christians in the Northeast and 59 percent of southern Christians.

The group defines born-again Christians as those who said they had made a personal commitment to Jesus that is important to their lives today. Also, born-again Christians believe they will go to heaven when they die because they have confessed their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as their savior.


In Barna studies, evangelical Christians are considered a subset of born-again Christians who also agreed to several conditions, including feeling a personal responsibility to share their beliefs with non-Christians.

George Barna, the group's founder, said he is not surprised by the study's findings.

"The West is an environment that calls you either to be serious (as a Christian) or to give up," he said.

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon