THREAD:

Christian Dominionists have a new target in their sights: our children.

George Barna aims to "transform" the 7 mountains of culture and statistically measure this transformation, as Director of Research at the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University. /1

To Barna, "America is in a period of moral and spiritual anarchy" and his CRC will "help guide the nation to sanity and health" by fostering & measuring the prevalence of a "biblical worldview" in Americans.

CRC's studies will "provid[e] useful information to decision-makers."/2

CRC is part of ACU, which is "organized around & responsive to the 7 mountains of cultural influence" (family, religion, govt, arts/entertainment, media, education & business).

7M ideology mandates Christians *take control* of these 7 spheres to accelerate the return of Jesus./3

Toward that end, CRC "track[s] what is happening in each of the seven dimensions" and will share the results of its research w/ "like-minded ministry partners," including a "group of about 100 different parachurch organizations nationwide who labor as cultural change agents." /4

Notably, CRC's studies "will establish benchmarks against which we will compare the results of surveys in future years to determine what type of progress we are making & what new strategies may gain ground."

Thus, CRC's goal is for the "biblical worldview" to "gain ground." /5

The problem, as Barna sees it, is "a person's worldview begins developing between 15 to 18 months of age and is almost fully formed by age 13..."

Barna decries parents as "ill-equipped" & "handicapped," only 5% of those w/ kids aged 5 to 13 possessing "a biblical worldview." /6

In other words, for 95% of parents w/ kids between the ages of 5 & 13, Barna believes you are "ill-equipped" & "handicapped" as a parent b/c you don't have a biblical worldview.

Frankly, this may come across as insane, creepy, & insulting to the majority of parents in America./7

Another concern of Barna's is "[t]he younger a person is, the less likely they are to possess a biblical worldview," with a worrying 2% of people aged 18 to 29 up to par.

This has left Barna tinkering w/ ways to get young people behaving the way he believes God wants them to. /8

This is by no means Barna's first foray attempting to transform America's culture.

His defunct American Culture & Faith Institute surveyed thousands, conducted "psychographic" analyses & enriched UiP's 200 million voter profiles for political targeting!/9 https://twitter.com/visionsurreal/status/1215450374339022848?s=19

I'm not sold Barna's closure of ACFI in Jul 2018 marks the end of his political engagement.

His company Metaformation may still serve UiP.

And, whether directly or indirectly via Metaformation, Barna's new CRC may also serve UiP's clone, USATransform./10 https://twitter.com/visionsurreal/status/1194487232826105856?s=19

As w/ Barna's ACFI, the concern w/ Culture Research Center is whether any individual-level survey data obtained by CRC is being passed around and used for political targeting.

UiP's data breaches of 191M & 18M records discovered by @VickerySec in Dec 2015 are the precedent. /11

When you notice ACU's website indicates those who make a "financial investment" in CRC will enjoy "early access to research findings and publications" and "investors" will be invited to "special VIP briefings" w/ CRC's leaders, it makes one wonder about the "culture" at CRC. /12

Barna's partner at CRC is Executive Director Tracy Munsil, wife of the president of Arizona Christian University (of which CRC is a part), Len Munsil.

At least one other person closely connected to Tracy Munsil caught my eye... /13

That person is Tracy Munsil's daughter, Leigh Munsil.

Leigh, formerly the political editor at TheBlaze among other past posts, is currently the editor of CNN's The Point with Chris Cillizza.

On the surface, I find this troubling.

(Perhaps we should dig here more later.)

/14

The main research product of CRC's that was of interest to me was its "Worldview and Political Beliefs" report. /15

What I find strange about this analysis is Barna characterizes the 2020 election as a battle between "competing worldviews," yet one side of this battle per Barna appears to be those with a "biblical worldview," only representing 6% of American adults! /16

Why does Barna frame an entire election from the standpoint of just 6% of people?

This seems to be a distorted view of the world. Barna seems to believe more than 6% *should* have a biblical worldview.

Which may be why he still frames the election this way in spite of this. /17

This section gets to the heart of it.

B/c of "demographic realities," America is "moving toward domination by liberal social and governance policies," & the "only way conservatives can regain political momentum is by transforming the foundational perceptions of young people" /18

This, ladies and gentlemen, gives me hope.

For every George Barna, Ralph Reed, Mike Pompeo & Bill Barr who shoves the pathologically-lying, pandemic-botching @realDonaldTrump down our throats, there are more of us out here in America who, honestly, deserve better than this. /19

But by no means should we underestimate Christian Dominionists who arguably represent no more than 6% of the population, yet aim to control each of the 7 mountains of cultural influence.

UiP has data on 200 million.

And Barna's CRC will be strategizing for years to come. /20x

@threader_app - please compile this mountain of influence.

#PartXII