Forget the sold-out concerts, his top-selling albums, his nearly 40 million Twitter followers. Americans just don’t like Justin Bieber. According to Public Policy Polling (which normally restricts its studies to issues of a more political character), Bieber was the only pop music star who was viewed more unfavorably than favorably by those polled, be they Republican, Democrat or Independent. No word as to how many tween girls were asked their opinion, but one can only assume they were under-represented. Other musicians scored relatively low in the Public Policy Polling study, too—including Lady Gaga, Chris Brown, Rihanna and Jay-Z; but Jay-Z’s spouse, Beyonce, was pretty popular with respondents, as was Taylor Swift, Adele and Justin Timberlake. Indeed, when respondents were asked which of the celebrities mentioned they’d most likely vote for president, Timberlake was a clear winner with 34 percent casting their virtual vote for him. (Time)

Paul Asay has covered religion for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for Plugged In and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He lives in Colorado Springs with wife, Wendy, and two children. Follow him on Twitter.