White evangelicals are dying out
The Public Religion Research Institute has released a detailed study indicating White evangelical Christians have declined 37% since 2006. They made up 23% of the population then – shortly after “values voters” were credited to have delivered George W. Bush’s reelection. The study shows they are now down to 14.5%.
But Americans’ religiosity overall has declined significantly. Over the same period, White non-evangelical Protestants declined 8%, and White Catholics declined 27%. There are more White non-evangelical Protestants than evangelical ones for the first time since 2006.
Data from the Pew Research Center had another interesting finding: there are now more Christians of color in the Democratic Party (32%) than there are White evangelical Christians in the GOP (29%) — the GOP’s worst nightmare is coming to fruition. No wonder they’re going so crazy with their “voter integrity” laws.
Many Whites may just no longer want to identify as “evangelical” since it has become a hateful, extremist political label, often affiliated with Trumpism. The obvious hypocrisy is causing them to have an identity crisis. At least one prominent evangelical, Russell Moore, appears to agree. He left the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention recently after clashing with fellow evangelical leaders over Trump, calling the situation “troubling” — it’s about self-identification rather than a true shift in religiosity. We should ask “why” people — especially younger people — do not want to “identify” as evangelical Christians? It’s “time for renewal, repentance, and redirection.”
When will Republicans learn? Everything Trump touches dies, yet elected Republicans continue to publicly embrace him.
