Brownstein: The Decline of White Christians in the U.S. is Bad News for Trump
Brownstein: The Decline of White Christians in the U.S. is Bad News for Trump
Data from PRRI’s American Values Atlas shows that nearly four in ten (31%) young adults (ages 18-29) are religiously unaffiliated—three times the unaffiliated rate (13%) among seniors (ages 65 and older). In The Atlantic, Ron Brownstein points to the rise in religiously unaffiliated Americans in a piece titled, “Trump’s America is Slipping Away.” According to Brownstein, the number of white Christians, those likely to support President Donald Trump, is declining. “The country’s underlying evolution shows how narrow a path Trump has chosen,” Brownstein writes. “He is betting the Republican future on resurrecting a past that is dissolving before his eyes.”
A Record Number of Republican Women Are Running For The House of Representatives in 2020
In 2016, PRRI data showed that Republicans were more likely than Democrats to support traditional gender roles, such as a wife not working while taking care of a home, and a husband going off to work. More than four in ten (44%) of Republicans said society was better under this scenario, while 65% of Democrats and 51% of fellow Republicans disagreed. The Wall Street Journal reports that in 2020, “more than 220 Republican women filed to run for the House this cycle,” an increase that Barbara Comstock, a former representative from Virginia says is necessary for Republicans to take back the House. “We’re not going to get to 218 with only white men,” Comstock said.
Most Americans Disagree with SCOTUS on Religious Exemptions
In The New York Times, Giovanni Russonello examines how recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions on religious exemptions are out of step with Americans’ beliefs. PRRI CEO and founder Robert P. Jones spoke with Russonello about how religious conservatives will combat this issue in the future. “When you’ve lost the war, the question is how can you win a few battles, and I think that’s where the religious exemptions argument really comes into play,” Jones says. “The question is, how big can the carve-out be for religious exemptions? And even though we have a majority of Americans opposing those, it’s a much more complex argument, and we see much more ambiguity.”
Robert P. Jones’ ‘White Too Long’ Featured in The Economist
PRRI CEO Robert P. Jones previewed his forthcoming book “White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity,” for The Economist. Jones suggested that “a reckoning is due in America’s churches,” and told reporter James Astill that “white Christian traditions are so steeped in historic racism that ‘the norms of white supremacy have become deeply and broadly integrated into white Christian identity.” “White Too Long” will release on July 28th and is available for pre-order now
Eric McDaniel: Religion Plays a Role in Propping Up and Tearing Down White Supremacy
A recent piece in the Austin American-Statesmen analyzes how religious leaders have handled the current wave of activism and protests in the United States. According to PRRI Public Fellow and University of Texas professor Eric L. McDaniel, “Religion has played a role in propping up white supremacy, but it’s also played a key role in tearing it down.” Mcdaniel continued, “Given that religion played a role in justifying racial hierarchies, they should play a role in destroying them.”
.