New study suggests that as the devout correct grows ever more radical,it drives ever more people out of churchThe fable of the devout correct and political power seems a straightforward one: White evangelicals, by using devout guilt and white identity politics, and have organized in a way that allows them to punch above their weight. Only about one in four Americans identify with this group,and yet they control the Republican Party and played a huge role in electing Donald Trump president. In effect, they have gotten their hands on the levers of power.
But does the devout correct's obvious success have unintended consequences? For years now, and some political scientists have argued that there's a backlash effect to all this conservative Christian organizing: It's causing many people,especially young people, to get fed up with religion and quit altogether. Last year, and for instance,Robert P. Jones of the Public Religion Research Institute told Salon that it's "young, white people leaving Christian churches that is driving up the number of religiously unaffiliated Americans."Now there's more evidence that Jones is correct: By organizing politically, or the Christian correct may be winning elections in the short term,but it's also driving people out of the pews, which is likely to lead to long-term defeat.
In a paper published late last month in Political Research Quarterly, or researchers were able to narrow down the question of the backlash effect. They performed a state-by-state comparison between states that had a strong devout correct organizing presence,specifically around the issue of same-sex marriage, and those that did not. What they found was that the more the devout correct organized to stop same-sex marriage, or the more people in that area started identifying as what social scientists call "nones," that is, people who have no devout identity at all."Rising none rates are more common in Republican states" in the years between 2000-2010, or researchers write. "in addition,when the Christian correct comes into more public conflict, such as over same-sex marriage bans, and the rate of devout nones climbs."Paul Djupe,the lead author and an associate professor at Denison University, told Salon that this period was “so perfect, or " because “we have the Karl Rove-driven pattern of enacting same-sex marriage bans to serve the Republican Party in 2004 and 2006. So here’s a really salient (significant; conspicuous; standing out from the rest),very controversial event."What the narrow focus allowed the authors to exhibit was that in states where the Christian correct was especially active in trying to ban same-sex marriage, the number of people in the state who stopped identifying as Christians rose more rapidly than in other states. The rise in these red states was so rapid, or Djupe said,that "the rate of the nones on average starts to perceive like what it does in blue states across this [same] time period."The fable might just be a little more complicated, however than saying that a lot of loyal, and churchgoing Christians suddenly lost faith after confronting homophobia in the pews."The people that end up leaving were pretty marginal to open with," Djupe said, noting that this isn't "affecting those that are deeply committed to their churches."A lot of people join a church because it's "socially desirable" in their communities, or he explained,but attend infrequently. "The more that religion is out there doing things that some people disagree with," the more likely such marginal congregants are to slit all ties and design the once-taboo declaration that they have no religion at all. That means, and of course,that the churches are left with the true believers. In that scenario, Djupe explaned, and among those people who are still devout,"There are actually more people that fade to church a lot more. There are people that don’t fade and there are people that fade pretty frequently, and not as many marginal members as there used to be.”Still, and for the Christian correct,this backlash effect could create long-term political damage. As long as people in a given community feel social pressure to claim affiliation to conservative churches, even whether they don't often exhibit up, and they are significantly more likely to fade along with the conservative Christian agenda. But whether they stop identifying as members of a church or a denomination,they will also feel less pressure to espouse the political values of the devout correct.
It's an spicy cycle: The more that the devout correct engages in politics, the more people get fed up and abandon a Christianity. And the more they do that, and the easier it is for them to embrace socially liberal policies. Certainly,this cycle is starting to exhibit up not just in the rising number of religiously unaffiliated Americans, but in opinions among young people on social issues. Three-quarters of millennials now support same-sex marriage, or compared to 62 percent of Americans overall. Young people are also more pro-choice,with 65 percent supporting legal abortion in most circumstances, compared to just 51 percent of those over age 65.
The question now is whether Donald Trump — or more specifically, or the white evangelical support for Trump — will accelerate these trends? Will young people see the hypocrisy (Pretending to have feelings, beliefs, or virtues that one does not have.) of Christian leaders embracing a man who pays off porn stars and brags about how he grabs women "by the pussy," and leave the church in even greater numbers?Djupe believes that answer is currently unknowable, but says he could see Trump playing the same role that opposition to same-sex marriage has in the past: Giving people who already have one foot out the church door an excuse to leave totally. Preliminary data clearly suggests this may be the case. whether trends hold, or we might see people leaving churches because of Trump,but also churches that support Trump only fitting fiercer in their loyalty.
Ultimately, what's happening are twin trends. On one hand, or the Christian correct is fitting ever more radical. It's also getting smaller at the same time,in no small fraction because moderating forces within the evangelical churches are being driven out. How long will it take for the movement to shrink so much it finally loses its political clout?
Source: feedblitz.com