A new report states 63% of evangelical protestants say they are politically conservative, while 24% self-identify as right in the middle, and 12% as liberal.
These are the latest findings from Infinity Concepts and Grey Matter Research in Evangelicals in the Public Arena: Understanding Their Political, Moral, and Social Views.
The research findings come from interviews with 1,000 evangelical Protestants about where they stand politically, what they think of people who do not share their perspectives, and their views on 11 public policy issues.
While it is true that evangelicals tend to be much more conservative than the overall U.S. population, both liberals and moderates exist within the American evangelical community.
The report reveals distinctive factors that vary between conservatives, moderates, and liberals. For instance, conservatives are more likely to be older, married, higher income, and less racially and ethnically diverse, while liberals and moderates tend to be younger, with lower income, and more racially and ethnically diverse.
In spite of the differences, there was also notable unanimity. All groups share a similar level of spiritual engagement, which is measured by daily Bible readership, weekly church attendance, Bible study, weekly small group attendance, and daily prayer.
Conservatives tend to define a wider variety of things as sinful, but a clear majority of liberal evangelicals believe that having an abortion is sinful (62%), as is cursing (71%), pornography (80%), homosexual activity (70%), sex before marriage (73%), and getting drunk (61%). Although liberals are generally identified with pro-choice, pro-LGTBQ, and more liberalized views of sexuality, it seems that liberal evangelicals depart from other liberals on these issues.
The evangelical Protestant community is generally in agreement that churches and church leaders should have at least some involvement in public policy discussions, but they disagree on which issues and to what degree they should be involved.
A clear majority of all respondents think churches and church leaders should be at least somewhat involved in discussions about the 11 public policy matters explored by researchers, including abortion, free speech, transgenderism, public expressions of religious faith, and more.
“This research offers a profound reminder that within the tapestry of the evangelical community lies a rich diversity of perspectives, beliefs, and convictions,” said Mark Dreistadt, president and CEO of Infinity Concepts. “It dispels the stereotypes that too often permeate media portrayals and political discourse.”
