Christian Values Are Under Attack in America, Say 90 Percent of White Working Class Evangelicals: Survey
Nearly 90 percent of white working class evangelicals believe Christian values are under attack in America, according to a CNN/Kaiser Family Foundation poll.
The survey, released this month, found that although a very strong majority of white working class evangelicals (89 percent) think society is hostile toward Christian values, white working class Mainline Protestants and Catholics are less likely to share that view.
According to the poll, 73 percent of white working class Mainline Protestants and 61 percent of white working class Catholics share the view that Christian values are under attack in America today. Meanwhile, only 41 percent of white working class respondents with no religious preference believe that Christian values are under attack today.
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When broken up by political affiliation, 44 percent of white working class Democrats believe that Christian values are under attack, while more than 84 percent of white working class Republicans hold the same view.
"I feel the country was founded on Christian principles. They came here to get away from being persecuted for their beliefs," 80-year-old Pennsylvania resident and lifelong Democrat Sandra Long told CNN.
"And now, if our ministers don't marry a gay couple or refuse to marry a gay couple, they can be arrested and taken to jail."
Although only 13 percent of college educated, white working class Democrats believe Christian values are under attack, an astonishing 88 percent of white working class college educated Republicans share the same view.
Sixty-two percent of white working class Independents also feel that Christian values are under attack.
"Whites without a college degree are nervous about cultural changes taking place in the United States," the report stated in its findings. "About two-thirds (65 percent) say Christian values are under attack, and almost four in 10 (38 percent) say increasing racial and ethnic diversity is harmful because 'some people feel like they no longer belong.'"
Forty-eight percent of white working class evangelical Christians say that increasing diversity in America is "mostly threatening American culture." Meanwhile, 39 percent of white working class Mainline Protestants and 28 percent of white working class Catholics share the same view.
Nineteen percent of white working class respondents with no religious affiliation believe that increasing diversity is a bad thing for America.
While just 33 percent of white working class Americans believe that diversity is threatening to America, 60 percent of white working class respondents believed that diversity is "enriching."
The survey shows that younger white working class respondents were less likely to believe that diversity is harmful to America. Just 22 percent of white working class respondents aged 18 to 29 believe that diversity is threatening to the American culture.
Additionally, the poll found that just 34 percent of white working class evangelicals believe that America's best days are ahead, while 61 percent of white working class evangelicals believe that America's best days are in the past.
As the majority of white working class evangelicals believe that Christian values are under attack in America today, their views mirror a warning issued by "Duck Dynasty" star Alan Robertson earlier this month at the Values Voters Summit in Washington, D.C.
"We are in a perilous time, where from positions of power, I don't know that if in my lifetime I have ever seen more of an attack on traditional values, traditional family and really, religious liberty," Robertson said.
The results of the survey come as the rise of secularism in America has led atheist legal organizations to sue schools and government agencies for their involvement in anything that deals with religion, prayer, the Bible or a religious leader.
Additionally, expressing Christian views on issues like marriage, sexuality and abortion in the public square has caused a number of Christians across the country to face societal backlash and government punishment.
"We should be able to talk about that consistently and not be maligned," Robertson said during the event. "But we are. But you know what? That is OK because God also told us that we would be persecuted for living that godly life and speaking what we speak."
