Americans Are Warmer To All Religious Groups But One

The charts above are from a survey by the Pew Research Center between January 9th and 23rd. They questioned 4,248 adults, and the survey has a margin of error of 2.5 points.

It shows the view of religious groups by the public in the United States. A "warm" feeling (favorable) would be shown by a larger number and be toward the top of the chart, whereas a "cold" (unfavorable) rating would be represented by a lower number and be toward the bottom of the chart.

I found it interesting that every single religious group, except one, had increased in favorability with the public -- and that was true of both Democrats and Republicans. That group was not muslims -- it was evangelical christians. The evangelical christians didn't lose any favorability, but didn't gain any either.

Three years ago, evangelical christians had a 61 rating from the public, and it still does. The rating from Democrats (53) and from Republicans (71) also remained steady.

Groups that are normally considered unpopular in this country did grow in favorability. Among the general population atheists grew from 41 to 50, and muslims grew from 40 to 48 -- both significant growth figures. Among Democrats the atheists grew from 46 to 57, and the muslims grew from 47 to 56. The same was true among Republicans, where atheists grew from 34 to 43 and muslims grew from 33 to 39.

Why did the evangelical christians not grow in favorability? Could it be because they are trying hard to force their religious views on all Americans, while other religious groups simply want to be free to worship (or not worship) as they please? I think so. Their effort to turn their religious views into law is not winning them any new friends.