Though evangelical Protestants remain the largest faith group in the country, as clashes over their beliefs turn up in the public square, half the country has come to believe evangelicals face discrimination in the US.
A new report from the Pew Research Centerreveals that Americans see discrimination on the rise or holding steady across demographic groups, with evangelical Christians and Jews experiencing a significant uptick over the past few years.
Fifty percent of US adults agree that evangelical Christians are subject to discrimination, up from 42 percent in 2016. One in five (18%) say that evangelicals—about a quarter of the population—face “a lot” of discrimination.
The number of Americans who say Jews face some level of discrimination in the United States has increased by 20 percentage points over the past three years. Nearly two-thirds of Americans (64%) agree there is at least some discrimination against Jews, and a quarter (24%) say Jews experience “a lot” of discrimination, up from 13 percent just a few years ago.
It’s easy to see the reasons for the shift. Last October, a shooting at a Pittsburgh synagoguekilled 11 worshipers and became the deadliest anti-Semitic act in American history. The year before, anti-Semitic hate crimes rose 37 percent, marking the third consecutive year with a spike in attacks on Jews.
Evangelicals, meanwhile, have a more precarious place in the spotlight as their views on social issues like marriage and sexuality have grown less popular. Previous Pew surveys indicated white evangelicals’ public reputation has been on the decline since 2014, while other research has shown those with “anti-Christian hostility” are now in more prominent positions to enforce their views.
Read the rest of the story at Christianity Today.
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