Politics and religion: almost no atheists voted for Trump

[lpetrich]

BU researcher: “Almost no atheists voted for Trump” - 2017 Sep 08
Source: Baylor Religion Survey | Baylor University
About Baylor's 2017 religion survey.

"Every single religious indicator predicts voting for Trump…except two; unless you belong to a black Protestant church, or if you belong to a non-Christian house of worship,” said Paul Froese, Professor of Sociology at Baylor and director of Baylor Religion Surveys.

Even though Trump is not known for great religiosity.

After looking at how religious values, behaviors and beliefs predicted political support for Trump, they found most people who voted for him said they were “very religious,” were members of white, Evangelical Protestant churches, viewed the U.S. as a Christian nation, believed in an authoritative God who was actively engaged in world affairs, saw Muslims as a threat to America, opposed LGBT rights, and valued gender traditionalism (a feeling that men are better suited for politics and should get higher wages than women, women should take care of the children, and those who did work were deficient mothers).

“Almost no atheists voted for Trump,” said Froese of the respondents.

Most respondents did not consider Jews a big threat. Their biggest perceived threats were Muslims, atheists, and conservative Xians.

“We expected groups considered opposites like atheists and evangelical Christians to fear each other, but what was really unexpected, was it was actually political affiliation that was stronger in its impact of predicting these particular fears,” said Park.

"Whether you are Democrat or Republican said a lot more about your fears towards Muslims, conservative Christians, and atheists, compared to whether you're evangelical Protestant or atheist."

Survey results have led researchers to conclude, while overall people are considering themselves less and less religious, as evidenced by the election, those who identify as strongly religious, aren’t necessarily voting based on their religious beliefs anymore.

...
A few other takeaways: almost a third of Americans believe the U.S. is not Christian today but was in the past, nearly half of Americans are sure they’ll go to heaven and that certainty is strongly associated with lack of depression, rural Americans are more likely to believe the ties between religion and government should be stronger, and most people have never used the internet for religious reasons.

 

[lpetrich]

The survey: 292546.pdf

Who voted for Trump:

• Evangelical Protestant: 63%
• Catholic: 42%
• Mainline Protestant: 40%
• Other Religion: 28%
• Jewish: 19%
• No Affiliation: 15%
• Black Protestant: 6%

Religious / Spiritual: Clinton, Trump, Other

• Very Religious: 31%, 57%, 13%
• Very Spiritual: 45%, 46%, 9%
• Not Religious: 73%, 15%, 13%
• Not Spiritual: 72%, 14%, 14%

Islam a Threat?

• Yes: 18%, 74%, 8%
• No: 79%, 11%, 10%

Middle Eastern Refugees a Terror Threat?

• Yes: 12%, 81%, 8%
• No: 86%, 3%, 11%

Christian Nationalist?

• Yes: 23%, 72%, 5%
• No: 83%, 6%, 11%

What Kind of God?

• Authoritative: 36%, 55%, 9%
• Benevolent: 42%, 51%, 8%
• Critical: 43%, 44%, 14%
• Distant: 67%, 24%, 9%
• None: 79%, 4%, 17%

Gender Traditionalism?

• High: 27%, 63%, 10%
• Low: 74%, 14%, 12%

LGBTQ People?

• Pro: 82%, 8%, 11%
• Anti: 19%, 75%, 6%

 

[lpetrich]

The survey addressed the question of whether the US is a Christian nation:

• Always Xian: 26.2%
• Formerly Xian: 32.2%
• Never Xian (secular): 20.3%
• Don't know: 21.3%

Republicans were the most likely to consider the US a Xian nation or a formerly Xian one, and the least likely to consider the US a secular one. Democrats and Independents were close.

The unaffiliated were the most likely to consider the US a secular nation and the least likely to consider it a Xian nation. The affiliated ones were overall similar.

On these issues, believers that the US is secular nation differed strongly from believers that the US is a Xian nation or was one - those two groups were similar. Secular-nation believers were much more likely to think that transgender people should use their choice of sex of bathroom, and to disagree that women are less suited to politics than mean, and that refugees from the Middle East pose a terrorist threat.

 

[lpetrich]

In America’s Four Gods, Paul Froese and Christopher Bader argue that Americans’ beliefs about God predict a number of things about their political attitudes, moral behaviors, and overall understanding of the world. They describe five distinct types of God images; they are:

• Authoritative God – a deity who is highly engaged and highly judgmental
• Benevolent God – a deity who is highly engaged but NOT judgmental
• Critical God – a deity who is NOT engaged but highly judgmental
• Distant God – a deity who is NOT engaged and NOT judgmental
• Atheism

I don't know how an impersonal sort of "God" would fit in.

 

[Lion IRC]

I can understand why atheists wouldn't vote for Trump.

 

[Politesse]

Evangelicalism is a literal poison. For the mind, more than the body, but a poison.

 

[Harry Bosch]

I can understand why atheists wouldn't vote for Trump.

Yea, it's so ironic! Atheists don't like Trump because he's such an immoral asshole!

 

[Jayjay]

Evangelicals don't vote for Trump for his personal qualities, they voted and will vote for him for two reasons: anti-abortion judges and pro-Israel pandering.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Evangelicals don't vote for Trump for his personal qualities, they voted and will vote for him for two reasons: anti-abortion judges and pro-Israel pandering.

And he's male, and he's white, and he doesn't like Muslims.

 

[ZiprHead]

Evangelicals don't vote for Trump for his personal qualities, they voted and will vote for him for two reasons: anti-abortion judges and pro-Israel pandering.

Yeah, I never did get that partnership between evangelicals and Israelis. In the end, all Jews must either convert to Christianity or die.

 

[Politesse]

Evangelicals don't vote for Trump for his personal qualities, they voted and will vote for him for two reasons: anti-abortion judges and pro-Israel pandering.

And he's male, and he's white, and he doesn't like Muslims.

And most importantly. "Libs" can't stand him. There's a lot of confused aggression boiling away beneath the outwardly clean aesthetic of mass-market religious conservativism, looking for a target.

 

[Patooka]

Evangelicals don't vote for Trump for his personal qualities, they voted and will vote for him for two reasons: anti-abortion judges and pro-Israel pandering.

Yeah, I never did get that partnership between evangelicals and Israelis. In the end, all Jews must either convert to Christianity or die.

In the end, evangelicals always need a "them" to rally against. They're just saving them for a rainy day.

 

[James Brown]

Evangelicals don't vote for Trump for his personal qualities, they voted and will vote for him for two reasons: anti-abortion judges and pro-Israel pandering.

Yeah, I never did get that partnership between evangelicals and Israelis. In the end, all Jews must either convert to Christianity or die.

Evangelical support for Israel is because the Book of Revelations is clear that Israel is going to be Ground Zero for the Rapture and Armageddon. Certain stuff has to happen in Jerusalem before Jesus comes back to whisk all those good American Christians out of harms way before God goes Old Testament Scorched Earth on the world.

Bear in mind, if none of those supported Israelis come to Jesus before we all hear a massive trumpet in the sky, then they're going to Hell, same as everyone else. But in the meantime, Israel must be free to do as it sees fit, otherwise the Rapture is never gonna come.

 

[ronburgundy]

I can understand why atheists wouldn't vote for Trump.

Yea, it's so ironic! Atheists don't like Trump because he's such an immoral asshole!

And because atheism tends to be negatively related to numerous theism-supported attitudes and policies that Trump is advancing, such as theocracy, attacks on the most basic right of all women, attacks on the rights of LGBTs, and various anti-science agendas including climate change denial. In addition, white supremacy is closely aligned with the christian identity politics.

 

[ronburgundy]

Evangelicals don't vote for Trump for his personal qualities, they voted and will vote for him for two reasons: anti-abortion judges and pro-Israel pandering.

Yeah, I never did get that partnership between evangelicals and Israelis. In the end, all Jews must either convert to Christianity or die.

Evangelical support for Israel is because the Book of Revelations is clear that Israel is going to be Ground Zero for the Rapture and Armageddon. Certain stuff has to happen in Jerusalem before Jesus comes back to whisk all those good American Christians out of harms way before God goes Old Testament Scorched Earth on the world.

Bear in mind, if none of those supported Israelis come to Jesus before we all hear a massive trumpet in the sky, then they're going to Hell, same as everyone else. But in the meantime, Israel must be free to do as it sees fit, otherwise the Rapture is never gonna come.

Exactly. Not only are many pro-Israel Christians actually anti-Semitic, but I would bet that among non Jews in the US, support for Israel is positively related to anti-Semitism. IOW, many of the people who have a problem with the actions of Israel and US support of it, are actually far more accepting of Jews as people than are the Christians who give unqualified support for Israel.

 

[Toni]

I can understand why atheists wouldn't vote for Trump.

Me, too. What I truly don’t understand is how any person of faith—no matter what religion-/could vote for Trump. He is a serial adulterer who is completely unrepentant about his cheating, is highly disrespectful of women, disparages and insults disabled people in vile terms, used vile and insulting language to describe women and how he treats them, uses insulting and denigrating language to describe anyone who disagrees with him in the slightest, and is an extremely dishonest businessman, stiffing a long line of contractors. He belittled the poor and the dick and does his best to cheat them and is in no way generous to those less fortunate. He advocates violence against those who disagree with him. He is insincere in everything he says unless it is praising himself.
He’s a bigot and a racist and a liar and a cheat.

These are all current, ongoing behaviors. It isn’t as though he is proclaiming that he once was a sinner and now is trying to be reformed.

How do you, as a Christian, reconcile these public behaviors with wanting him to be POTUS?

 

[Trausti]

I can understand why atheists wouldn't vote for Trump.

Me, too. What I truly don’t understand is how any person of faith—no matter what religion-/could vote for Trump. He is a serial adulterer who is completely unrepentant about his cheating, is highly disrespectful of women, disparages and insults disabled people in vile terms, used vile and insulting language to describe women and how he treats them, uses insulting and denigrating language to describe anyone who disagrees with him in the slightest, and is an extremely dishonest businessman, stiffing a long line of contractors. He belittled the poor and the dick and does his best to cheat them and is in no way generous to those less fortunate. He advocates violence against those who disagree with him. He is insincere in everything he says unless it is praising himself.
He’s a bigot and a racist and a liar and a cheat.

These are all current, ongoing behaviors. It isn’t as though he is proclaiming that he once was a sinner and now is trying to be reformed.

How do you, as a Christian, reconcile these public behaviors with wanting him to be POTUS?

Well, how can any person of faith support the killing of the unborn? It’s complicated, right?

 

[Trausti]

I’m an atheist who voted for the big, bad, orange man. Will do again in November.

 

[James Brown]

I’m an atheist who voted for the big, bad, orange man. Will do again in November.

Trausti, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being terrible and 10 being full perfection, where do you rank President Trump?

 

[Trausti]

I’m an atheist who voted for the big, bad, orange man. Will do again in November.

Trausti, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being terrible and 10 being full perfection, where do you rank President Trump?

6 or 7.