A survey revealed that majority of Evangelical Christians believe God gave America a "special role" in history and the world.
The Christian Headlines said the survey, conducted on 2,508 Americans, was released by the Public Religion Research Institute on Monday, November 1. The Christian Headlines highlighted that the survey showed 75% of White Evangelicals, 67% of Black Protestants, and 55% of Christians from "other" denominations do believe that "God has granted America a special role in human history."
Entitled "2021 American Values Survey", the Public Religion Research Institute survey aimed to see "cultural change and anxiety in America," which "has always been a force for good."
The results of the survey showed that 74% or three in four Americans "agree" on the statement with 55% indicating they "mostly agree" and 19% saying they "completely agree." On the other hand, 24% or one in four disagree with the statement: 17% "mostly disagree" and 7% "completely disagree." The survey also showed 79% of Americans held this belief more in 2013.
The analysis of the survey's results, "Competing Visions of America: An Evolving Identity or a Culture Under Attack? Findings from the 2021 American Values Survey" highlighted that a majority of the White Christian groups actually agree with the idea that "America Has Always Been a Force for Good."
Accordingly, 88% or almost nine in every ten White Evangelical Protestants, 88% of White mainline (non-Evangelical) Protestants, and 85% of white Catholics agree with this belief. While 73% or two-thirds of Hispanic Catholics, 71% of other Christians, 69% of Black Protestants, and 66% of non-Christian religions members similarly uphold this belief. There are, however, 58% of "religiously unaffiliated Americans" who do not hold this belief.
By political affiliation, 92% of Republicans believe the statement more than the 72% of Independents and 67% of Democrats. There were slight differences in this result when compared to the 2013 data wherein 90% of Republicans, 77% of Independents, and 74% of Democrats believed it.
Interestingly, 94% of Republicans who trust Fox News along with 96% of those from the same political affiliation who trust far-right media outlets "as their main sources of information agree with this idea."
The survey also asked several other questions to its respondents. Namely, whether they were "Proud to be an American," on having "A divinely ordained role for America," "Has American culture changed for better or for worse since the 1950s?" and on the importance of being "Truly American."
Respondents were also gauged on their "support for racial and religious pluralism in America," their "perceptions of increasing diversity," their perception on "Immigrants and Immigration: Strength or Threat?" and on the various aspects of "race and racism."
In addition, the survey checked on how Americans perceived the economic changes over the years and its overall consequences to the country alongside the possible solutions to it. The survey also focused on "Americans' evolving identities" which delved on the shifts in political views to "partisanship," their perception of themselves as being "religious," and on being a "patriot" or a "typical American."
The survey also tackled current hot topics in social circles such as the divisions "religion, politics, and COVID-19 vaccinations" causes within families. The results showed that religious diversity in extended families are less nowadays at 37% or four in ten Americans compared to a generation ago.
Almost half of Americans or 47% say that divisions are less to occur within their extended families on the topic of politics than it did half a decade ago. While almost half of "most religious groups" experience the same for their extended families. Though 24% of Black Protestants are most likely to say this.
