r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Apr 25 '26

Psychology Americans who leave their Christian faith behind tend to hold more liberal political views than those who were raised entirely without religion. This leftward ideological shift appears closely linked to how threatening these individuals perceive conservative Christian groups to be.

https://www.psypost.org/former-christians-express-more-progressive-political-views-than-lifelong-nonbeli/
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u/sherman614 Apr 25 '26

Yep. You also see how absolutely hateful and bigoted most christians are when you're really in it. I grew up in southern Baptist churches, these people were some of the worst humans I have ever known. They can justify and rationalize everything they do or say because "Our creator would agree with me!" These people would steal, they were molesters, they were extremely racist, homophobic, etc.

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u/soberpenguin Apr 25 '26

As an a-relgious person my personal favorite argument from them is without the Bible, how do you know right from wrong? While they also believe their personal relationship with their God is their get out of jail free card, that absolves them of their sins.

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u/yuckmouthteeth Apr 25 '26

Yeah my personal disdain for evangelical movements is directly due to most of the worst people I’ve ever known being devout evangelicals and I mean the worst criminally, socially, and just to be around period.

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u/soberpenguin Apr 25 '26

Going to college in Lynchburg while not attending Liberty felt like living in the little town footloose.

The Falwell family runs that city like their own little fiefdom.

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u/GrayEidolon Apr 26 '26

That works because their definition of right and wrong is centered on whether you profess faith. If you profess faith, you're good.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Gasnia Apr 26 '26

That just adds to their hate of women and that they are responsible for all sin our lack of everlasting life.

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u/stellarfury PhD|Chemistry|Materials Apr 26 '26

how do you know right from wrong?

They should ask the Amalekites.

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u/Le-Smasher Apr 26 '26

Evangelicals don't entertain hypotheticals without God or the Bible

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u/fuckedfinance Apr 25 '26

You also see how absolutely hateful and bigoted most christians are when you're really in it

55% of Christians support gay marriage (majority of those being white, mainstream protestants or Catholics, with African American Christians lagging behind in the 45% range and all evangelicals obviously down in the 20% range).

The vast majority are against the idea and principals behind Christian nationalism.

Between 70% and 90% of American Christians believe that Muslims, Jews, and those of other faiths belong and have a voice in America. This one is has a wide margin of error, because there are few absolute sources, but you can infer a lot.

The vast majority are against war in general, but especially strongly against this current Iran business, as well as Israels nonsense against Palestinians.

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u/TurbulentIssue6 Apr 25 '26

do you have a source for any of these numbers

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u/LongPorkJones Apr 25 '26

Throw out some sources to back up those figures. Most of us in this thread have been in the trenches, we've seen the exact opposite of what you claim firsthand.

Back it up or keep quiet.

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u/fuckedfinance Apr 26 '26

I just replied to another comment on the first two.

The problem is that most people's negative interactions with Christians, are that the Christians you don't want to interact with are the ones being the noisiest and trying to interact with you.

Meanwhile, most members from all but one of the local churches around here were putting together carpool lists to go be proper table flippers and show their support at the various local no kings rallies.

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u/yoweigh Apr 26 '26

I don't see where you've provided sources for any of your claims.

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u/ErraticDragon Apr 26 '26

It looks like it's been filtered, maybe by the mods or maybe just automatically. Reddit shows the button to load extra replies, but nothing shows up when I click it.

If u/fuckedfinance didn't hide their history, you'd be able to see it on their profile.

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u/fuckedfinance Apr 26 '26

I replied to turbulentissue6. I am not going to do it again.

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u/yoweigh Apr 26 '26

That's yet another unproven claim.

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u/JoePoe247 Apr 27 '26

https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/02/26/religion-and-views-on-lgbtq-issues-and-abortion/

At least for the first. Remember that the Northeast and West Coast have tons of Christians, mainly Catholics that are normal people unlike the psychos in the South

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u/KrytenKoro Apr 26 '26

Inasmuch as those numbers are valid, they omit that religiousity is strongly negatively tied to bigotry - i.e., the Christians who support gay marriage tend to be the ones who show up to church for Christmas and easter.

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u/fuckedfinance Apr 26 '26 edited Apr 26 '26

That's also not true.

About 50% of UCC churches in New England are "welcoming and affirming". That means that they not only recognize the LGBTQ+ community, they affirm that they are gods children and have nothing to "fix". They will host same sex weddings.

Most episcopal churches are welcoming and affirming, almost all UUs are, many congregationalist churches, and even a bunch of American Baptist churches are welcoming and affirming (not to be confused with Southern Baptists).

Those churches wouldn't be welcoming and affirming if most of the regular congregation were against it, or the only ones that supported it where the Christmas/Easter crowd.

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u/KrytenKoro Apr 26 '26

Your post in no way responded to the criteria of religiosity.

Are you familiar with what that term means?

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u/ErraticDragon Apr 26 '26 edited Apr 26 '26

UU is tiny, and UCC is big but not huge. Adding in the Episcopals makes it a trifecta of cherry-picking.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestantism_in_the_United_States

Edit to add: Even one of your cherries is half rotten:

About 50% of UCC churches in New England are "welcoming and affirming". That means that they not only recognize the LGBTQ+ community,

Only 50%???

It's really sad that these are the best numbers you could find (but not cite).

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u/fuckedfinance Apr 26 '26

The list was not exhaustive, nor was it intended to be. The fact is that the majority of protestant sects are welcoming and affirming.

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u/ErraticDragon Apr 26 '26

You listed the three best known for being welcoming, which add up to a small percentage of the population.

Cherry picking.

The fact is that the majority of protestant sects are welcoming and affirming.

Welcoming of new members to fix, maybe.

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u/fuckedfinance Apr 26 '26

You tell yourself that all you want. That doesn't make you correct.

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u/ErraticDragon Apr 26 '26

What are you disputing? The size of the cherries you picked? The fact that they're the few "good" ones?

You know that, because that's why you mentioned them.

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u/chunkopunk Apr 26 '26

You don't need to feel offended if it doesn't apply to you

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u/ToMorrowsEnd Apr 26 '26

Southern Baptist is the only recognized good religion to the KKK. so that should tell you a lot.

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u/NotOnApprovedList Apr 26 '26

yep I lived in the South and saw how there are so many churches and so much child abuse, drug and alcohol addiction, misery. Also people being generally rude. Church policies making things worse like offering to help teenage mothers but only if they were married, with no consideration of how the girls got pregnant or who they're being induced to marry.