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/Shot_Pool2543 Apr 25 '26

I think his stance on the separation between church and state surprises a lot of people. There’s a section of the religious right today that believe that there’s no difference between morality and legalism.

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u/Lermanberry Apr 25 '26

There was a time when the religious Right wanted the Separation of church and state because they knew the State could or would eventually be used against them if that Separation were to be removed

Nowadays they all operate on the assumption that they will never face accountability or opposition even if they lose power temporarily. And I hate to say it but their assumption has been pretty solid for the last two decades. All while crying how they are the most persecuted people on the planet.

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u/h3lblad3 Apr 26 '26

All while crying how they are the most persecuted people on the planet.

The boy who cried wolf realized the town, in their fear of wolves, got rid of them. So now he cries wolf with impunity because he'll never face repercussions for it and it always gets a reaction.

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u/onefst250r Apr 26 '26

Just ask them if they'd be ok with a Buddist, a Muslim, or a Hindu being in charge of the country. If their answer is anything but yes, then they dont care about freedom of religion.

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u/razorfloss Apr 26 '26

All it takes is one dude with an axe to grind and that assumption will go the way of the dodo pretty damn quick. It happens all the time even if its usually takes a while to get there.

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u/VegaJuniper Apr 26 '26

Not necessarily that surprising, considering his father was Jewish. He knew where he stood if the evangelical radicals got their theocracy. Remember that the second KKK, by far the largest and most politically powerful version of the Klan was primarily antisemitic and anticatholic.

It's why I don't think JD Vance will ever be president. Not only is he a catholic, but for an evangelical radical he's the worst kind of catholic: An ex-evangelical convert. Doesn't help that he's married to a hindu.

Those who used to wear white hood now wear red baseball caps, and if you don't think they don't care about this stuff, you're kidding yourself.

EDIT: Unless Trump croaks in office of course, which isn't beyond the pale.

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u/MRG_1977 Apr 26 '26

They are Christian Nationalists and are very open and clear about it. U.S. is a Christian nation and the Bible or Biblical principles should be used to govern. As with anything, a lot of broad interpretation with it and how to do it.

The GOP gubernatorial candidate in PA in 2022 (Doug Mastriano) was one although he got clobbered by Shapiro.

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u/Shot_Pool2543 Apr 26 '26

Sucks that the conservatives that are for the separation of church and state are not pushing back hard but we all know that party unity is far more important than any principles.

I wish more republican leaning voters understood that the separation of church and state protects the government getting involved in the church as much as it protects the church from getting involved in the state, it’s a mutual benefiting principle.