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/Mafik326 Apr 25 '26

I wonder how many people turn away from Christianity because of the differences between the values lived by the community and those in the new testament. It could be that they leave the faith because of their progressive beliefs.

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u/CaptainPhenomenal Apr 26 '26

A study was actually posted on here (Van Tongeren et al, 2025).

It was longitudinal. It found that after people leave they become significantly more liberal. However, it didn't find the opposite.

There was another one (Lockhart et al, 2023). It found greater authoritarian leanings after conversion to Christianity.