Is Christianity under attack in the United States? For a growing number of white evangelical Christians, the answer is yes, but that’s not the only major change in how they understand discrimination in America today.
In 2009, the year America swore in the country’s first Black president, most white evangelical Christians rejected the notion that they were experiencing widespread discrimination. Only about four in ten (42 percent) white evangelicals said that “evangelical Christians” in the U.S. faced a lot of discrimination. Over the next decade, views shifted rapidly. By the time of Trump’s election in 2016, most white evangelicals said they were experiencing a lot of discrimination, and by 2023 it became generally accepted—60 percent now believe evangelical Christians are regularly discriminated against.
Over the same period, evangelicals’ perceptions of discrimination faced by gay and lesbian people decreased. Today, only 39 percent of white evangelicals say gay and lesbian people …
