Post by M. Hawbaker on Aug 29, 2019 14:21:10 GMT
Just after the midterm elections in November 2018, Mark Regnerus asked three groups—Catholics, Evangelical Protestants, and the non-religious—about their opinions relating to marriage, family, and sexuality. He compared their responses with those from a survey he conducted three years prior.
What Regnerus found was that the nonreligious are now even more likely to hold “progressive” views on marriage, family, and sexuality, especially when compared to self-identified Catholics and Evangelicals.
For instance, 24 percent of the non-religious agreed with the statement “marriage is outdated,” compared to just 10 percent of Catholics and 2 percent of Evangelicals. Similarly, the non-religious were three times more likely to say that polyamorous relations were okay compared to Catholics and ten times more likely compared to Evangelicals. And, the non-religious were eight times as likely as Evangelicals to say that “sometimes extra-marital sex can be okay.”
What Regnerus found was that the nonreligious are now even more likely to hold “progressive” views on marriage, family, and sexuality, especially when compared to self-identified Catholics and Evangelicals.
For instance, 24 percent of the non-religious agreed with the statement “marriage is outdated,” compared to just 10 percent of Catholics and 2 percent of Evangelicals. Similarly, the non-religious were three times more likely to say that polyamorous relations were okay compared to Catholics and ten times more likely compared to Evangelicals. And, the non-religious were eight times as likely as Evangelicals to say that “sometimes extra-marital sex can be okay.”
Of course, the strong relationship between one’s religious observance and their view on marriage, family, and sex is no surprise. What makes Regnerus’ study so revealing is how rapidly the number of those who self-identify as non-religious has increased. In 2015, they made up 15 percent of the respondents. Four years later, they made up twenty percent, a one-third increase in only four years.
But the even more “ominous” trend from this study is that even though there exists a significant disparity in views between the religious and non-religious, the religious are displaying trends of increasing liberalization too. “Catholics… have witnessed liberalization in attitudes,” Mark says, though “Evangelical numbers display a more modest uptick.” Regnerus concludes that Christians seem to be growing more complicit in the Sexual Revolution, or at least more quiet about their misgivings, year by year.
