Intense Christian faith now correlates with rather than reduces racial prejudice

Evidence

Also contrary to Myrdal’s view, intense Christian faith now seems to promote racial prejudice rather than conflict with it. Evangelical Christians are higher in symbolic racism than any other White Americans, and White Southern Christian fundamentalists are the highest in the nation. Southern fundamentalists also show stronger opposition to policies intended to increase racial equality than do either other White Southerners or Northern fundamentalists. This exceptionally high opposition is due to their high levels of symbolic racism (Sears & Valentino, 2002). — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2189 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

The consistent negative association between scores on the Quest scale and measures of prejudice, including nonproscribed and covertly measured prejudice, would likely please Allport. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2560 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Furthermore, it is important to note that although we examined the causal relation of religion with prejudice, we did not examine bidirectionality. Our finding that religious priming increases prejudice does not preclude the possibility of the reverse relation. For example, prejudice might move people to seek and accept a value system (such as religion) that is consistent with their beliefs. Thus, future research could benefit from experimental studies to understand whether the reverse relation also exists. — Alexandra Snell, Miron Zuckerman, and Bonnie M. Le, Does Religious Priming Induce Greater…, 107 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Racial prejudice peaks among moderate rather than frequent church attendees — Deborah L. Hall and David C. Matz and Wendy Wood, Why Don’t We Practice What We Preach? A…, 84; Parallel civic and church catechisms fused white supremacy onto Christian formation. — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 364; Racism predicts white Christian identity better than church attendance does — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 543 (+14 more)

Broader Connections

• Evangelical Christianity predicts higher symbolic racism among White Americans #exemplifies (0.92) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2189
• Quest-scale religiosity correlates negatively with prejudice even covertly measured #complicates (0.80) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2560
• Prejudice may drive people toward religion, not only vice versa #complicates (0.78) — Alexandra Snell, Miron Zuckerman, and Bonnie M. Le, Does Religious Priming Induce Greater…, 107