This just in* from Pew: 56 percent of mainline Protestants think homosexuality should be accepted. That's Episcopalians/Anglicans, Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians. And here's a pleasant surprise: 40 percent of Baptists.
To be sure, evangelical acceptance remains low, at 26 percent. But the days of the cobra-mongoose relationship between Christianity and homosexuality are ending faster than even many of us appreciate.
* Actually, it's 2007 data. What would the numbers look like today?
6 Comments for “Mainline Protestants Accept Gays”
posted by Bobby on
They can do whatever they want, I’m not going to church until the following happens:
1. I want showtunes.
2. I want more comfortable pews.
3. Have church at a decent hour.
4. Drop the dress code, I don’t need to impress God, he knows what I look like naked.
5. I wan a dating service, I’m not wasting time going to church unless they can hook me up with someone.
6. Have nice desserts after service
posted by Dan L on
The statistic for American Baptists really should not be terribly surprising. Keep in mind that it’s not 40% “of baptists”, it’s 40% of American Baptists. The American Baptist denomination is the descendant of the old Northern Baptists when the denomination split over slavery during the civil war, and thus excludes both Southern Baptists and National Baptists (a predominantly African-American denomination). American Baptists constitute only a relatively small fraction of these, with about 1.5 million members compared to the Southern Baptists, who have some 16 million, and the National Baptists with 8 million. American Baptists have long been considered quite moderate (hence their longtime status as a “mainline denomination”) and the image of the hellfire and brimstone baptist preacher is purely a Southern Baptist phenomenon.
Indeed, American Baptists have lately been engaged in a relatively fierce internal battle over homosexuality, with the more conservative southwestern region of the denomination actually formally withdrawing to set up its own group, “Transformational Ministries”, over the denomination’s failure to take a hard line on the issue. Given the intensity of the debate (whereas for Southern Baptists, by comparison, there is no debate)–and given the relative success of the liberal faction in preventing the kind of hard line the conservatives seek–the number of 40% is probably about what I would expect.
posted by SM on
“But the days of the cobra-mongoose relationship between Christianity and homosexuality are ending faster than even many of us appreciate.”
So are the dying-out “mainline” Protestant churches, who now make up less than 8 percent of the population.
posted by Amicus on
Does any one have statistics for Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians, not the hierarchy but the people who do sit in the pews, comfortable or otherwise, every Sunday?
posted by revchicoucc on
SM, the Pew U. S. Religious Landscape Survey from which this data is taken reports that 18.1% of Americans self-identify as Mainline Protestants. Where do you get your 8% number?
posted by revchicoucc on
American Protestant Christianity is a hugely diverse landscape. Every group mentioned in the original post has multiple expressions and every group listed is divided in some way over acceptance of homosexuality. Also, the question in the Pew study asked if homosexuality should be accepted by society, not if homosexual persons should be accepted by the church. People can accept lots of things in society if they believe it won’t really impact them. There’s still plenty of snakes in the grass on this one and they will not go away without a fight.
BTW, I’m an openly gay pastor in the United Church of Christ, arguably the most affirming of GLBT people of all the mainline denominations. Please don’t leave us off the list. My UCC congregation supported my presiding at same-gender weddings when the window was open in California. A United Methodist colleague received a mild rebuke from her bishop for presiding at such.