Patriotism Looks Different To Christians
Patriotism Self-Assessment
Six out of every ten Americans (59%) characterize themselves as either “extremely” (23%) or “very” (36%) patriotic. About one out of four adults took the middle ground, claiming to be “somewhat” patriotic (28%), while the rest of the public were either less patriotic or not sure.
Conservatives are far more likely than other people to characterize themselves as extremely patriotic – in fact, about twice as likely to do so than either moderates or liberals.
Conservatives (78%) and Republicans (81%) were more likely than their political counterparts to describe themselves as either “extremely” or “very” patriotic. Far lower on the continuum, but similar to each other, were Moderates (52%) and liberals (51%), with independents (57%) slightly more likely than Democrats (52%) to define themselves as at least “very patriotic.”
People associated with the Christian faith rated themselves higher in terms of personal patriotism (64% extremely or very patriotic) than did those associated with non-Christian faiths (38%) or with no faith (40%). Within the Christian universe, Protestant Christians rated themselves more highly on the patriotism scale than did Catholics.
White adults were more likely than non-white adults to consider themselves to be patriotic. While two-thirds of whites (65%) said they were either extremely or very patriotic, the same designations were embraced by about half of Hispanics (53%) and a minority of blacks (44%).
Most adults sense a decline in patriotism in the U.S. Overall, just one out of every eight adults (13%) claims patriotism is on the rise while half of the nation believes it is waning. (About one-quarter says it is stable, and one-tenth did not know.) Since most Americans think of themselves as highly patriotic, clearly the problem is “them” – those other Americans who don’t get it.
When the political views and commitments of respondents are taken into consideration, the results of these questions assume a somewhat different pallor. For instance, conservatives (62%) are far more likely than either moderates (49%) or liberals (36%) to perceive that Americans are becoming less patriotic.
National Pride and Commitments are Lukewarm
Most American adults have lukewarm or ambiguous views regarding their commitments to their country and its governance.
Slightly less than half “completely” embrace the idea that they “feel proud to be an American.” Another one-third (36%) say that description is “mostly accurate.” Two-thirds of Republicans and conservatives say it is “completely accurate” to describe them as being proud to be American. In contrast, less than half of the people in the other major political subgroups (moderates, liberals, Democrats, and independents) embrace that depiction.
Other groups that rated above the norm on the “American pride” measure were adults 65 or older (64%), born again Christians (56%), and whites (49%). Those who were notably unlikely to claim such pride included Skeptics (28%) and adults under 30 years of age (34%).
A mere 8% said they “always trust the government to do the right thing.” Very few adults, regardless of party affiliation or ideology, maintain such trust in the government’s choices. Liberals were slightly more likely to possess this faith than anyone else (12%), but that amounts to just one out of eight people. The other people group prone to have relatively greater trust (13%) was Millennials. Lagging the field in trust of the government performance was the 65-plus crowd (2%).
Despite that limited trust in government, just three out of ten adults (29%) say are accurately described as wanting the government to stay out of their life. A shockingly small proportion of the populace strongly affirms the idea of keeping the government out of their life, ranging from one-third of Republicans, independents, and conservatives to one-quarter of moderates, liberals, and Democrats. Notably, there was no faith, age, or racial segment for which even four out of ten respondents completely agreed that they want the government to stay out of their life – thus a tacit admission that a majority still believes that government can add some value to their life.
How confusing are the times? According to the survey, they’re so confusing and complex that most Americans are aware of, and willing to admit, that their political views are not “clear and unchanging.” Three-quarters of adults recognize their ambiguity on political matters. None of the six political segments evaluated had a majority claiming that their political views are “clear and unchanging.” Uncertainty and flexibility are common among all of these voter groups. The fact that no age, racial, or religious segment of the population has more than one-third who claim their political views are clear and unchanging is testimony to the fact that regarding political matters these days people are either ill-informed, disinterested, or confused about – or, perhaps, meet all of those conditions.
Although more than seven out of ten adults acknowledge that there is a culture war raging for the hearts, minds, and souls of Americans, relatively few people are sufficiently engaged in that battle to describe themselves as “culture warriors.” Only one out of every eight adults (12%) strongly affirmed their standing as a “culture warrior.” In fact, a larger share of the public (19%) wholeheartedly rejects that self-description, calling it a “completely inaccurate” portrayal.
Liberals (22%) were more than twice as likely as conservatives (10%) and moderates (9%) to describe themselves as culture warriors. Perhaps because of the sharp and omnipresent partisan differences in the U.S. there was a much smaller gap in this perception between Republicans (13%) and Democrats (17%). The people most likely to view themselves as a culture warrior are adults aligned with a non-Christian faith; non-whites; and Millennials. Those who are least likely to claim that label are whites, born again Christians, and people 50-plus.
Patriotism and the American experience are comprised of many components. In assessing some of the more widely recognized elements, the survey discovered that nearly nine out of ten adults (87%) consider freedom of speech to be personally “very meaningful.” Not far behind in perceived value were freedom of religion (very meaningful to 82%), citizenship (81%), and the Constitution (80%).
Lesser proportions of adults, but a large majority nevertheless – roughly two-thirds of the public – identified three other elements as very meaningful to them. Those included the American flag (70%), the national anthem (65%), and the pledge of allegiance (65%).
About six out of ten adults deemed the Bible (60%) and the right to bear arms (57%) to be very meaningful to them.
- Conservatives registered the highest score – i.e., were the most likely to say each item evaluated was “very meaningful” to them – on each of the nine elements tested. The lone exception related to freedom of speech, which liberals were equally passionate about.
- Liberals had a radically different profile from conservatives on the significance of these items. Liberals were 20 points less likely to consider citizenship personally very meaningful and 27 points less likely to assign high value to the right to bear arms. They were even less likely to attach meaning to the American flag (30 points less), the pledge of allegiance (33 points lower), the national anthem (36 points lower), and the Bible (38 points lower). This is reflective of the substantially different worldviews held by conservatives and liberals.
- The differences across party lines were less substantial than those related to ideology. While Republicans were notably more likely to revere the Constitution than were either Democrats or independents, all three segments had a similar level of respect for citizenship, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion.
Faith inclinations clearly make a profound difference in how people see the country, and in their responses to what is most meaningful to them. The close tie between being born again and assigning great meaning to the signs, symbols, and provisions of American freedom and greatness are strong and undeniable. When compared to three other faith segments – Notional Christians (i.e., not born again but consider themselves to be Christian), adults aligned with a non-Christian faith, and Skeptics – born again adults emerged as the group that was far-and-away most impacted by the nine elements tested in the survey. They ranked highest among the faith segments on all nine of the elements tested. Skeptics were at the bottom of the ranking for seven of the nine elements, more positive than other groups only in relation to the right to bear arms (on which non-Christian faith adherents ranked lowest).
Whites were more likely than non-whites to characterize most of the elements to be personally very meaningful. The major exception, strangely, was the Bible, which blacks were far more likely than anyone else to revere. The freedoms of speech and religion were generally hailed by all three of the major racial/ethnic groups. Blacks were noteworthy for their very low score awarded to how meaningful they find the national anthem and the pledge of allegiance.
The age group that found these items to be least meaningful was Millennials. Among the age groups, they generated the lowest score on six of the nine items. There was little difference for most of the elements evaluated between the 50-to-64 and the 65-plus groups. However, there was a significant difference in points of view between those under 50 and those 50-plus. The latter had higher scores for each of the items studied except one: the right to bear arms! In that case, 59% of the people under 50 said that right was personally very meaningful compared to 53% among those 50 or older. . . . Read More!
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George Barna, Executive Director of the American Culture & Faith Institute & provided the ARRA News Service the above research report.
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