Only one group of Americans has become less accepting of homosexuality in the past 2 years

[joeybee12]

On Monday, the Pew Research Center released the results of a new survey on how Americans view homosexuality.

One question asked respondents whether homosexuality should be accepted or discouraged by society. Pew broke down responses to this question by a number of demographic, political, and religious factors and compared results from this year's survey to a similar survey from March 2013.

In almost every one of the groups Pew broke out, the percentage of respondents who said homosexuality should be accepted increased over the past two years. This was the case for men and women, each of the generational cohorts Pew looked at, and each of the four major religious groups in the breakout.

The only group that had a decrease in the percentage of respondents who believed society should accept homosexuality was conservative Republicans. Each of the other political subgroups, including moderate and liberal Republicans, saw an increase in that percentage between March 2013 and May 2015.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/only-one-group-americans-become-224300984.html

[Betty Karlson]

1. And that's because homophobia is rapidly becoming

one of the litmus tests of BEING a so-called conservative Republican. Give GLBT-s the time of day, and you're instantly suspected of being a moderate.

[kenfrequed]

3. Definitely

And it looks like the positive movements of almost all groups speaks to their diminishing influence over society. Which is a good thing.

[central scrutinizer]

10. moderate and a Xtian persecuter

Restore Religious Freedom, goddamit!

[Betty Karlson]

13. I hadn't realised that the level of pretend-victimhood

among pretend-christians had reached such depths that they now intimate giving the time of day to someone GLBT equals persecution of their pretend-faith.

But if it has, it would signal an imminent break-up of the GOP between the clearly insane and the pretend-sane. I'd welcome that.

[kenfrequed]

2. This is very telling.

They are probably a drag on all cross category designations. i.e. adherants of religious groups that happen to also be conservative republicans. The good thing is that despite this inevitable drag the numbers are still gradually going in the right direction.

[YoungDemCA]

4. This is among the many reasons for why the GOP must be stopped

The right-wingers dominate the GOP in basically every part of the country and at the national level. In certain regions, there are no "liberal" or "moderate" Republicans left.

We need to win in 2016, break the grip of the right-wing Roberts Court, and take back some Governorships, state legislatures, and both houses of Congress. People's lives and quality of life are depending on it.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

40. Then there's that other study....

The one where Republicans in Congress thought their districts were far more conservative than they actually are.

It just SOUNDS like there are a lot of them because they have an echo chamber.

[AZ Progressive]

5. This poll shows the only religious group that has a problem with gay people is....

White Evangelical Protestants of course, with approval at 33% compared to 61% disapproval

White Mainline Protestants approve of gay people by 72 to 22, followed by Catholics at 64 to 28. Unaffiliated is 88 to 8 percent.

[6chars]

6. Their old road is rapidly agin'

Please get out of the new one if you can't lend a hand. etc.

(directed to the people who have a problem with gay people, not to the posters on this thread, of course)

[OldEurope]

14. Welcome to DU

And yes, the times they are a-changing.

[jtuck004]

19. Because all those racist police departments are not manned by twenty-somethings, eh? n/t

[6chars]

20. that old road isn't agin' rapidly enough

this thread was about homophobia, and that road is rapidly agin'

[jtuck004]

21. Or perhaps it's just people looking for an easier way than reality. I have been hearing

about how things are gonna get better for this group or that for 60 years, reading about it further back than that.

More often it's just pie in the sky. We shall see.

And, btw, the OP is about people practicing hate. Apparently that never gets old.

[6chars]

23. reality is not an easy way.

i think on homophobia, there is a definite change. on race, my belief is that younger people are on average a lot better than older generations but that still leaves a lot of hate - and that combined with militarization of police and authority worship have made for a particularly bad problem these days. Here's to all that getting old.

[whatthehey]

7. Which sounds promising, until you remember evangelicals far far outnumber "mainline" Protestants

That latter name is I know both old and set in local parish terminology not demographics, but it's very con..veeeen..ient how it also implies the utter bullshit that they are the normal mass of Protestants and Evangelicals are a tiny fringe group.

In reality there are more than 30,000,000 MORE Evangelicals than "Mainline" Protestants, and the latter is shrinking quickly while the former is growing. Evangelical Protestants are the largest single religious bloc in the country, and drive almost all religious conversation in the US because of their exponentially better communications and outreach machines. Quite simply they CARE more about how Christianity is perceived than the kinder gentler Kumbaya merchants, who then blame the rest of us for responding to that violently bigoted and regressive image.

If the Spongites and the Armstrong sycophants want Christianity to be perceived in their lights not as a collection of homophobic fundy literalists, they should get off their collective ecumenical asses and put some skin in the game like the fire and brimstone fools did for decades. If you want to blame someone for the growing ill-repute in which Christianity is perceived, blame the people who let the loons talk for them without remonstrance long ago when Mainline really was Mainstream. instead of the dying irrelevancy it is in Christianity today.

[kiri]

16. excellent! thanks

[tanbrown]

25. Please be careful with your assumptions

I have been very close to mainstream Islam (it's an anchor of my family).

If you are only noticing the gay-hatred of conservative Christians, that's only because Muslims are not well represented in the polls. The religion is fundamentalist - meaning that a sine qua non of Islam is believing that the Quran is the actual direct word of God. There is no wiggle room. The story of Lut (Lot) is clear: in Islam gays are not merely sinners; they are criminals whom Allah wants thrown to their death from rooftops.

I don't know the ultra-orthodox Jewish viewpoint but I am curious if it similar - since mainstream Islam and ultra-orthodox Judaism share a lot of (legalistic, homophobic, woman-hating, male-dominant) ground with the extremes of Christian fundamentalism.

I post this because I am angry that open minded liberals suspend their minds and bend over backward to embrace gay-hating, woman-squashing minority religions. As a survivor of modern "moderate" Islam, I am trying to put out the word to all who are as mindlessly embracing as I once was. Please heed me: Islam 2015 is not your friend, any more than the Duggars are. No fundamentalists are your friend.

Far-right Christianity is one religious threat to gays. But is not the only threat. Ask any gay Muslim who isn't yet murdered.

[sulphurdunn]

38. The dark spirit of religious

fundamentalism is One. Only the doctrines and rituals are different.

[Ex Lurker]

42. You won't get many comments on this, I'll wager

but I'll K&R.

[NCTraveler]

8. K&R. Thanks for the read. nt.

[Sheepshank]

9. It seems that every time Conservative Reps are on the wrong side of history

the dig in their heels even more...and try and convince everyone else to change. I guess it's the only way to validate their prehistoric stand on so many social issues. it's the only way to actually garner a "win". Poor idiots lose so very often.

[valerief]

11. What is a moderate or liberal Republican? Someone who's socially liberal but doesn't want to

help you when you're starving?

[skepticscott]

17. That was my question too

I'm not sure how the support of the 8 moderate Republicans and 3 liberal Republicans left in the country helps very much. Especially since the three who call themselves both liberal and Republican are certifiably nuts.

[Eleanors38]

18. Yeah, that puzzled me, too.

[Jamaal510]

22. I had a POSCI class

with one this past Spring who said that he's not so much interested in their extreme social stances, and that he liked Jon Huntsman and Cathy McMorris Rogers.

[valerief]

27. At least, Huntsman supports an increase in federal minimum wage, but he's a flat taxer and

supports school freakin' vouchers. Rogers is anti-Obamacare.

Yeah, they let the hungry starve.

[hifiguy]

31. The Sensible Centrist Woodchucks awho now call themselves Democrats.

But they are not Democrats.

[valerief]

33. a la azure canines

[The2ndWheel]

12. Diversity in action

[Arugula Latte]

15. That's funny. I'm becoming less and less accepting of rightwing Republicans.

[Dont call me Shirley]

24. My town is littered with RWCFundy churches and more being added weekly.

Those "pastors" sure know where the suckers live. And take full advantage of that.

[hifiguy]

30. Mr Clemens?

[Dont call me Shirley]

34. There's a wise man.

[hifiguy]

35. There is a great Mark Twain quote for nearly any occasion.

Especially when one is confronted with stupidity,

[Dont call me Shirley]

39. Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level then beat you with their

experience. ~ Mark Twain

[douggg]

26. "conservative Republicans" oppose homosexuality in public but

as Hastert and many other "conservative Republicans" show, they kind of like it in private.

[MrModerate]

28. Where did they find any "Moderate" and "Liberal" Republicans?

I thought they were extinct.

[hifiguy]

29. They have never been right about anything

and their unbroken record remains so. They stand atop the train of moral progress screaming "STOP! GO BACKWARDS!" just as they always have.

[daredtowork]

32. That also might work the other way around

People decide to become Republicans because that party gives shelter for their bigotry.

In the end, though, it's an issue of patriarchy. The Republicans don't believe in social safety nets. That puts more pressure on women to marry (which abets male supremacy since this gives them the upper hand in choosing among desperate women). The "wrongness" of homosexuality is about competing family models. There isn't nearly as much sturm and drang over women's sexual orientations.

If women's independence were shored up to the point where she didn't have to give a flying f about men, then you would see a lot less clinginess about traditional marriages. The reason there is more tolerance and diversity in urban coastal areas is that there are more professional opportunities that give women more freedom of choice. When women aren't forced to rely on men, suddenly they don't care who men are having sex with.

Yet another benefit of fixing the social safety net.

[rpannier]

36. liberal republicans???

That would be a 0% in both directions
There aren't any liberal republicans

[IronLionZion]

37. Freepers are even blaming the gays for Denny Hastert

Many of them insist that it is a mental illness and it's highly contagious so watch your kids!

[Spitfire of ATJ]

41. The National Review claimed the media should focus on Hillary "scandals".....

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/419087/no-time-hillary-scandals-because-every-reporter-everywhere-covering-dennis-hastert

[Helen Borg]

43. You mean, the 70+ year olds that watch Fox News?

Something tells me that won't be a problem for long!