Most Americans Don't Believe a 'Good Christian' Can Support Abortion or Gay Marriage

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Thursday, April 07, 2016

Congregants of Christ Episcopal Church stand inside the sanctuary during a service in this undated photo. | (Photo: Christ Episcopal Church)

Most Americans don't believe a person can be a "good Christian" and support abortion or same-sex marriage, according to results from a YouGov poll.

In a poll conducted earlier this month by YouGov, only 33 percent of respondents believed a person can be a good Christian and support abortion. The poll also found only 38 percent believed one can be a good Christian and support gay marriage.

The sample space for the study comprised of 1,000 respondents who were U.S. citizens aged 18 and older and interviewed online April 1-3.

The 'Gay Christian? Yes!' campaign seeks to incorporate openly gay Christians into Church worship. — The "Gay Christian? Yes!" campaign seeks to incorporate openly gay Christians into Church worship. | http://gaychristianyes.org/

Peter Moore of YouGov wrote Tuesday that the results of the study showed "attitudes to who is and is not a good Christian vary widely according to the topic, but less according to the denomination."

"Most American Christians think you can be a good Christian and drink while married to a non-Christian, but few think that you can be a good Christian and support legal abortion," wrote Moore.

In addition to categorizing respondents on the basis of political affiliation, race, and gender, researchers also noted differences by religion, especially among Catholic and Protestant respondents.

"Catholics tend to be more forgiving than Protestants. Sixty-seven percent of Catholics say you can be a good Christian and be married to a non-Christian, compared to 56 percent of Protestants," continued Moore.

"Thirty-seven percent of Catholics also say you can be a good Christian and also be in a same-sex relationship, compared to 27 percent of Protestants. [Protestants] (29 percent) are more tolerant of supporting legal abortion than Catholics (20 percent), however."

When asked about whether one could be a good Christian and support gay marriage, 38 percent of respondents said "yes," 39 percent said "no," and 23 percent said "not sure."

When asked about supporting legal abortion and being a good Christian, 33 percent of respondents said "yes," 41 percent said "no," and 26 percent said they were "unsure."

Party affiliation played a major difference in the results. For example, while 49 percent of Democrats said one can be a good Christian and support legal abortion, only 16 percent of Republicans said the same.

When asked if one can be a good Christian and support gay marriage, 53 percent of Democrat respondents said "yes" while only 18 percent of Republican respondents answered the same.

Political independents fell about midway between Democrat and Republican respondents, with a minority of independents saying one can be a good Christian and support gay marriage (36 percent) or legal abortion (29 percent).