Evangelical Christians are have historically been identified with a web of conservative values, attitudes, and beliefs that include such things as a salvation limited to Christian believers, a literal interpretation of the Bible, pro-life values, and ant-homosexuality. As we have seen in a series of posts, however, contemporary evangelicalism is far from monolithic; and while its adherents tend to resist (supposedly) change, they are changing. The changes are significant, and they include shifting attitudes towards homosexuality. Last month, we saw (here) that the Willow Creek Church now takes a more nuanced, balanced attitude regarding homosexuals, enough so that the church has come in for criticism by other evangelicals.Recent research conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) provides evidence that a generational shift is taking place in evangelical circles regarding homosexuality. In a summary entitled, "Generations at Odds: The Millennial Generation and the Future of Gay and Lesbian Rights," of a larger report (here), PRRI researchers report that, "Forty-four percent of white evangelical Millennials favor allowing gay and lesbian people to marry, compared to only 12% of evangelical seniors and 19% of evangelicals overall." "Millennials" are young adults aged 18 to 29. The difference in attitudes between young and older evangelicals mirrors a similar difference in American society generally where there is a widely documented shift in attitudes towards homosexuality. That is to say that in this important case changing social values are having a significant impact on young evangelicals just as they are among younger Americans generally.
