When conservative Christian activist groups are called hateful or placed on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s hate map, they claim innocence and reverse the charge: “The real haters are those people who say we’re hateful.”
“You are not hateful or close-minded. That is the lie they want you to believe. Reject the messaging,” Focus on the Family’s Glenn Stanton tells evangelicals. “You simply believe what Jesus taught.”
Family Research Council, founded by Focus on the Family four decades ago, agrees: “This isn’t about ‘hate’ — it’s about silencing biblical truth and targeting Christians who stand firm in their faith.”
But can claims of hate be dismissed so easily? Here’s a look at some of the main issues.
Americans have negative views of evangelicals
Activist evangelicals are correct about one thing: Many Americans don’t like them very much. In its 2023 survey of Americans’ attitudes about religion, Pew Research confirmed an earlier trend: Although Pew didn’t specifically address hate, views of evangelicals are trending downward.
The 2023 survey found 32% of nonevangelicals had negative views of evangelicals, compared with 18% of nonevangelicals who viewed evangelicals favorably. Christianity Today reported on the Pew study with a masterful headline: “Evangelicals are the most beloved U.S. faith group among evangelicals. And among the worst-rated by everybody else.”
Some evangelicals might comfort themselves by thinking, “If only people really knew us, they would love us.” Not so ….
Some evangelicals might comfort themselves by thinking, “If only people really knew us, they would love us.” Not so, Pew’s study said.
“Evangelicals’ critical reception wasn’t the result of a lack of familiarity,” Christianity Today reported. “Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they personally know someone who is an evangelical Christian.”
Why the negative views?
The James Dobson Family Institute devoted two July broadcasts to the topic, “When Culture Hates You.”
“Instead of being seen as being wrong, we’re seen as being evil,” noted author Natasha Crain, the featured guest on the broadcasts. “We’re seen as being morally problematic with our beliefs. And we are toxic. We are haters.”
Natasha Crain (Facebook)
Crain didn’t cite any specific examples of such hatred, but surveys over the past decade suggest evangelical culture warring over abortion and sexuality is a factor in both growing social division and declining church membership.
Crain seems to acknowledge Jesus told his followers, “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9). But she warned against an unbiblical mindset that says Christians should be “nice.”
“I think that when we get into the mindset of people feeling like, ‘Well, I don’t want to cause problems, right? I’m supposed to be a peacemaker. I’m supposed to be nice.’ Well, we’re not causing problems according to biblical standards if what we’re doing is speaking God’s truth,” she said.
How do evangelicals define hate?
Conservative evangelicals who defend their own inflammatory comments about transgender people can be quick to label their ideological opponents as haters.
What about Americans, including committed Christians, who oppose Oklahoma’s efforts to inject religion into public schools? “They’re teaching kids to hate their country; they’re teaching kids to hate their faith,” Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s state education superintendent, said in a Focus on the Family article.
What about Americans who support transgender athletes? “It seems that intense political hatred and bias have blinded many to the greater needs and concerns of female athletes,” Focus said in another article labeling opponents as haters.
The Family Research Council used faulty logic to claim hatred for Christians spawned recent killings in a church.
The Family Research Council used faulty logic to claim hatred for Christians spawned recent killings in a church. “Violence toward Christians continues with deadly shooting in Kentucky,” FRC claimed. But the claim is not all it seems.
FRC is right about one thing: A man walked into a Kentucky church with a gun, killing two women and injuring three other people. But the pro-family group’s report failed to include some relevant family information. The killer went to the church not because he hated believers but because he wanted to shoot his estranged wife. That was Sunday. On Monday, he was scheduled to go to court for a domestic violence case.
FRC omitted the domestic dispute at the heart of the killing so it could claim the deaths were part of a larger pattern of hatred for believers. “It’s heartbreaking to see churches targeted by acts of violence,” David Closson, director of Family Research Council’s Center for Biblical Worldview, said.
“When churches (and Christians) are targeted, as tragic and outrageous as it is, it aligns with what Jesus told us to expect — opposition from a world that resists the light of the gospel,” Closson pointed out. “Jesus himself warned his followers in John 15 that ‘the world hates you’ because it first hated him. He went on to say in John 16:2 that ‘a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.’ These words were spoken to prepare his disciples for the reality of living faithfully in a fallen world.”
The Trump factor
“Give now to help respond to the growing anti-Christian hate, and equip millions of Christians to respond,” a fundraising solicitation from the American Family Association pleaded.
“Recently, a survey of 1,200 American adults showed that 55 percent of ‘left of center’ respondents thought that assassinating Donald Trump was justifiable,” the solicitation letter continued. “We Christians, too, are in the crosshairs.
“The ‘Trump assassination survey’ echoes a sociological study of over 6,500 Americans, which revealed what researchers called “Christianophobia,” an irrational hatred of conservative Christians by a large segment of the left.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is rushed offstage during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania.. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“People with such hatred often told researchers that they wished for death or torture of people like you and me.”
Donors will receive a “Culture Warrior” T-shirt as a thank you.
You don’t need hatred of Christianity to explain one of the biggest reasons many Americans have negative feelings about evangelicals today: Without evangelical voters, Trump never would have been elected president.
An April survey from Pew showed white evangelicals stood out for their support of Trump:
- 72% approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president
- 69% rate the ethics of top Trump administration officials as excellent or good
- 57% say they trust what Trump says more than what previous presidents said.
A July 24 Gallup poll showed Trump’s approval rating sank from 47% when he began his second term to a 37% approval rate in midsummer.
The American Family Association is just one of the activist evangelical groups using the assassination attempts against Trump as a way to encourage believers to embrace his fighting spirit.
“One year since Butler, hatred still rages,” one Focus article said.
“The fighting Christian is not a contradiction” proclaimed a Focus on the Family article illustrated with a color photo of Trump with raised fist and blood-splattered face in Bulter, Pa., after surviving his assassination attempt.
Defending Christians being “judgy”
How do you feel when a complete stranger tells you you’re too fat? James Dobson’s organization wants more believers to nag unbelievers about their perceived shortcomings.
Jesus and the Apostle Paul taught against judgmentalism (Matthew 7:1, Romans 2:1). But Dobson’s “When Culture Hates You” broadcasts suggested too many Christians “are worried about being, you know, judgy.”
Program host Roger Marsh suggested believers should embrace their judgy side, even if such behavior elicits claims that believers are hateful.
“When you bring that to their attention, it’s like, hey, it’s you almost feel like you’re the medical professional who’s pointing out to somebody they might be a few pounds overweight, and they don’t want to hear it,” he said. “So, therefore, you’re filled with hate speech and, you know, evil rhetoric instead of saying, ‘Well, no, I’m just suggesting if you do a caloric deficit, you might actually lose a few pounds and that’ll prolong your life.’ I mean, that’s all we’re looking for.”
Dobson, now 89 and semi-retired, no longer hosts his ministry’s radio shows.
Steve Rabey is a freelance religion writer based in Colorado. He holds a Master of Arts degree in church history from Denver Seminary.
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