Results from a new LifeWay Research study show the number of Americans who think homosexuality is a sin has signficantly decreased in a year. Their survey taken in November 2012 found only 37 percent of American adults see homosexuality as a sin. In 2011, 44 percent of Americans agreed. And 17 percent of those in the 2012 survey said they didn’t know if homosexuality was a sin, an increase of 4 percent from last year.
President of LifeWay Research Ed Stetzer remarked, “There is a real and substantive shift, surprisingly large for a one-year timeframe — though this was hardly a normal year on this issue.” He suspects the evolution of cultural values was probably impacted by President Barack Obama’s pre-election change in position on gay marriage.
Stetzer also noted a connection between the survey findings and the recent controversy as pastor Louie Giglio withdrew from participating in the Obama’s inaugural ceremony over his stance on homosexuality. “The culture is clearly shifting on homosexuality and this creates a whole new issue: How will America deal with a minority view, strongly held by evangelicals, Catholics, Mormons, Muslims, and so many others?”
Indeed, 73 percent of those who self-identify as “born-again, fundamentalist, or evangelical” consider homosexual behavior a sin, as do 60 percent of Americans who attend church at least once weekly. Forty percent of those living in the southern United States also consider homosexuality a sin. Read more about this study here.
