Christian Fundamentalists or Atheists: Who do Progressive Christians Like or Hate More?

Abstract

This paper examines the propensity of theological, political, and/or denominational progressive Christians to have affinity or disaffinity towards Christian fundamentalist and atheists. Thermometer questions on the American National Election Studies assess how progressive Christians rank Christian fundamentalists and atheists. Theological and political progressive Christians are shown to have disaffinity toward, or dislike of, fundamentalist Christians and are relatively less likely to have affinity towards, or to like, conservative Christians while they are less likely to have disaffinity towards, or to not like, atheists. Political progressive Christians also tend to have affinity with atheists. Belonging to a progressive Christian denomination did not have any effects on the affinity/disaffinity towards either Christian fundamentalists or atheists. These relationships remain after application of social and demographic controls.|Keywords: progressive Christians, Christian Fundamentalists, Atheists, affinity, disaffinity