Perception or Paranoia?

White evangelicals in the United States are living a paradox, according to a study by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research Inc. Seventy-two percent of white evangelical Christians feel hostility from the mainstream media, yet more than 75 percent of evangelical Christians also believe they are the mainstream, the study found.

"When we speak of ‘evangelicals under siege’ or as an ‘embattled minority,’ there is some sense of attack and victimization," said the 20-page report.

• 77% of white evangelical Christians believe they are part of mainstream American society.
• 57% of white non-Christians think evangelicals are a part of the mainstream.
• 75% of white evangelical Christians believe media is hostile to their moral and spiritual values, as opposed to 30% of white non-Christians.
• 76% of white evangelicals believe they have to fight hard for their voice to be heard by the mainstream, in contrast to 36% of white non-Christians.
• 47% of white evangelicals feel that evangelicals are looked down upon by most Americans.
• 38% of white non-Christians think evangelicals are looked down upon.

Source: Evangelicals in America, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research Inc., April 2004