Pew: How Many Americans Would Be Happy If Their Child Married a ‘Born-Again’ Christian

New survey finds even liberals largely favor Christians over other types of marriage partners.

Most Americans would rather have their children marry “born-again Christians” than atheists or other types of marriage partners, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center.

Across ideological lines, 1 out of 3 Americans (32 percent) say they would be happy if an immediate family member married a born-again Christian. Meanwhile, only nine percent of all Americans say such a marriage would make them unhappy.

While trends carried across ideological boundaries, the results from Pew’s study of U.S. political polarization varied considerably between liberals and conservatives.

More than half of “consistently conservative” Americans (57 percent) would be happy to have a born-again Christian in the family, while only 16 percent of “consistently liberal” Americans say the same. By comparison, 27 percent of the most liberal Americans were unhappy at the thought, as were only 3 percent of the most conservative.

By contrast, the prospect of an atheist marrying into the family produced less happy feelings. About half (49 percent) of all Americans would be unhappy if an immediate family member married someone who didn’t believe in God. Only four percent said such a marriage would make them happy. The remaining 47 percent said it didn’t matter.

Likewise, nearly three in four “consistently conservative” Americans were unhappy at the prospect of an immediate family member’s marriage to an atheist (73 percent), while far fewer “consistently liberal” Americans felt the same (24 percent). The most liberal Americans are about evenly split on spiritual and secular additions to their family: 16 percent would be happy with a “born-again” Christian …