US Centre 2018 Student Essay competition winner: 'the existential crisis at the heart of white evangelicalism'

Religious rigidity has historically been one of the key fortifiers of White Evangelicalism but in 2018 it also poses its greatest existential threat. Rafae Qazi writes that, as diversity of race, sexuality and religion rises, the social cost of adhering to increasingly socially incongruous beliefs such as that on same sex marriage will also rise. Whilst 71 percent of older evangelicals support this traditionalist outlook, droves of young white evangelicals are disaffiliating, with 60 percent citing lack of faith and 29 percent specifically stating the church’s’ view on the LGBT community as a prominent cause for disaffiliation. The White Evangelical church may be towering over US politics in 2018, but it appears that its long term influence is on a serious decline.