Harnessing religious teachings to reduce sexual prejudice

ABSTRACT

Religion dictates the groups against whom it is seen as justifiable (even righteous) to express prejudice: often groups perceived of as violating core religious values. We review research demonstrating that for Christians, particularly conservative ones, religion seems to sanction prejudice against LGBT individuals. We describe the causes and the consequences of Christian/LGBT zero-sum beliefs (ZSBs): the extent to which gains for LGBT groups are seen as coming at a cost for Christians. We highlight how religious values can both exacerbate and mitigate ZSBs and sexual prejudice. When a Christian denomination decided to exclude gender and sexual minorities from full church participation, the Christians we interviewed disidentified with their denomination and strengthened commitment to their LGBTQ-friendly local congregations. Thus, we review how religious teachings can shape both group-based rejection and acceptance. We end with a discussion of educational programs for congregations, pastors, and methods to combat anti-LGBT bias.

KEYWORDS:

• Anti-LGBT bias
• Christian values
• zero-sum beliefs
• religious education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. This was a broad sample of Christians of various races and denominations recruited online through Mturk panels via TurkPrime (Litman et al., 2016).

2. In fact, Fundamentalist Christians (those who believe in literal Biblical truth; Smidt (1988)) do endorse ZSBs to a greater extent than mainline Christians (Wilkins et al., 2022).

3. This sample was of various races and denominations recruited online through the Mturk platform (described in footnote 1).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by a grant funded as part of the Self, Virtue and Public Life Project, a three-year research initiative based at the Institute for the Study of Human Flourishing at the University of Oklahoma. Funded with generous support from the Templeton Religion Trust.

Notes on contributors

Clara L. Wilkins

Clara L. Wilkins is an Associate Professor and holds the Earl R. Carlson Endowed Professorship in the department of Psychology at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on understanding inequality and how social hierarchies are maintained. She examines perceptions of bias against dominant social groups (e.g. anti-male, anti-White and anti-Christian bias) and how these perceptions affect intergroup relations and discrimination against disadvantaged groups (e.g. women, people of color and LGBTQ+ people).

Lerone A. Martin

Lerone A. Martin is Associate Professor of Religious Studies and the Martin Luther King, Jr., Centennial Chair and Director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University. Martin is the author of the award-winning Preaching on Wax: The Phonograph and the Making of Modern African American Religion (New York University Press, 2014). The book received the 2015 first book award by the American Society of Church History. His forthcoming book examines the relationship between the FBI and white Christian Nationalism and will be released by Princeton University Press February 2023.