Both non-practicing and churchgoing Christians are more likely than the unaffiliated to hold negative views of immigrants, Muslims and Jews
The Pew Center survey,
which was conducted following a surge of immigration to Europe from
Muslim-majority countries, asked many questions about national identity,
religious pluralism and immigration.
Most Western Europeans say they are willing to accept Muslims and Jews in their neighbourhoods and in their families, and most reject negative statements about these groups. And, on balance, more respondents say immigrants are honest and hardworking than say the opposite.
But a clear pattern emerges: Both
church-attending and non-practicing Christians are more likely than
religiously unaffiliated adults in Western Europe to voice
anti-immigrant and anti-minority views.
For example, in the UK, 45% of
church-attending Christians say Islam is fundamentally incompatible with
British values and culture, as do roughly the same share of
non-practicing Christians (47%). But among religiously unaffiliated
adults, fewer (30%) say Islam is fundamentally incompatible with their
country’s values. There is a similar pattern across the region on
whether there should be restrictions on Muslim women’s dress, with
Christians more likely than “nones” to say Muslim women should not be
allowed to wear any religious clothing.