Christians in western Europe are less accepting of immigrants and non-Christians than people without religious affiliations, a study published Tuesday that was based on a 15-country survey found.
The Pew Research Center report revealed that Christians — whether or not they are churchgoers — are more likely than western Europeans who don’t identify with a religion to express negative views of Muslims, Jews and migrants. They also are more inclined to think their country’s culture and values are superior.
“On balance, more respondents say immigrants are honest and hardworking than say the opposite,” the study’s authors wrote. “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.”
“Undercurrents of discomfort with multiculturalism are evident in Western European societies,” the researchers wrote in the report.
The study was based on a telephone survey of 24,599 randomly selected adults in the 15 countries. Pew researchers compared the attitudes of respondents who described themselves as practicing Christians, non-practicing Christians and religiously unaffiliated, including atheists and agnostics.
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