A Video Making the Rounds Online Depicts Trump as a Messiah-Like Figure

In a conversation with NPR’s Steve Inskeep, PRRI President and Founder Robert P. Jones analyzesthe significance behind a recent video titled “God Made Trump.” Jones explains that in evangelical circles, Trump is often compared to the Persian king Cyrus and viewed as a “powerful, strong, authoritarian liberator” who is “above the law and who alone is capable of liberating conservative white Christian from their oppressors.” Jones states: “The biggest mistake the Democratic party could make here is running on economic well-being that ignores these deeper cultural claims about who we are as a country and what our future is going to look like together.”

Nearly 30% of Gen Z Adults Identify As LGBTQ, National Survey Finds

Matt Lavietes at NBC News reportsthat according to PRRI’s latest survey of more than 6,600 Americans, more than 1 in 4 Gen Z adults in the U.S. identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer, “dwarfing the percentages of LGBTQ Americans in older age groups.” Overall, 72% of Gen Z adults identified as straight and 28% of Gen Z adults identified as LGBTQ. Looking at the population as a whole, 10% of Americans identify with the LGBTQ community, including 16% of millennials, 7% of Generation Xers, 4% of baby boomers, and 4% of the Silent Generation. “With respect to LGBTQ identity, it’s very clear that Gen Z adults look different than older Americans,” said Melissa Deckman, PRRI’s chief executive.

How the Word ‘Voodoo’ Became a Racial Slur

In a new article published at The Conversation, PRRI Public Fellow Danielle N. Boaz, Ph.D., describesthe deeply racist history behind the word ‘voodoo’ and how the term has been used to fuel harmful narratives. Boaz explains that the exaggerated way voodoo was introduced to the U.S. public rationalized stripping African Americans of rights and citizenship, a history outlined in her book, Voodoo: The History of a Racial Slur. Today, the prejudices linger; in a survey conducted by PRRI Public Fellows of 1,000 U.S. adults, 3 in 10 respondents believed that followers of voodoo were more likely to be involved in criminal activity than the average person.

Religious ‘Nones’ Are Now the Largest Single Group in the U.S.

For NPR, Jason DeRose looks at new data from Pew Research about religiously unaffiliated Americans that align with the findings of the PRRICensus of Religion. The new survey finds that nearly three in ten Americans (28%) do not identify with a religious affiliation, representing a growing political and social bloc. PRRI’s 2023 American Values Survey found that religiously unaffiliated Americans are more likely to say American culture and way of life has changed for the better (57%) than for the worse (43%) since the 1950s, compared with the majority of white Christians who say it has changed for the worse (65%).