Divided by Faith

The leaders of the American evangelical movement have brought their characteristic passion to the problem of race, notably in the Promise Keepers movement and in reconciliation theology. But the authors of this study reveal that despite their good intentions, evangelicals may actually be preserving America's racial chasm. In this text, the authors probe the grassroots of white evangelical America, through a nationwide telephone survey of 2000 people, along with 200 face-to-face interviews. The results of their research are surprising. Most white evangelicals, they learned, see no systematic discrimination against blacks, indeed, they deny the existence of any ongoing racial problem in the United States. Many of their subjects blamed the continuing talk of racial conflict on the media, unscrupulous black leaders, and the inability of African Americans to forget the past. The authors probe what lies behind this perception and conclude that evangelicals are not so much actively racist as committed to a theological view of the world that makes it difficult for them to see systematic injustice.
This book is intended for people interested in race relations and the American religious scene.