The following is from an annual gallup survey about the question "Would you describe yourself as a ‘born again’ or evangelical "
But does this mean that the group of Americans who say "yes" to this question should be the group used as the popular representation of evangelicals? There are reasons to answer that question "no." Those who say "evangelical or born again" describes them include Catholics, blacks, and those who are not Christians. It seems reasonable to impose a more restrictive definition in order to isolate — for practical purposes — those who should be considered evangelicals.
Okay I understand why Catholics wouldn’t be included under the popular representation of the word Evangelical since it refers to a broad subset of Protestantism , but why would blacks answering yes to this question cast about doubt about the results? Why can’t blacks answer yes to the question and mean it within the current context of the word Evangelical or born again? Is it that blacks are suppose to be monolithic in their belief? This seems to be a common belief by Democrats who consider that any black who does not vote Democrat is a traitor, but why in the world would a poll organization like Gallup say such a thing?
The data shown in the table, compiled from December 2004 to November 2005, show that 19% of Catholics say "yes" when asked if they are evangelical or born again. While that is considerably lower than the 43% of all Americans who agree that they are born again, it is not an insignificant number.
A knowledgeable Catholic should easily reply that they were born again and often that the starting point was there being baptized as an infant and a Catholic who doesn’t consider themselves to be at least a ‘small e’ evangelical must have forgot about the great commission.
2 comments
that’s so weird. I thought we were a bit beyond the naming of blacks as a category of their own…they are people, too, after all, and they can be Evangelicals or Catholics.
“Catholics, blacks, and those who are not Christians”.. I was always under the impression that “blacks” wasn’t a religion but a ethnic classification..