Minority of Americans Have Favorable Opinion of Muslims, Mormons, Atheists

IntegrityPress.org) – Only a small minority of Americans have favorable opinions of Muslims, Mormons, and atheists, according to a study by Pew Research, which showed Jews were seen the most favorably of all the major religions.

The poll — released by Pew Research on March 15 — showed just 20 percent of US adults polled had a somewhat or very favorable opinion of atheists. 24 percent had an unfavorable opinion of those who don’t believe in God, while 55 percent were unsure or had a neutral opinion.

Muslims and Mormons were even less popular, according to the poll, which showed just 17 percent of Americans had a favorable opinion about Muslims and 15 percent a favorable opinion of those in the Church of Latter-Day Saints.

Mormons were the only religious group polled to hold mostly favorable views towards Muslims, with 47 percent having a positive view of Muslims and just 11 percent having a negative view.

At the other end of the spectrum, Jews were shown to be the most popular out of all the major religions, with 35 percent of those polled having a favorable opinion. Just 6 percent of Americans had an unfavorable opinion of Jews, with 58 percent unsure or neutral.

After Jews, Catholics had the second-highest favorability rate at 34 percent. Catholics also, however, had a higher unfavorability rate (18 percent) than mainline Protestants (10 percent).

With the exception of Mormons, evangelical Christians were the least popular denomination of Christianity, though favorable opinions (at 28 percent) still outweighed unfavorable opinions (at 27 percent).

According to a Pew Research census conducted between 2007 and 2014, more than 70 percent of Americans identify as Christian, with Evangelical Protestants (25.4 percent), Catholics (20.8 percent), and mainline Protestants (14.7 percent) making up the bulk of US Christians.

22.8 percent of Americans identified as atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular,” while Jews made up 1.9 percent, Muslims 0.9 percent, and Buddhists and Hindus 0.7 percent each.