Most Americans believe God has given US 'special role in history'

 (Photo: Unsplash/Raúl Nájera)

A sizeable portion of Americans believe that God has "granted America a special role in history'.

This was one finding from the Public Religion Research Institute's annual survey of American values.

While 64% of Americans overall agreed about America's special role, this rose to three quarters of white evangelicals.

Among religious groups, white evangelicals were the most likely to agree, followed by black Protestants (65%).

White mainline Protestants and white Catholics were least likely to share this view (46% each).

But the least support for the idea was to be found among non-Christians (29%), and religiously unaffiliated Americans (18%).

In similar findings, most Americans overall (74%) feel that their country has always been a force for good in the world, rising to 88% among white evangelicals.

The survey also found that a majority (60%) of Americans agree that abortion should be legal in most or all cases.

A similar proportion (63%) said Roe vs Wade - the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the US - was the right decision and should be upheld.

Americans with no religious affiliation (82%) were the most likely to support Roe vs Wade, compared to just 30% of white evangelicals.

Newsletter Stay up to date with Christian Today
News
The media mandate: How wise use of communication can strengthen the Christian church
The media mandate: How wise use of communication can strengthen the Christian church

As the Church tries to make sense of AI and all the media tools at its disposal, it must ask not merely what gains attention, but what honours Christ, writes Duncan Williams.

Church of Scotland to consider apology for alleged slavery links
Church of Scotland to consider apology for alleged slavery links

The Church of Scotland’s General Assembly will next month consider a report detailing historic links to the transatlantic slave trade and proposals for an official institutional apology.

Flying the flag – act of defiance or plea for help?
Flying the flag – act of defiance or plea for help?

Left to themselves, the English are notoriously slow to make any kind of public display, so in trying to understand what’s really going on here, perhaps we should ask why people have felt moved to behave in so ‘unBritish’ a way?

Pope Leo XIV listed among Time’s 2026 100 most influential people
Pope Leo XIV listed among Time’s 2026 100 most influential people

Pope Leo XIV has been included in Time magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, marking another milestone in the early months of his historic papacy.