For Catholic Americans, there may be some lamentations over the diaspora happening in the Hispanic community. They’re leaving for Protestant denominations reportedly because they feel less confined in these churches, which also have a stronger sense of community. Younger Hispanics are also flocking to the Protestant churches, whose surge is also driven by Latinos converting fellow Latinos. Axios reported on this religious shift and its political implications—and it’s not good for Democrats (via Axios):
Half of U.S. Hispanics identified as Roman Catholic and 15% as evangelical in 2020, according to data from the Public Religion Research Institute.
Two decades ago, those numbers were 53% and 8%, respectively.
An Axios-Ipsos Latino Poll in partnership with Noticias Telemundo also found younger generations of Latinos are less likely to identify as Catholic.
The big picture: People who left the Roman Catholic Church are driving most of the Protestant growth among Latinos, studies show.
[…]
White non-Hispanic Protestants have often worked to convert Hispanics, Ramos says. But, increasingly, “Latinos are converting other Latinos.”
“It's actually Latino congregations and congregants who are inviting their family members, inviting their friends, and are introducing the faith to other Latinos,” Ramos said.
Between the lines: Growing evangelicalism among U.S. Hispanic communities is one of the factors moving Latinos to the right on political issues.
Most Latino Protestants live in Texas, New Mexico and California counties near the border, with growing numbers in south Florida and in Washington state, data from the Public Religion Research Institute shows.
Catholics are a shifty voter bloc since they should be decidedly Republican, but supported Al Gore winning in 2000, shifted to Bush in 2004, and finally backed Obama in his two elections. In 2016, Donald Trump won the Catholic vote. Regarding self-identified Hispanic Catholics only, they’ve been voting Democrat with 60-plus percent margins since 2000. So, maybe this isn’t a bad change. Then again, I’m not insanely religious, but it’s just another reminder that demography is not destiny, which Democrats refuse to accept.
Politics and public opinion change like the tides, but this religious shift isn’t a significant driver of the Hispanic shift towards the Republican Party. It’s the abject failure of Democratic policies. Joe Biden has some of the worst ratings with the Hispanic community because they’re not gung-ho about abortion, they want the border secured, and they—shocker—value an excellent economic climate for their businesses and families. Not everything is about immigration, which shows how liberals view Hispanic voters.
‘Just say amnesty or pathway to citizenship, and they’ll back us’ was the ethos with liberal campaign operatives for years, despite mountains of data showing that support for such measures barely breaks 50 percent.
With white college-educated liberals now becoming the dominant wing of the Democratic Party base, expect more marginalization of non-white groups as the Left adopts a more elite college-educated worldview. An agenda, mind you, that almost three-fourths of the country cannot comprehend, let alone benefit from in any way. Regarding energy, not all of us can afford solar paneling our homes and buy electric cars, which cost $60,000/year.
