President Biden’s Supporters Less Likely to Hold Biblical Worldview

President Biden’s base of supporters is 60% less likely to hold the biblical worldview than other Americans, and although nearly two-thirds (65%) of those voters consider themselves to be Christian, many of their religious beliefs and policy positions are at odds with the views of most Americans and with traditional biblical teaching.

The latest findings from the 2020 Post-Election Survey from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University provide new insights into the faith of roughly 81 million Americans—about 31% of all American adults— who voted for President Biden in November.

Most (56%) described themselves as “spiritual but not religious” and only three out of ten (30%) believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God. Biden supporters are less likely to believe the Bible is true (30%) and reject the idea of absolute moral truth (75%).

Instead, Biden voters are more likely to believe moral truth is up to each individual and that there are no moral absolutes that apply to everyone, all the time—75% of Biden supporters hold this position compared to 67% of all American adults.

The post-election survey showed that Trump won most of the votes cast by adults who usually attend Protestant churches (47% compared to Biden’s 33%), while Biden received almost twice as many votes (45% to 25%) among adults in the “Don’ts” faith segment (i.e., they don’t know if God exists, don’t believe that God exists, or don’t care if God exists). That group provided 29% of the Biden vote.

The survey conducted by Dr. George Barna, CRC Director of Research, also found that the religious views of Biden’s voters directly translate to their policy preferences. For instance, 60% of his base, which is largely pro-abortion, argues that “the Bible is ambiguous on the matter of abortion; it is possible to make compelling biblical arguments either for or against abortion.”

Earlier findings of the survey showed Biden voters are more politically liberal than most U.S. adults on fiscal, social, and governance issues, and are substantially more likely than most Americans to prefer socialism to capitalism.

The latest findings suggest Biden voters will be more likely to support policies that run counter to biblical teaching, including allowing churches and all forms of worship to be restricted due to COVID; eliminating tax exemptions for churches; promoting alternative faiths in public school classrooms and curriculum; broader support for abortion and others.

The nationwide 2020 Post-Election Survey was conducted November 4 through 16, 2020. The fourth release of findings from that survey are below. The first three releases from the 2020 Post-Election Survey and other CRC research are available here.

Exploring the Faith of President Biden’s Base and the Political Implications

Dr. George Barna, Director of Research, Cultural Research Center Release Date: February 16, 2021

(Glendale, AZ) – It is not surprising that President Biden’s base of supporters is more politically liberal than most U.S. adults on fiscal, social, and governance issues, nor that they are substantially more likely than most Americans to prefer socialism to capitalism. But what about the faith profile of the Biden base? Since the religious beliefs and behavior of people are closely connected to worldview, and worldview is strongly correlated with policy preferences and cultural choices, how will the faith of the Biden base affect their support for what the Biden Administration pursues during its term of office?

The 2020 Post-Election Survey conducted by the Cultural Research Center of Arizona Christian University provides a deeper dive into the faith of that segment of the population. Joe Biden is reported to have received votes from roughly 81 million adults in the November 2020 election, which represents about 31% of all adults in the country. What do they believe? How do they practice their faith? And what are the implications of that religious profile for the political future of the nation?

What the Biden Base Believes

Nearly two-thirds of those who voted for President Biden consider themselves to be Christian (65%), a total that is slightly below the national norm (71%). Like a growing portion of the national population, though, the Biden base is not especially active in or committed to that faith.

For instance, eight out of ten (79%) believe that having some type of religious faith is more important than which faith a person embraces. That is consistent with the two out of three Biden voters (68%) who also contend that all religious faiths are of equal value. Most of the president’s supporters (57%) admit that they are not “deeply committed to practicing” their faith. Similarly, most of his base (56%) described themselves as “spiritual but not religious.”

Only 15% of the Biden support base is born-again—meaning that they said when they die, they are certain that they will spend eternity in the presence of God but only because they have personally confessed their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. That is about half the proportion of adults in America who qualify by that definition as born-again Christians.

The Bible is not held in high regard by the Biden base. Only three out of ten (30%) believe that the Bible is the actual or inspired word of God and contains no errors. That helps to explain why three-fourths of Biden supporters do not identify the Bible as their most trusted source of moral guidance. (Their dominant sources of moral guidance are their feelings, experiences, friends, and family.)

Consistent with that widespread rejection of the Bible, three-quarters of the Biden followers (75%) also believe that there is no absolute moral truth; in their eyes, “identifying moral truth is up to each individual, there are no moral absolutes that apply to everyone, all the time.”

The survey revealed that a wide array of religious beliefs embraced by Biden backers are inconsistent with biblical teaching. Those perspectives included the following:

72% believe that a person who is generally good, or does enough good things for others, will earn a place on Heaven.

68% believe that The Holy Spirit is not a living entity but is a symbol of God’s presence, power, or purity.

63% do not believe that God is the all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect and just creator of the universe who rules that universe today.
The Cultural Research Center survey also found that the religious views of Biden’s voters directly translate to their policy preferences. For instance, 60% of his base, which is largely pro-abortion, argues that “the Bible is ambiguous on the matter of abortion; it is possible to make compelling biblical arguments either for or against abortion.”
Similarly, his base is overwhelmingly in favor of extending LGBTQ rights, which conforms to the finding that six out of ten (58%) of his voters reject the notion that “the marriage of one man to one woman is God’s only acceptable plan for humanity, applicable to all cultures on earth.”
Given these kinds of beliefs, it is not surprising that the Biden segment is about 60% less likely than other Americans to have a biblical worldview.