Latter-day Saint Life

How Do Americans Feel About Mormons and the Church? A New Pew Study Reveals

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Americans are warming up to Mormons, at least according to a recent Pew Research study "Americans Express Increasingly Warm Feelings Toward Religious Groups."

 After surveying 4,248 adults and asking them to rate their feelings about a religion on a scale from 0 to 100 (0 meaning they feel "chilly" toward that religion and 100 meaning they feel warm toward that religion), Mormons received an overall rating of 54, a score which rose 6 points since 2014, when Mormons received an overall score of 48.

Catholics and Jews gave Mormons the highest ratings (60 and 66 respectively), an interesting finding considering the Church has united with these groups in recent years to promote interfaith projects and common values.

Though only 43 percent of people in America say they personally know a Mormon, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has frequently been put in the media spotlight over the past three years, giving people more exposure to LDS beliefs

While popular views of Mormons might be rising in America, it turns out all religious groups except Evangelicals received a higher rating than in 2014.

Mormons landed seventh on the list, with Jews (67), Catholics (66), Mainline Protestants (65), Evangelical Christians (61), Buddhists (60), and Hindus (58) receiving warmer scores.

It's encouraging to see that despite divisive politics and divisive social media, Americans are developing a more optimistic view of religion in general.

Lead image from Business Insider
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