Posted:
20 Aug 2013 07:05 AM PDT
From Barna:Hispanics:
"After significantly influencing the 2012 presidential
election, Hispanics captured the attention of the nation’s leaders and media.
Now, as the debate over the future of immigration continues, political liberals
and conservatives alike may be surprised to learn about the values and
priorities of today’s Hispanics in the U.S.
Research from Barna: Hispanics, in partnership with the
American Bible Society, the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference,
and OneHope, reveals that the faith and social values of Latinos may be more
conservative than many cultural observers realize. As America’s fastest growing
demographic segment, Hispanics demonstrate high commitments to the Christian
faith and to traditional concepts of family.
In fact, foreign-born Hispanics who currently reside in
the U.S. are often more socially, spiritually, and politically conservative than
are those Hispanics who are citizens. The implication is that the longer the
Hispanic community experiences U.S. cultural norms, the less socially
conservative its members become. In the broadest sense, this creates a
fascinating paradox for policymakers and politicians: social conservatives stand
to gain more allies by pushing for aggressive immigration reform, while liberals
who advocate for reform are likely to find fewer allies on social and moral
issues among foreign-born Hispanics who are given a path to
citizenship.
Given their relationship-driven culture, it is perhaps
not surprising that Hispanics in the U.S. place high value on the traditional
family. Three-quarters of all Latinos in the U.S. say that the traditional
family is the main building block of a healthy community (78%). Seven out of 10
believe it is best for children to be raised by parents who are married to each
other (69%). In addition, Latinos remain markedly committed to preserving the
traditional family structure. Half say they are “very concerned” about the
breakdown of Hispanic families.
When it comes to typically hot-button social issues,
homosexuality and abortion, most Hispanics embrace conservative points of view.
On the issue of same-sex marriage, considered an important voting issue to many
evangelical Christians, two-thirds of Hispanics say marriage should be defined
as a relationship between one man and one woman (66%). And the majority of
Hispanics in the U.S. (73%) believe that adoption or parenting are better
choices than abortion for a woman who is not ready to be a mom."
To
read the rest of the Barna report please click here.
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