Abstract
First, we summarize the key findings from the preceding chapters. We consider the fault lines among the faithful and growing areas of convergence. And we garner lessons from our church surveys, elite interviews, and public opinion data. We argue that there are biblical, moral, and historical rationales for immigration reform that are potentially persuasive for at least some evangelicals, and there are varying methods that can be utilized more effectively to mobilize evangelical public opinion and action in this arena. Finally, we reflect upon areas for future research.
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Notes
- 1.
With a nod to Miroslav Volf’s, Exclusion & Embrace (1996).
- 2.
We conducted some preliminary work on the impact of the media that is suggestive. In the 2016 ANES , a measure of “conservative media use” had a significant bivariate relationship with immigration attitudes. For white evangelicals only, the measure remained a significant predictor in multivariate analysis. In contrast, in our evangelical church surveys, we also found that conservative media habits to be associated with opposition to CIR , but the media measure failed to reach levels of statistical significance in multivariate analysis. In these evangelical churches, other factors were more important like support for immigration programs and whether clergy spoke out on the immigration issue. Ultimately, it appears that conservative media is a shaper of white evangelical attitudes on immigration, but not necessarily in evangelical churches that have programs on immigration.
References
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Gerson, Michael. 2010. Columnist, Washington Post. Personal Interview, May 21.
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Shellnut, Kate. 2018. Guess Who’s Coming to Church: Multiracial Congregations Triple Amongst Protestants. Christianity Today, June 22. https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2018/june/multiracial-congregations-triple-protestants-baylor-study.html
Volf, Miroslav. 1996. Exclusion & Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation. Nashville: Abingdon Press.
Wilbanks, Dana W. 1996. Re-creating America: The Ethics of US Immigration and Refugee Policy in a Christian Perspective. Nashville: Abingdon Press.
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Melkonian-Hoover, R.M., Kellstedt, L.A. (2019). Conclusion: Evangelical Christianity and Immigration Reform: What Comes Next?. In: Evangelicals and Immigration. Palgrave Studies in Religion, Politics, and Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98086-7_7
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