The Changing Definition of 'Evangelical'

In Donald Trump’s America, evangelicals have become the nation’s most controversial and reviled religious movement. But how much does the sound and fury about evangelicals actually signify? Non-evangelical people who follow the news may have a variety of impressions about what the term evangelical means, but one certain association people make with the word is Republican.

Another likely association is white. Many may recall that around 81 percent of self-described white evangelical voters backed Donald Trump. Polls and stories about evangelical political behavior almost always assume the evangelicals in question are white. Some polls don’t account for any other kind of evangelical.