Are you a White Evangelical or a KKK member?
Check your beliefs
This article is not meant to lend any legitimacy to the Ku Klux Klan. Few organizations are as universally recognized and abhorred. Known colloquially as ‘the Klan’ or ‘the KKK’, the original cell was formed in Tennessee around 1865 as a response to the American Civil War. The Klan is known for terrorizing and murdering Black people, Jewish people, and basically every other minority. They have active cells in 20–30 states and a reported 3,000 members, though the actual number could be higher or lower, as most people keep their membership a secret. But while the Klan’s popularity has been steadily declining as more white supremacy groups gain traction, the percentage of Evangelicals in the U.S. has remained static.
Depending on the source, Evangelicals self-identify as 25–41% of the population, inside the 70% of Americans who claim Christianity as their religion. White Evangelicals comprise about 15.6% of the population, roughly 50 million people. And a whopping 82% of White Evangelicals have pledged to support Trump’s reelection in November, leading many pundits to label them his most important base.
White Evangelicals have immense political power, and their beliefs overlap with those held by the Ku Klux Klan in several major ways.
