Christians who attend church regularly are more open to immigration than those who don’t, according to new research.
UK-based Christian news agency Premier reports that the University of Bristol study found that 55 per cent of regular churchgoers agreed asylum seekers fleeing persecution should stay in the UK compared to 45 per cent of those who attended church less than once a month or never did.
The university’s Siobhan McAndrew said that there were a number of factors which made people who went to church regularly more immigration friendly.
“In churches, there’s a lot of voluntary action and a lot of charitable involvement. Churches often act as hubs where local political figures may come and give talks and have debate and they encourage people to mix and feel that problems are solvable. So people that attend church regularly, they have a weaker sense of immigration threatening.”
Dr McAndrew also said that people who attended church more regularly also tended to see people of the same faith as “essentially similar”, regardless of country of origin.
