Empathy divides Americans by religion, with white evangelicals standing apart

Data: PRRI, 2026 American Values Survey; Chart: Russell Contreras/Axios White evangelical Protestants are the only major religious group in which a majority says empathy can become dangerous when it leads people away from a society guided by God's truth, according to a new survey. Why it matters: The survey lands amid a quiet civil war within American Christianity over who deserves empathy. Conservatives ranging from evangelical pastors to Elon Musk have framed empathy as a vulnerability in deba