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 debates over immigration , racial justice and LGBTQ+ rights .

In a February 2025 interview with Joe Rogan, Musk called empathy "the fundamental weakness of Western civilization," while acknowledging its potential good and warning against its weaponization.

By the numbers: The annual American Values Survey from the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) released Tuesday found that 42% of white evangelical Protestants agreed that empathy is a foundational moral value that helps build a healthy…