Posted on 01/22/2005 7:07:27 PM PST by nypokerface
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Church-going Americans have grown increasingly intolerant in the past four years of politicians making compromises on such hot issues as abortion and gay rights, according to a survey released on Saturday.
At the same time, those polled said they were growing bolder about pushing their beliefs on others -- even at the risk of offending someone.
The trends could indicate that religion has become "more prominent in American discourse ... more salient," according to Ruth Wooden, president of Public Agenda, a nonpartisan research organization which released the survey.
It could also indicate "more polarized political thinking. There do not seem to be very many voices arguing for compromise today," she said in an interview. "It could be that more religious voices feel under siege, pinned against the wall by cultural developments. They may feel more emboldened as a result."
The November U.S. election saw voters in a number of states back gay marriage bans, and President Bush won re-election with heavy support from fellow religious conservatives.
The findings came from a telephone survey of 1,507 adults made in 2000 and a second similar survey of 1,004 adults done during the summer of 2004 that tracked the same issues. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Those surveyed were nearly all Christians, not by design but because the sample reflected the makeup of the population, the group said. A 2002 Pew Research Council survey found that 82 percent of the U.S. populace considered itself to be Christian, while 10 percent identified with no religious group.
On the question of whether elected officials should set their convictions aside to get results in government, 84 percent agreed in 2000. However, four years later that had dropped to 74 percent. There was a sharper decline on the same question among weekly church-goers from 82 percent in the first survey to 63 percent in the second.
About 40 percent of Americans claim to be weekly church-goers, according to Corwin Smidt, director of the Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics at Calvin College in Michigan. Some surveys have placed the figure at 25 percent.
In the survey, 32 percent of those who attended church once a week said they were willing to compromise on abortion issues -- a 19-point drop in four years. Among the same group the question of compromising beliefs on gay rights was acceptable to only 39 percent, down 18 points from 2000.
The poll also found that 37 percent overall felt that deeply religious people should be careful not to offend anyone when they "spread the word of God," a decline from 46 percent four years earlier.
The number of those who felt that committed faithful should spread the word "whenever they can" rose to 41 percent, up 6 points.
On another issue, the survey found little change in opinion on whether the U.S. political system can handle greater interaction between religion and politics. Asked if there was a threat if religious leaders and groups got a lot more involved in politics, 63 percent in 2000 and 61 percent in 2004 said the system could "easily handle" it. But the remainder continue to believe the system would be threatened.
And we all know how easily the Left gets offended when Conservatives don't accept their beliefs and ideology.
I won't let the immoral left get away with any of the things that I let them get away with on 910. One of the things it brought to the fore is that there are TRULY mad people out there who want us DEAD. Worse than that, they want AMERICA dead!
Next to that, gay rights sorta REALLY pales in comparison. In fact, gay rights for 2% of the population, don't even register on my radar screen any more which is why I'll draw the line at it and fight to the death before I'll surrender any more of my country to it.
We have bigger fish to fry and this country knows that now. Marriage is important, that's why it went down in flames like it did. Abortion is going to go down in flames as well. Gun control ditto. It's no longer fashionable to hate the military, police or firemen.
I'm not a super religious type, but I do my best to be a moral individual and live my life according to the 10 Commandments, the Golden Rule, right vs wrong and good vs evil.
We haven't become intolerant. We've become more moral.
Godspeed
"...Church-Going Americans Less Tolerant."
Oh.
You mean that people who actually believe in something actually have to pay homage to jackasses that can't discern their @sses from a hole in the ground.
Well, isn't that special.
>>Survey Finds Church-Going Americans Less Tolerant>>
Well, DUH. The Bible says nothing about being tolerant of sin. Only tolerant of eachother (believers, not everyone).
Isn't it ironic that is the immorality of the left with their abortions and freakshow gay parades in San Francisco and pushing homosexual marriage and porn in schools is what Islam thinks about when they hate America?
Translation: People who believe in God have convictions.
You don't have to be a church goer to say you've had more than enough of the Perverts.
Truly an amazing paradox ;)
My Indonesian fiancee tells me all about the world believing CNN-International. That is the channel Americans never see, and would be aghast if they ever did. I recorded 24 hours of coverage on both CNN and CNN International. The difference? More liberal slants, of course. More Bush-hating, gay-loving, Hollywood-is-normality BS for the rest of the world to see.
The worst of it is that the world actually BELIEVES what they see on TV. To them, if it is on television, it MUST be true. I know some liberals that think that way...
That is because the elite left WANT the rest of the world to hate America and they know the best way to do it is to show them that America is everythiong they hate. Their object is to destroy America because they simply cannot stand for people to be free and powerful. They are literally working for the adversary and for the overthrow of God. We will see the return of the true King within our lifetimes.
"Tolerant" is a code word the left likes to apply to itself, like "progressive".
Stick your intolerance where the sun doesn't shine, Reuters!
Tagline notice.
The horror! The horror!
Very well said!
Glad the folks at Reuters are noticing. Can't wait to read their take on things when the courts have been reclaimed and the insane judicial rulings are reversed.
The more upste at us these press folks get the more I smile. It means we are being effective.
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