Religion and Politics: Contention and Consensus

Religion is a critical factor these days in the public's thinking about contentious policy issues and political matters. An increasing number of Americans have come to view Islam as a religion that encourages violence while a declining number say Islam has a lot in common with their own religion. The public remains divided over whether churches should stay out of politics, even as large numbers say they are comfortable with expressions of faith by political leaders. There also is evidence that next year's presidential vote may again provoke deep religious divisions over social issues, especially homosexual marriage.

The new nationwide survey of 2,002 adults, conducted June 24-July 8 by the Pew Research Center and the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, shows that there has been an important shift in public perceptions of Islam. Fully 44% now believe that Islam is more likely than other religions "to encourage violence among its believers." As recently as March 2002, just 25% expressed this view. A separate study by the Pew Research Center in June 2003 found a similar change in the number of Americans who see Muslims as anti-American: 49% believe that a significant portion of Muslims around the world hold anti-American views, up from 36% in March 2002.

In the new survey, most Americans continue to rate Muslim-Americans favorably, though the percentage is inching downward. A declining number of Americans say their own religion has a lot in common with Islam 22% now, compared with 27% in 2002 and 31% shortly after the terrorist attacks in the fall of 2001. Views of Muslims and Islam are influenced heavily by a person's ideology and religious affiliation. White evangelical Christians and political conservatives hold more negative views of Muslims and are more likely than other Americans to say that Islam encourages violence among its followers.

As the presidential campaign takes shape, religious divisions over some controversial social issues homosexuality in particular are as wide as ever. Overall, 53% oppose allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally compared with 38% who support the idea. Opposition to gay marriage has decreased significantly since the mid-1990s, from 65% in 1996. But notably, the shift in favor of gay marriage is seen in nearly every segment of society with two significant exceptions white evangelical Protestants and African-Americans. While a higher percentage of white evangelicals (83%) than blacks (64%) oppose legalizing gay marriages, neither group has changed its views significantly since 1996.

The survey also finds conflicting sentiments about the use of religious rhetoric by politicians. The public at large is quite comfortable with President Bush's evocation of faith and what many perceive as his reliance on religious beliefs in making policy decisions. A 62% majority thinks Bush strikes the right balance in how much he mentions his religious faith, and nearly as many (58%) believe the president's reliance on religion in policymaking is appropriate. Yet in spite of the widespread acceptance of politicians and the president in particular referencing religion in their speeches and political decisions, many Americans express a general discomfort when exposed to actual religious statements by various politicians.

For the most part, people say religion does not frequently affect their voting decisions. Nearly six-in-ten (58%) say their religious beliefs seldom if ever affect their voting decisions, while 38% say their vote choices are at least occasionally affected by their beliefs. White evangelicals and African-American Protestants are most likely to report that their religion shapes their votes at least occasionally, while white mainline Protestants and Catholics mostly say that religion has little or no impact on their votes.

At the same time, significant numbers of Americans say they would be reluctant to vote for a presidential candidate even if generally well-qualified if the candidate was a member of a specific faith. Nearly four-in-ten (38%) say they would not vote for a well-qualified Muslim for president, and 15% express concern about voting for a well-qualified evangelical Christian. Far fewer say they would not vote for a Jewish (10%) or Catholic (8%) candidate. But fully half say they would not vote for a well-qualified atheist.

The Republican Party is more widely viewed as being friendly toward religion than the Democrats, and the margin is much wider among whites. By more than two-to-one, white respondents view the Republican Party as friendly toward religion rather than neutral (58% vs. 26%), while just 7% think the GOP is unfriendly toward religion. Whites are divided in their perceptions of the Democratic Party's treatment of religion (41% friendly, 37% neutral, 13% unfriendly). By comparison, African-Americans are nearly twice as likely to say that the Democratic Party is friendly toward religion as say that about the Republicans (53% vs. 27%).

The survey underscores an important and often overlooked fact of American politics: African-Americans and white evangelical Christians are remarkably similar in their views about the role of religion in politics, yet they come to sharply different partisan conclusions. Both groups think the country would be better off if religion were more influential, both defend the role of religious leaders as political spokesmen, and both share similar views on important social issues, such as assisted suicide and gay marriage. Yet their attitudes toward President Bush and partisan politics are almost diametrically opposed. White evangelicals lean strongly toward Bush and the Republicans, and African-Americans lean strongly against both the president and his party. These two groups both of them highly engaged and religious stand as important countervailing forces in American public life.

The polling finds that religious beliefs play an important role in where people stand on important issues of the day, including the dispute in the Middle East. Fully 44% of Americans believe that God gave the land that is now Israel to the Jewish people while a substantial minority (36%) thinks that "the state of Israel is a fulfillment of the biblical prophesy about the second coming of Jesus." White evangelical Protestants and, to a lesser degree, African-Americans accept both of these propositions. Significantly fewer white Catholics and mainline Protestants believe Israel was granted to the Jews by God or think that Israel represents a fulfillment of the Bible's prophesy of a second coming.

The survey finds that there is no consensus on whether churches and other houses of worship should weigh in on social and political issues. Roughly half (52%) support the idea of churches expressing opinions on the issues of the day, while 44% are opposed. If clergy do speak out on political matters, most people think they should express their own views, even if most members of their congregations disagree with them.

President Bush's reelection prospects have not changed dramatically in recent months, as 47% of registered voters say they would like to see Bush reelected and 37% prefer to see the Democratic candidate win. The president continues to draw strong support among white evangelicals, 69% of whom favor his reelection. Roughly half of white Catholics (52%) and white mainline Protestants (47%) also support the president's reelection.

Some statements were broadly accepted by the public in both formats. For example, 71% were comfortable with this statement by Sen. Joe Lieberman: "[T]he Constitution promises freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM religion." Similarly, there was broad acceptance of the following statement by President Bush: "The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity." Only about one-in-four Americans expressed discomfort with either of these statements when they were read anonymously, and the public's reactions did not change markedly when the quotations were attributed to their speakers.

The statement that raised the most concern among respondents was the following: "I have never believed the Constitution required our schools to be religion-free zones...." Nearly half (49%) said they felt uncomfortable with this statement, when presented anonymously, while 44% were comfortable with it. But comfort with this quote was significantly higher when it was attributed to its source former President Bill Clinton. When tested with Clinton's name attached to it, discomfort was lower (34% vs. 49%).

As in the past, a person's age and ethnic/religious background shape views on church involvement in political issues. Most people under age 50 think churches should express their views on day-to-day social and political questions, while most over age 65 think they should keep out of political matters. Overall, blacks are far more supportive of church involvement in political issues than are whites or Hispanics. Two-thirds of African-Americans say churches should express their views, compared with half of whites and Hispanics (50% and 53%, respectively).

White evangelical Protestants, particularly those who are the most religiously committed, also support church activism. Roughly two-thirds (68%) of white evangelicals say churches should express their opinions on political issues, including 73% of those who are the most religiously active. By comparison, fewer than half of white mainline Protestants (43%) and white non-Hispanic Catholics (46%) share this view.

Americans are divided, largely along religious lines, about the role religious leaders should play in the political system. About as many would like to see more religious leaders serving as advisers for elected officials (33%) as would like to see less of this (28%). The same pattern holds for public views of religious leaders running for public office (30% more, 29% less) and appearing on television talk shows (26% more, 32% less). There is notably less enthusiasm for religious leaders forming political movements just 22% would like to see more of this, while nearly twice as many (42%) would like to see less.

Nearly half (48%) of white evangelical Protestants and fully 60% of highly committed evangelicals say their religious beliefs frequently affect their electoral choices, compared with 10% of white mainline Protestants, 12% of white non-Hispanic Catholics, and 12% of Hispanic Catholics. Black Protestants fall between these extremes, with 31% saying their religion frequently affects how they vote.

Many Wary of Voting For an Atheist or a Muslim

The survey shows that a significant number of Americans would be reluctant to vote for a well-qualified candidate if he or she were a member of a particular religious group, especially a Muslim (38%). But many more express reservations about voting for a candidate without religion than one with a specific faith (52%). In all, 64% of Americans admit that a candidate's religion, or lack thereof, could lead them to vote against a well-qualified candidate from their own party.

The same pattern is evident among respondents who were given a different form of the question, which asked if there are "any reasons" not to vote for a candidate with a particular religious affiliation if he or she were nominated by the respondent's preferred party. In this case, slightly fewer (41%) say there are reasons why they would not vote for an atheist far more than say that about a Muslim, an evangelical Christian, a Catholic or a Jew.

Atheism is a particular concern for white evangelical Protestants and African-Americans majorities of each say there are reasons why they might not vote for an atheist if one received their party's presidential nomination.

Nearly a third of the public (31%) says there are reasons they might not vote for a Muslim presidential candidate. Again, white evangelicals are the most skeptical 42% say this could be a sticking point for them. Not surprisingly, the tendency not to vote for a Muslim presidential candidate is closely related to perceptions of the Islamic faith. People who think Islam encourages violence more than other religions are more likely to say they have reason not to vote for a Muslim candidate than people who think Islam is no more violent than other faiths (43% vs. 23% margin).

Just under half of registered voters (47%) say they would like to see the president reelected in 2004 compared with 37% who say they would like to see a Democratic candidate win the election. While it is still early in the political season, Bush goes into his campaign for reelection with his political base intact. He draws strong support among white evangelical Protestants, gun owners, and social conservatives who support the death penalty and oppose gay marriage.

Among registered voters, nearly seven-in-ten white evangelicals (69%) say they want to see the president reelected, while just 21% prefer a Democrat. Among white voters, the president holds a 60% to 28% lead among those for whom religion is very important, but trails by 44% to 35% among those who say religion is not very important in their lives. The president is current favored by a majority of white Catholics (52% vs. 31% who favor a Democrat).

Divisions among religious groups in views of how Hollywood, the news media and university professors treat religion are much more substantial. Just 8% of white evangelical Protestants believe the entertainment industry is friendly toward religion, while nearly two-thirds (65%) think it is unfriendly and 23% say it is neutral. White mainline Protestants and Catholics are more divided, and fewer than half in each group see Hollywood as unfriendly toward religion (44% each).

The gap is nearly as large when it comes to the news media and religion; about half of white evangelicals (48%) see the news media as unfriendly to religion, compared with a third of white Catholics and about the same number of mainline Protestants (32%). A smaller proportion of these groups believe university professors are unfriendly toward religion. About four-in-ten white evangelicals (39%), a third of white Catholics (34%) and 18% of white mainline Protestants say university professors are unfriendly toward religion.

Overall, a plurality of Americans (44%) believe God gave the land that is now Israel to the Jewish people, while 36% say this is not literally true. Fewer people believe that the state of Israel fulfills a biblical prophesy about Jesus' second coming; 36% say this, while 46% disagree.

White evangelical Protestants are by far the most likely to believe that Israel was given to the Jews by God and that it fulfills a biblical prophesy of the second coming. Fully seven-in-ten white evangelicals (72%) say Israel was given to the Jews by God, a figure that rises to 77% among those evangelicals with a high degree of religious commitment. Fewer than half as many white Catholics (33%) and mainline Protestants (31%) agree.

The issue of gay marriage recently returned to the public's agenda after the Supreme Court overturned a Texas anti-sodomy law and enunciated what many observers believe is a broad prohibition against government regulation of private sexual behavior. While a majority of the public continues to oppose gay marriage, support has been gradually building over the past few years and the intensity of the opposition has been declining. Overall, 53% say they oppose allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally, while 38% favor the idea. But support is up from 27% in 1996, and strong opposition now stands at 30%, down from 41% in 1996.

This issue divides the public in many other ways as well. Young people are twice as likely as their elders to approve of gay marriage: 52% of those age 18-29 favor it, compared with only 22% among those 65 and older. Women are eight percentage points more supportive than are men (41% to 33%), and people living in the East (48%) and West (43%) are more supportive than Southerners (31%) and those in the Midwest (34%). Far more Democrats and independents (at 45% each) favor gay marriage than do Republicans (24%). Perhaps not surprisingly, people who have a gay friend, family member, or co-worker are more than twice as likely to favor gay marriage (55%) as those who do not (24%).

Just under two-thirds (64%) of the public now support the death penalty, compared with 78% in 1996. And 43% felt strongly about their support seven year ago, compared with just 28% today. While still a minority view, opposition to the death penalty over this period has grown from 18% to 30%.

While a majority favors capital punishment as a general policy, there is far less support for executing persons who committed murder when they were under the age of 18. Just 35% support such a policy, while 58% are opposed.(1) Only 11% strongly favor execution in this circumstance, compared with 20% who strongly oppose it. There is little religious division on this issue. Similar percentages of white mainline Protestants (43%), white evangelicals (42%), and seculars (41%) favor capital punishment for minors, compared with 31% of white Catholics. As with the death penalty in general, African-Americans are the most opposed to capital punishment for minors. Fully 80% oppose this, while just 16% favor it.

Scrap Tax Cuts for Health Insurance

Fully 72% of Americans agree that the government should provide universal health care, even if it means repealing most tax cuts passed since Bush took office. Democrats overwhelmingly favor this proposal (86%-11%) and independents largely agree (78%-19%). Even a narrow majority of Republicans (51%) favor providing health insurance for all even if it means canceling the tax cuts, while 44% disagree.

In addition, most Americans especially those who support repealing tax cuts to provide universal health coverage see this as a moral issue as well as a political issue. Just a third believes this is strictly a political issue, while a narrow majority (52%) views it also as a moral question. A big majority of those who support this proposal 61% think of it as a moral as well as a political issue, while most opponents tend to see this in strictly political terms (58%).

Religion's Influence Seen As Waning

A solid majority of Americans (56%) believe that religion is losing its influence on American life, while just 30% think religion's influence is increasing. That is in keeping with the trend on this measure dating back more than 30 years with one major exception. In November 2001, shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the percentage of Americans who said religion's influence was increasing rose sharply to 78%, from just 37% eight months earlier.

But in March 2002, the percentage saying that religion's influence is gaining dropped back to its pre-Sept. 11 level of 37%. The current survey shows that number has fallen a bit further, to 30%. In addition, most Americans think that religion is losing, not increasing, its influence worldwide by 51% to 36%.

NJ Poll finds majority for gay marriage, 57 percent of Catholics supported gay marriage

State survey's results questioned by critics

Tuesday, July 29, 2003
BY KATHY BARRETT CARTER Star-Ledger Staff

A majority of New Jerseyans support allowing gay couples to marry, according to a Zogby International Poll commissioned by advocates for legalizing same-sex unions.

In the poll, released yesterday, nearly 55 percent of likely voters agreed that gay couples should be able to marry, while 41 percent disagreed. The poll also found that 57 percent of Catholics supported gay marriage, even as the Vatican announced it plans to issue new instructions to bishops and Catholic politicians to oppose extending marriage to gay and lesbian couples.

Gay rights advocates said the poll shows there is broad public support for same-sex marriage. But opponents of gay marriage questioned the poll's methodology, noting the results are dramatically different from national polls showing most people oppose gay marriage.

New Jersey is shaping up as a major battleground in the fight over gay marriage. Seven gay couples have filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a state law limiting marriage to heterosexuals. In addition, a bill pending in the Legislature would give gay couples and unmarried heterosexual couples the right to register as domestic partners and receive many of the same rights and privileges enjoyed by married couples.

Two Canadian provinces have legalized homosexual marriage. Earlier this year, Germany's high court upheld a same-sex marriage law.

"Like all other parents, we want to dance at our children's weddings, including those of our lesbian and gay children," said Clarice Zieja, president of the Bergen County chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, the state group that commissioned the poll. "It's really wonderful to know that the people of New Jersey agree."

The poll results conflict with other polls, including a national poll released last week by the Pew Research Center showing 53 percent oppose gay marriage.

John Tomicki, executive director of the League of American Families, a group that opposes same-sex marriage, charged that the Zogby poll "is meant to try to stampede the public and legislators with biased questions and statistics. It directly conflicts with the Pew poll because the questions were prepared by PFLAG and those who have a gay and lesbian marriage agenda."

Steven Goldstein, who is leading the campaign for gay marriage and the domestic partner bill on behalf of Lambda, a nonprofit legal advocacy group for gays, said the questions were prepared by Zogby with help from PFLAG. John Zogby, president and CEO of Zogby International, said the poll clearly shows support for gay marriage.

"No matter how the question is worded, the answers remain the same. More than half of likely voters support allowing gay couples to marry," Zogby said. "And a majority believe it would be better if the state stopped fighting the marriage lawsuit and used the resources to focus on problems like the economy."

Patrick Murray, associate director of The Star Ledger/ Eagleton-Rutgers poll, said "The numbers aren't like anything I've seen in any other poll about this issue, but it depends on how you ask the questions and where you ask the questions."

"I would find it very interesting if New Jersey is this far ahead of the nation in terms of progressive thought," he said. "New Jersey is always a few points ahead of the nation in opposition to the death penalty or support for gay rights in general, but not 180 degrees apart from the rest of the nation."

Other numbers reflect a dramatic change from earlier polls.

When New Jerseyans were asked whether they personally know someone who is gay, lesbian or bisexual, 77 percent said yes and 23 percent said no. Four years ago, 57 percent responded yes in a similar Star-Ledger/Eagleton-Rutgers poll.

According to the Zogby poll, gay marriage has support across the state, and the most in South Jersey, where 60 percent support it and 35 percent oppose. Whites favor same-sex marriage 56 percent to 40 percent. Nearly seven out of 10 Jews and Hispanics questioned said they favor gay marriage. A majority of Republicans, Protestants, African-Americans and Asian- Americans opposed gay marriage.

Gay rights leaders said while the poll won't affect the pending lawsuit, they believe it will help convince lawmakers to pass the domestic partnership bill.

"We're delighted. The poll reflects our experience with our friends and neighbors, and we hope it improves the chances of passage of the domestic partnership bill," said Michael Blake, president of the New Jersey chapter of the Stonewall Democrats. "I think this will help reassure people that there is strong support for it."

Pollsters interviewed 803 "likely voters" by telephone from July 15-19. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points. The margin of error is greater for subsets such as race, religion, and political party.
http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1059456776213090.xml?starledger?nnj

On the Importance of Morality and Religion in Government:

[W]e have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion....Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. (Source: John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States, Charles Francis Adams, editor (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co. 1854), Vol. IX, p. 229, October 11, 1798.)

Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime & pure, [and] which denounces against the wicked eternal misery, and [which] insured to the good eternal happiness, are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments. (Source: Bernard C. Steiner, The Life and Correspondence of James McHenry (Cleveland: The Burrows Brothers, 1907), p. 475. In a letter from Charles Carroll to James McHenry of November 4, 1800.)

[O]nly a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters. Source: Benjamin Franklin, The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Tappan, Whittemore and Mason, 1840), Vol. X, p. 297, April 17, 1787.

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of man and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connexions with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked, Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice?

And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who, that is a sincere friend to it, can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric? (Source: George Washington, Address of George Washington, President of the United States . . . Preparatory to His Declination (Baltimore: George and Henry S. Keatinge), pp. 22-23. In his Farewell Address to the United States in 1796.)

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