A pleasantly surprising poll has been released today by the prestigious Pew Research folks which shows that the growing mix of flammable partisan politics with equally fiery religion may not be what a lot of Americans are looking for. (Don’t tell the mainstream media, this, or it could ruin their day.) Here are a few interesting findings comparing views this year with those in 2004:
*50% of self-described “conservatives” think churches should stay out of politics (up from 30%)
*46% of those polled (up from 40%) report being uncomfortable when politicians discuss how religious they are
*66% of Americans (just as before) believe that churches should not endorse candidates
*48% of us believe that religious conservatives have too much clout in the Republican Party–a 5% increase just since last year (so much for the Religious Right being dead, another thing not to tell the mainstream media which is convinced otherwise)
*There is a modest 3% decline in the number of white evangelicals who report that “same sex marriage” will be a “very important” voting issue
*And the poll contains a cautionary note to those supporters of Barack Obama who are delighted at their outreach efforts to evangelicals who didn’t vote for Gore or Kerry but might vote for Obama if he keeps emphasizing religion. John McCain has essentially the same lead over Barack Obama among white evangelicals as Bush did over Kerry in summer 2004.
As you know Jay, I don’t have any problem with churches or atheist groups taking positions on political issues; it is only when they cross the line into candidate endorsement or opposition that they run afoul of both the tax laws and apparently an increasing number of their fellow citizens.
So what do you think of these trends?
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