Last week’s Pew survey
on the influence of religion on Americans’ policy views is notable for
revealing how little influence there is. The only areas where religion
appears to play a significant leading role in influencing opinion are
same-sex marriage, abortion and the death penalty. Sixty percent of
pro-lifers and 45 percent of those opposed to same-sex marriage cite
religion as the most important reason for their position, while 32
percent of those opposed to the death penalty do the same. But only 12
percent of those who support additional government assistance to the
poor cite religion as the most important reason.

Dan Schultz has a good analysis
of what this glum news means for pastors who would like to think that
what they have to say about the issues of our time. What I’d like to
have seen included in the poll is a question on tolerance of other
faiths. What’s striking is how little difference religion seems to make
in Americans’ positions on anything but abortion and same-sex marriage.
On other issues, its race and ethnicity that make for the differences
(check out black Protestants and Hispanic Catholics).

P.S. The poll shows an uptick in pro-choice views since last year, from
47 percent who believe that abortion shout be legal in all or most case
to 50 percent. (Those who believe it should be illegal in all or most
cases slipped from 45 percent to 44 percent). This is a regression to
the norm for this decade–and possibly also a reflection of popular
sense that the GOP (pro-life) is in the ascendancy.