A survey taken between September 13 and September 30, before
the presidential debates, and involving 3,003 respondents, with a margin of
error of plus or minus 2 percent gives us some significant information on the
link between religion and political views. Here are some of the findings:
Nearly 8 in 10 likely supporters of Republican contender Mitt Romney
identified themselves as white Christians, including 37 percent who said they
were white evangelicals, 19 percent who identified as white mainline
Protestants and 19 percent who identified as white Catholics.
The religiously unaffiliated is the
fastest growing group in the country's religious landscape, comprising 1 in 5
Americans and more than doubling in size since 1990, the survey found. The
majority were raised in a particular faith, and their reasons for leaving range
from a fading belief in God to negative personal experiences with religion. Regarding
political preferences, the religiously unaffiliated, Hispanic Catholics,
non-Christians and black Protestants were more likely to support President
Barack Obama.
Support for Obama among the religiously
unaffiliated was high, at 73 percent, but this group was less likely to say
they were certain to vote, compared to religiously affiliated Americans.
"We are not feeling the full force
of their presence at the ballot box," said Robert Jones, chief
executive of the Public Religion Research Institute and co-author of the report
A third of religiously unaffiliated
Americans were ages 18-29, the study found. People in this age group were also
more likely to support Obama, at 70 percent.
If younger voters continue to vote
Democratic, as they have in recent elections, they could represent the
"replacement generation" for the old "New Deal" generation
of Democratic voters who grew up in the 1930s, co-author E. J. Dionne said.
Most U.S. Catholics think the church should focus more on social
justice and helping the poor, even if it means focusing less on issues like
abortion, according to a poll released Monday by the nonpartisan Public
Religion Research Institute.
The 2012 American Values Survey finding
on Catholics goes against the focus of many U.S. Catholic bishops, who have
stressed the church's ban on abortion and artificial contraception in their
public policy statements.
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