Poll-Watch: Back-Lash? Majority of Americans Now Want Churches Out of Politics

Posted by Joshua Holland, AlterNet at 10:28 AM on August 22, 2008.

A new poll from Pew finds a slim majority of the public "saying that churches and other houses of worship should keep out of political matters and not express their views on day-to-day social and political matters."

The new national survey by the Pew Research Center reveals that most of the reconsideration of the desirability of religious involvement in politics has occurred among conservatives. Four years ago, just 30% of conservatives believed that churches and other houses of worship should stay out of politics. Today, 50% of conservatives express this view.

As a result, conservatives' views on this issue are much more in line with the views of moderates and liberals than was previously the case. Similarly, the sharp divisions between Republicans and Democrats that previously existed on this issue have disappeared.

There are other signs in the new poll about a potential change in the climate of opinion about mixing religion and politics.

First, the survey finds a small but significant increase since 2004 in the percentage of respondents saying that they are uncomfortable when they hear politicians talk about how religious they are -- from 40% to 46%. Again, the increase in negative sentiment about religion and politics is much more apparent among Republicans than among Democrats.

Second, while the Republican Party is most often seen as the party friendly toward religion, the Democratic Party has made gains in this area. Nearly four-in-ten (38%) now say the Democratic Party is generally friendly toward religion, up from just 26% two years ago. Nevertheless, considerably more people (52%) continue to view the GOP as friendly toward religion.

Those religious conservatives who believe that their church should keep out of electoral politics are probably the smart ones. When religion becomes too closely aligned with government, people tend to reject both -- just ask a European.

Tagged as: politics, religion, poll-watch

Joshua Holland is an editor and senior writer at AlterNet.