Survey on Religion and Politics

The Pew Research Center reports on a new survey:

Americans have long been comfortable with religion having a role in politics. A sizable majority continues to say it is important for the president to have strong religious beliefs. And a majority says they are not bothered when politicians talk about their religion.

At the same time, however, there is widespread opposition to churches and other houses of worship endorsing one political candidate over another. And recent Pew Research Center polling found that an increasing percentage thinks there has been “too much” religious talk from politicians.

Roughly half of the public believes that conservative Christians have gone too far in trying to impose their religious values on the country. But there is even more concern that liberals have gone too far in trying to keep religion out of schools and government.

This imbalance reflects the continued public view that religious groups, and religion in general, strengthen American society. By two-to-one, most say that churches, synagogues and other houses of worship contribute to solving important social problems. Yet there is a continued sense that religion’s influence is declining in America. An overwhelming majority of those who share this perception see this as a bad thing.

See another blog post on this survey.