The Xian Nation gets another good polling…
26 August 2004 by Ron…and boy do they deserve it.
A new Pew Research Center has some interesting stuff about politics and religion. The big theme is no surprise: GOP the Religion-Friendly Party. But the details are interesting and worth a look. A few appetizers:
…more Americans see the Republican Party than the Democratic Party as friendly toward religion (52% to 40%)…. The stem cell controversy is growing in visibility, and a majority of the public (52%) now feels that the potential benefits of such research are more important than preserving the embryos that would be destroyed — up from 43% in March 2002…. 64% of voters say the issue of “moral values” will be very important to their vote. Kerry and Bush run about even among voters on the question of which candidate could do the best job in improving the nation’s moral climate (45% Kerry vs. 41% Bush)… [there is] widespread opposition… to political parties asking church members for lists of congregants so the parties can encourage them to register and vote… [and] Americans continue to oppose the idea of churches and other houses of worship endorsing political candidates. Nearly two-thirds (65%) say churches should not do this, while just 25% find it acceptable…. Roughly seven-in-ten voters (72%) continue to say it is important to them that a president have strong religious beliefs….a sizable majority of the public (72%) believes that it is proper to display the [ten]commandments in public buildings; just 23% say this is improper….
Lots more in the survey. Although there are glimmers of good (stem cell research, churches out of political process), the expected ugliness far outweighs them.
