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August 22, 2008 4:57 PM
By Ed Stoddard
HOUSTON - A slim majority of Americans, including
more conservatives and Republicans than previously, want to
keep religion out of politics, a survey released on Thursday
found.
The results come as Democrat Barack Obama and Republican
John McCain actively vie for the support of religious voters
among others ahead of the November 4 presidential election.
The survey by the Pew Research Center found that 52 per cent
of Americans thought that churches and other religious
institutions should stay out of politics, an increase of eight
percentage points since 2004, when the last US presidential
election was held.
Forty-five per cent in the survey of nearly 3000 adults
conducted earlier this month took an opposite view, saying
churches should make their political views heard.
The result marked the first time since the Center began
asking the question in 1996 that those who said churches should
keep out of politics were in the majority.
A huge shift came from voters who described themselves as
conservative, with 50 per cent saying churches should stay out
of politics compared to 30 per cent in 2004.
Among Republicans, 51 per cent held this view, up from 37
per cent in August of 2004.
Such a shift could have profound political implications as
conservative white evangelical Christians have become a key
base of support for the Republican Party.
Commenting on the results, the Pew Center said: "Where
there was once a substantial partisan and ideological gap on
this question, there is now far less of a divide."
Among Democratic voters, the percentage who wanted churches
out of politics was almost unchanged since 2004 at 52 per cent.
The conservative religious vote remains important, a point
underscored last Saturday when the two presidential candidates
each took questions from influential evangelical pastor Rick
Warren at a nationally televised forum.
(Reuters Life!)
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