Study: Election created new ‘values voter’ November 17, 2008
Posted by Zack in DC , trackbackCongratulations to Faith in Public Life for sponsoring this great survey around the elections. This really helps to underline a shift that a lot of us have been seeing anecdotally.
This from the Christian Science Monitor:
Americans painted a new picture of the “values voter” in the recent election.
They rejected the “culture wars,” with its narrow agendas and liberal-conservative divisiveness, in favor of politics that build bridges on a range of contentious issues. The readiness to work together is revealed in a national poll on voters’ priorities and values taken on Nov. 5-7 in the immediate aftermath of the election.
Nearly three-quarters of voters (and of religious voters) said people of faith should promote the common good, not protect their own views. Even groups most active in the religious right said a broader faith agenda would best reflect their values.
Only 1 in 5 white Evangelicals and 1 in 8 Catholics said an agenda focused on abortion and same-sex marriage best expressed their values. A majority of both Evangelicals (55 percent) and Catholics (51 percent) opted for a broad agenda that also includes poverty, the environment, and the war in Iraq. The survey involved a nationally representative sample of 1,277 voters and had a margin of error of 3 percent.
“Our poll shows that Catholics and white Evangelicals reject the idea that focusing on one or two issues is the right way to engage in public life,” says Katie Paris, of Faith in Public Life, which sponsored the survey conducted by Public Religion Research in Washington.blockquote>
Read the whole article here.
Comments»
I really appreciate this story, Zack! I am what is known as a very “literal” Eangelical believer — I pastor a Pentecostal church. For many years, there have been voices (like mine) within the Pentecostal Movement (2nd in size only to the Roman Catholic Church) that stand for, and preach, charity, love, forgiveness, simplicity and holiness of life, etc., but are considered “forward” by other evangelicals and fundamentalists when it comes to civil rights, pacifism, women in ministry, etc. It has been difficult for we have been lumped together with the “hateful evangelicals” and so-called Bible-conservatives that picket funerals and so forth. Things like your writings are like breezes of fresh spiritual air!