In recent times, much has been written about faith-based politics in the United States, and religious activists are typically at the center of such stories. Activists are literally where the action is in politics-the people who write checks, stuff envelopes, knock on doors, blog, and demonstrate on behalf of causes deeply rooted in their religious values.

Conservative religious activists, sometimes referred to as the “religious right” or the “Christian conservative movement,” are better known. They have become a staple of national politics in the last three decades, opposing same-sex marriage and abortion, and seeking to protect traditional moral values. These activists represent a long history of political action, dating back to the prohibition and anti-evolution movements in the early 20^th Century.

More recently, progressive religious activists, sometimes referred to as the “religious left” or the “progressive religious movement,” have received renewed attention. They have become more visible and organized in the last several years, working for social justice and peace, and seeking to protect the environment. These activists also represent a long history of faith-based political activism, including playing integral roles in the civil rights and labor movements.

To cast light on the important role both conservative and progressive religious activists play in American politics today, Public Religion Research teamed up with well-known scholar John C. Green at the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron to field the 2009 Religious Activists Surveys, the first-ever mirrored surveys of conservative and progressive activists.

After we released our findings at a national press conference at the National Press Club on September 15, 2009, Dr. Green sat down with Kim Lawton of “Religion and Ethics Newsweekly” at PBS to discuss the implications of the findings for the future of religions activism, both left and right, in America.

To read the full Religious Activists Survey report, “Faithful, Engaged, and Divergent: Conservative and Progressive Religious Activists in the 2008 Election and Beyond,” click here.

The 2009 Religious Activists Surveys drew upon previous research on the conservative and progressive religious movements by the principal researchers on the study, Dr. Robert P. Jones and Dr. John Green. To read more, see their previously published books below.

The following article by Public Religion Research President Robert P. Jones is cross-posted from Newsweek/Washington Post “On Faith” site. You can read the full piece at the Post here.

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This weekend, conservative Christian activists will gather at the fourth annual “Values Voter Summit” in Washington, DC. Sponsored by Family Research Council and other conservative Christian and political groups, the gathering will feature prominent conservative Christians and other leaders and sessions with titles such as “Silencing the Christians,” “Obamacare: Rationing Your Life Away,” and “Thugocracy: Fighting the Vast Left-wing Conspiracy.”

With titles like that, there is sure to be good, perhaps irresistible, religious and political theater, but sorting out the realities from the rhetoric can be a real challenge both for reporters and for readers who hope to come away from new stories with a critical understanding of the current state of the conservative religious activist movement and its relationship to the wider group of white evangelical Christians for which it claims to speak.

Below are four recommended questions that readers should use to evaluate the quality of the upcoming media coverage. These recommendations are largely based on findings from our newly released 2009 Religious Activists Surveys, conducted by the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics in partnership with Public Religion Research.

Question 1: Does the story note that conservative Christian activists are only one kind of “values voter”?

Our recent Religious Activists Surveys, the most comprehensive comparative portraits of conservative and progressive religious activists to date, are an important reminder that the conservative Christian activists attending the “Values Voter Summit” are just one kind of religious activist with one set of values. There is also another group of religious activists, progressive religious activists, who hold their own set of values and who have been making their presence known in recent years.

We found activists on both the right and the left who were both politically engaged and more highly religious than the general public. Referencing the so-called “God gap” during his remarks at our recent press conference, Michael Cromartie, Vice President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, concluded, “Well clearly, from this data, the God Gap is not only closing, it is closed.” In fact, in our surveys, while conservative and progressive activists didn’t agree on many political issues, they did agree that progressive religious groups had wielded a greater influence than conservative religious groups in the 2008 election.

Question 2: Does the coverage give a nod to the important differences between the priorities of conservative religious activists and the broader group of white evangelical Christians for whom these activists claim to speak?

Activists are elites who close ranks easily, and their views rarely correspond in a one-to-one fashion with the more diverse and less predictable rank and file. The Religious Activists Surveys confirmed that conservative religious activists ranked only two issues as the most important for religious people to engage: abortion and same-sex marriage. While this narrow agenda has the strategic advantage of being focused and clear, it does not map cleanly onto the priorities of white evangelicals overall, who have broader political priorities. The 2008 Faith and American Politics Survey (FAPS), for example, found that white evangelicals did not rank abortion or same-sex marriage in the top five issues that were most important to their vote. White evangelicals overall ranked these cultural issues lower than the economy, terrorism, energy and gas, the war in Iraq, and health care as the important factors in their vote. This is not to say that white evangelicals do not have strong opinions about opposing abortion and same-sex marriage (even here, not surprisingly, activist opinions are more polarized than opinions of white evangelicals in the general population), but it is important to note that the priorities of conservative religious activists do not necessarily square with the priorities of evangelicals overall.

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In the remainder of the article, I recommend readers ask two other questions when evaluating the upcoming media coverage:

• Question 3: Does the story attempt to understand the deeper cultural and theological influences underneath the issues?
• Question 4: Does the coverage attend to the role of younger activists and to generational differences that challenge conventional wisdom?

You can read the rest of the piece at the Washington Post here.

First Ever Polls Comparing Conservative and Progressive Religious Activists
Show Divergent Identities and Strategies,
Common Commitment to Political Involvement

(WASHINGTON, DC) New surveys conducted by leading researchers on religion and politics in America show the divergent ways conservative and progressive religious activists understand their religious identity, engage in politics, and prioritize issues. The 2009 Religious Activist Surveys were conducted by the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron in partnership with Public Religion Research.

“Both conservative and progressive religious activists are committed to being visible and active in the political process,” said Dr. John C. Green, Director of the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron. “This fact suggests that the prominent role that religion played in the 2008 election is likely to continue in the future.”

“If anyone still believed that committed religious activists come down on only one side of any major policy issue, these surveys should finally put that idea to rest,” said Dr. Robert P. Jones, president of Public Religion Research. “These activists are faithful, engaged, and have widely divergent views about both the place of religion in public life and the political implications of their faith.”

Both groups of activists are more likely than members of the general public to report that religion is important in their lives, and they’re more likely to be frequent worshippers. But they approach their faith in strikingly different ways. For example, nearly half of conservative activists (48%) view scripture as the literal word of God, a view held by only 3% of progressives.

Conservative and progressive activists have markedly different political priorities. Conservative activists overwhelmingly identify abortion and same-sex marriage as most important issues. Fewer than 10% of progressive religious activists call those “most important” issues. Highest priorities for progressive activists are poverty (74%), health care (67%), environment (56%), jobs/economy (48%), and the Iraq war (45%).

Progressive religious activists perceived themselves as having significant influence on the 2008 election compared to other groups, while conservative religious activists perceived themselves as having relatively little influence. More than 4-in-10 (43%) progressive activists say that progressive religious groups had a great amount of influence, roughly as influential as labor unions (44%) and business groups (41%). By a nearly 2-to-1 margin, conservative religious activists also thought “religious progressive groups” had a greater influence than “religious conservative groups” (25% vs. 13%).

Among the findings of the surveys:

Issue positions

Conservative and progressive religious activists have sharply different views on cultural, economic, and foreign policy issues.

· Abortion. Conservative religious activists are nearly universally opposed to legalized abortion: 95% say either that abortion should be illegal in all cases (60%) or most cases (35%). In sharp contrast, 80% of progressive religious activists say abortion should be legal in all (26%) or most (54%) cases.

· Gay and Lesbian Issues. On the issue of same-sex marriage, conservatives overwhelmingly oppose (82%) both same-sex marriage and civil unions, while nearly 6-in-10 (59%) progressives support same-sex marriage, and another third support civil unions.

· Health Care. Only 6% of conservative religious activists agree that the U.S. should have comprehensive national health insurance even if it resulted in fewer choices for patients, compared to nearly 8-in-10 (78%) progressive activists who agree.

· Environment. Only 13% of conservative activists agree that more environmental protection is needed even if it raises prices or costs jobs, compared to nearly 9-in-10 (87%) progressive activists who agree.

· Torture. A significant majority of conservative religious activists say torture can often (25%) or sometimes (36%) be justified. Only 5% of progressive religious activists take either of those positions, with 79% saying torture can never be justified.

· Role of Government. Sixty-eight percent of progressive religious activists believe government should increase spending and provide more services. Among conservative religious activists, even larger margins (86%) believe that government should provide fewer services and cut spending.

Politics and the 2008 election

· In 2008, Barack Obama was the solid favorite among progressive religious activists. Conservative religious activists initially were divided but eventually rallied to McCain. Among progressive activists, 58% say Obama was their first choice in the Democratic primary, and 93% supported him in the general election. Conservative activists overwhelmingly supported John McCain in the general election, although they were initially more split among GOP contenders, with 28% calling Mike Huckabee their top choice, Romney getting 22%, and McCain 17%. However, conservative activists hold a much warmer view of McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin. Nearly 9-in-10 activists view Palin favorably, and a majority (53%) have a very favorable opinion of her.

· Both religious activist groups cite faith as an important factor in their voting decision, but conservative activists were more likely to say that their faith was the most important factor. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of the conservative activists say their faith was the most important factor in deciding how to vote in 2008, and another 29% say their faith was as important as other factors. Among progressive activists, 1-in-5 say faith was the most important factor, and 41% report that faith was as important as other factors in deciding who to support in the election.

· Conservative and progressive religious activists report relatively similar levels of participation in traditional campaign activities such as making campaign donations or signing petitions. However, progressive religious activists were much more likely to have participated in a range of online campaign activities. Also, while both groups were active in the presidential campaigns, conservative activists report being somewhat more active than progressives in congressional campaigns (46% vs. 41%), statewide campaigns (41% vs. 37%), and ballot issues (42% vs. 34%).

Religion in public life

· Conservative and progressive religious activists both support a role for religion in public life, but the groups have strongly diverging views of church-state separation. Eighty-one percent of progressive religious activists say the U.S. “should maintain a strict separation of church and state,” a position taken by only 21% of conservative activists.

· More than two-thirds of conservative religious activists say there was not enough public expression of faith and prayer by political leaders during the 2008 election, compared to only 5% of progressive religious activists. Among progressive activists, a majority (52%) say the amount of religious expression by political leaders in 2008 was about right.

· In terms of future public engagement, both conservative and progressive activists strongly emphasized the importance of being publicly visible and politically active. Conservative activists were more likely to emphasize the importance of prayer, whereas progressive activists were more likely to emphasize the importance of civility, pluralism, and social justice.

The full report, including a description of survey methodology, and the survey top lines are available at http://www.publicreligion.org/research/.

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MEDIA ADVISORY

New Polls Highlight Religious Activists in the 2008 Election and Beyond

Leading Researchers and Commentators Discuss Findings of First-Ever Surveys Comparing Progressive and Conservative Religious Activists at National Press Club on Tuesday, September 15

Leading researchers on religion and politics, Dr. John C. Green and Dr. Robert P. Jones, will be joined by prominent public intellectuals E.J. Dionne and Michael Cromartie at a press conference at the National Press Club at 1 p.m. on Tuesday September 15 to discuss the results of two new national polls of progressive and conservative religious activists.

The 2008 presidential election saw energetic involvement by both progressive and conservative religious activists, groups whose continued political engagement is evident in the debates over current issues such as health care, climate change, and gay and lesbian rights.  These new surveys provide first-ever comparative portraits of two groups of highly religious, politically engaged activists who are often rivals in national politics and opponents on key issues of the day. Analysis will include demographics, civic engagement, general attitudes, and positions on major public policy issues.   Questions will be taken from members of the press and public following presentations.

The Religious Activists Surveys were conducted by the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics in partnership with Public Religion Research.

WHAT: Press conference and discussion of new polling on religious activists

WHO:

· Dr. John C. Green, Director, Bliss Institute of Applied Politics, University of Akron

· Dr. Robert P. Jones, President, Public Religion Research

· E.J. Dionne, Washington Post columnist and Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution

· Michael Cromartie, Vice President, Ethics and Public Policy Center

WHEN: Tuesday, September 15, 1:00 p.m.

WHERE: National Press Club Murrow Room

529 14th Street, NW 13th Floor Washington, DC 20045

For more information or to RSVP, please contact Peter Montgomery at 202-744-0941 or pmontgomery@publicreligion.org.