Public Religion Research released jointly with Third Way today Beyond the God Gap: A New Roadmap for Reaching Religious Americans on Public Policy Issues.  In today’s Huffington Post, Third Way’s Jim Kessler and PRR’s Robert P. Jones outline why we created this resource to help journalists, policy makers, and the public retire old stereotypes about religious Americans and politics.

From the Huffington Post:

“Insofar as Evangelicals have demonized gays and lesbians [they] should repent before God.” Was it Jon Stewart who said that? Bill Maher? Barney Frank? No, it was said by an Evangelical pastor of a Southern megachurch — a conservative who calls Mike Huckabee a friend. We live in a new era, marked by an aging and declining Christian right that is increasingly eclipsed by the Tea Party, a nascent but growing chorus of diverse progressive religious voices, and a broadening of political agendas among many people of faith. Maybe it’s time to rethink our assumptions about religious Americans and public policy.

That conviction is the guiding principle of a new paper called Beyond the God Gap, which provides a road map for navigating the complex terrain of religion and public policy in America….

These old “god gap” assumptions [the authors] encountered in our pasts were not atypical. Public conversations about religion and politics continue to fall into well-worn ruts based on stereotypes: evangelical Christians march monolithically to a right-wing tune; mainline Protestants are no longer relevant; Catholics in the pews affirm all official church positions; and the non-religious are moral relativists. But as we have discovered through research and in our own lives, the truth is more nuanced and interesting. And understanding this truth is heartening and essential not only for anyone hoping to make progress on specific issues such as gay and lesbian rights, abortion, and immigration reform, but also for anyone working to foster a more civil dialogue throughout the country.

Today, four religious groupings make up about three-quarters of the U.S. population: white evangelical Protestants, white Mainline Protestants, African American Protestants, and Roman Catholics. In Beyond the God Gap, we took a fresh look not only at political attitudes on key issues, but also at the underlying cultural fabric and theological beliefs that help explain attitudes toward government, voting patterns, and shifts taking place within each of these religious families.

Read the rest of the article at the Huffington Post.

New Poll, Focus Groups: Strong Support for Comprehensive Immigration Reform in Ohio, Arkansas Across Religious Lines

New polling finds increase in optimism following health care reform passage
Full Reports available here.

A national re-contact survey and three state-level reports released today show strong support for immigration reform among residents of Ohio and Arkansas. “Like Americans overall, Ohio and Arkansas residents support a comprehensive approach to immigration reform by approximately a 2-to-1 margin,” said Dr. Robert P. Jones, CEO of Public Religion Research Institute, which conducted the studies. Jones also noted that this strong support persists despite higher anxiety among Ohioans and Arkansans about economic vulnerability and competition with illegal immigrants for jobs. These state-level findings are generally consistent with findings from Public Religion Research Institute’s national survey on religion, values, and immigration reform, which was released in March. The national re-contact survey following up on the survey released last month found a significant increase in satisfaction with the direction of the country at the national and state levels, compared to attitudes prior to the passage of health care reform.

In addition to the state-level poll reports, an analysis of four focus groups among politically moderate white Protestant and Catholic voters in Columbus, Ohio, showed significant differences among Catholic and Protestant participants – with Catholics more strongly connecting to their families’ own immigration experience and holding more sympathetic views toward the challenges facing immigrants today.

Re-contact Survey

PRRI conducted a short re-contact survey March 31-April 5, 2010, with participants of the original national and state surveys on attitudes toward immigrants and immigration reform that were fielded March 5-11, 2010. The purpose of the re-contact survey was to assess whether the passage of comprehensive health care reform on March 21, 2010 had influenced public attitudes about the direction of the country and support for Congress tackling immigration reform this year.

• We found a significant increase in satisfaction with the direction of the country, compared to attitudes prior to the passage of health care reform. While nearly two-thirds (64%) of Americans remain dissatisfied with the direction of the country, we found a significant 9-point increase (from 20% to 29%) in the number of Americans who said they were satisfied with the direction of the country.
• Consistent with previous findings, the public remains evenly divided about whether Congress should tackle immigration reform this year.

State Poll Results

Residents of Ohio and Arkansas are more likely than Americans nationwide to report being in fair or poor shape economically and to have a negative view of the contributions of immigrants. Ohio and Arkansas residents are also more likely than the general public to believe illegal immigrants take jobs that American workers want – a view held by 58% of Arkansas residents and 56% of Ohioans, but only 48% of Americans generally.

In spite of these more negative attitudes, residents of Ohio and Arkansas, like Americans generally, agree on the importance of a set of values—including protecting human dignity and keeping families together—that should guide reform, and residents of both states overwhelmingly support an earned path to citizenship for illegal immigrants:

• Overwhelming majorities of Ohio and Arkansas residents say enforcing the rule of law and protecting national security (87% and 88% respectively), ensuring fairness to taxpayers (80% and 89%), keeping families together (79% and 80%), and protecting the dignity of every person (78% and 81%) are very or extremely important values that should guide immigration reform.
• Nearly 9-in-10 Arkansas and Ohio residents, like Americans overall, support an earned path to citizenship for illegal immigrants (85% Ohio, 87% Arkansas, and 86% America), which is one of the key provisions of comprehensive immigration reform.
• Like Americans generally, Ohio residents favor comprehensive immigration reform over more limited enforcement-oriented alternatives by approximately 2-to-1, and Arkansas residents favor comprehensive reform by nearly the same margin. When asked to choose between a description of comprehensive reform and an argument that illegal immigrants should not be rewarded with amnesty or taxpayer-funded social services, 66% of Ohioans choose comprehensive reform with an earned path to citizenship, compared to 25% who embrace the opposing position. Fifty-seven percent of Arkansans choose comprehensive reform with an earned path to citizenship, compared to 30% who embrace the opposing position.

The Ohio and Arkansas survey reports also examine differences in attitudes toward immigration and approaches to immigration reform across lines of religion, gender, income, and educational attainment.

Catholic-Protestant Focus Groups: Ellis Island vs. Home Depot

The Ohio focus groups among white moderate voters demonstrated significant differences in attitudes toward immigration between Catholics, whose initial impressions were mostly positive and grounded in their own families’ immigration stories, and Protestants, whose initial impressions of immigrants were more likely to be negative and associated with images like day laborers looking for work at a Home Depot parking lot. Other findings from the focus group report:

• Lack of knowledge and the power of stories. Participants across all groups were quick to say that they believed the current immigration system was broken, but they had little concrete knowledge of how it was broken. When participants heard stories about hardships of becoming a citizen, ideas shifted in a more supportive direction.
• Openness to clergy leadership in the appropriate setting. Nearly all participants were wary of hearing about a political issue such as immigration reform from the pulpit, but they were open to clergy leadership in discussion or informational settings. Very few had heard anything about immigration reform at church, and nearly all were unaware of any official position of their denomination on the issue.
• Concerns about commitment of contemporary immigrants to the U.S. Moderate religious voters are not fully convinced that, given the opportunity, illegal immigrants would fully invest in a path to citizenship and “put out their whole being” into being here. These participants see the willingness to learn English both as an important policy point and as a proxy of immigrants’ commitment to investing in the U.S.

About the Survey and Focus Groups

PRRI’s nationwide telephone survey of 1,201 Americans (1,047 voters), along with two state surveys of Ohio (n=402) and Arkansas (n=402) residents, was conducted March 5–11, 2010. PRRI also conducted a brief re-contact survey March 31-April 5, 2010, with participants of the original national and state surveys. The focus group report analyzes four focus groups held in the greater Columbus, Ohio, area on January 28, 2010, among politically moderate white Christian voters who attend religious services at least once or twice per month. Two groups were comprised of self-identified Protestants, and two groups were comprised of self-identified Catholics. The study was sponsored by the Ford Foundation.

Released: March 23, 2010                                  Contact: Dr. Robert P. Jones, 240-638-6403
Updated:  April 14, 2010                                                  rjones@publicreligion.org

New National Poll: People of Faith Support Immigration Reform,
Approve of Clergy Speaking Out

Large Majorities of Major Religious Groups Support Opportunity for Citizenship
Full report and topline questionnaire available here.

A new survey by Public Religion Research Institute finds broad support across religious groups for a comprehensive approach to immigration reform and strong approval for clergy speaking out on the issue. As immigration reform efforts resume around the country, the survey provides timely data about American attitudes on the issue and the influence of religion and values. The nationwide telephone survey of 1,201 Americans (1,047 voters), along with two state surveys of Ohio (n=402) and Arkansas (n=402) residents, was conducted March 5-11, 2010. The study was sponsored by the Ford Foundation.

“By a 2-to-1 margin, Americans strongly support a comprehensive approach to immigration reform, and they want a solution that reflects strongly held values,” said Dr. Robert P. Jones, CEO of Public Religion Research Institute.  “More than 8-in-10 Americans-including overwhelming majorities of white mainline Protestants, Catholics, and white evangelicals-believe strongly that immigration reform should be guided by the values of protecting the dignity of every person and keeping families together as well as by such values as promoting national security and ensuring fairness to taxpayers.”

The survey identified a significant partisan values gap related to immigration policy. There is general agreement among Democrats, Independents, and Republicans on values such as promoting national security, securing the border, and ensuring fairness to taxpayers.  On the other hand, Democrats rated cultural-religious values-such as protecting the dignity of every person, keeping families together, the Golden Rule, and the biblical value of welcoming the stranger-higher than Republicans by double digits.

Jones also said the survey refutes recent claims that religious leaders’ support for comprehensive immigration reform does not reflect the values of people in the pews.  Nearly nine-in-ten Americans and respondents in every major religious tradition-including white evangelicals, white mainline Protestants, and Catholics-favor a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, one of the key provisions of a comprehensive approach to reform.  And by a two-to-one margin, Americans overall and from across the religious landscape favor a comprehensive approach over more limited approaches focused on enforcement alone.

“On this issue, the public is out ahead of the politicians,” said Rev. Rich Nathan, pastor of the 10,000-member Vineyard Church in Columbus, Ohio.  “Our politicians need to exert some focused leadership; they’ll find they have the support if they exert that leadership.”

“These findings highlight the importance of the religious community, which shares a common set of values on this issue,” said Katie Paris of Faith in Public Life, one of several leaders from the religious community who commented on the survey findings. “The faith community is uniquely positioned to break down partisan barriers on immigration reform by emphasizing these shared values. This is critical in the weeks and months ahead as we work to fix our broken immigration system with support from both political parties.”

Additionally, the survey shows that Americans who attend religious services regularly are comfortable with clergy speaking out about the issue of immigration. The survey found that while only about one-fourth of regular worship attenders report hearing about immigration reform at their place of worship, strong majorities would be comfortable hearing their clergy address the issue in church venues such as from the pulpit, as well as in public venues such as community meetings and the media.

“I am encouraged that the poll shows people want immigration reform that is guided by religious values such as the dignity of the human person, keeping families together, and the Golden Rule — values the Bishops and the Catholic Church have long held as central on this issue,” said Father Tom Reese, Senior Fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University. “It is also encouraging to see that a majority of people support their clergy speaking out on immigration reform.”

The survey found that Americans are nearly equally divided over whether immigrants today strengthen the country or are a burden, but more than 8-in-10 said they completely (42%) or mostly (42%) agree that the American economy would benefit if current illegal immigrants became taxpaying citizens.  The survey also found that deportation was broadly unpopular as a solution. A majority (56%) of the public disagree that we “should make a serious effort to deport all illegal immigrants back to their home countries.”  While white evangelicals are more likely to call current immigrants a burden on the country, 83% of them, nearly the same percentage as Americans overall, agree that the economy would benefit if current illegal immigrants became taxpaying citizens.

Among the survey’s findings:

• A majority (56%) of Americans say the immigration system is completely or largely broken. Only 7% say the system is generally working, and about one-third (34%) say the system is working but with some major problems.
• At least 8-in-10 Americans rate four values as very or extremely important guides to immigration reform: enforcing the rule of law and promoting national security (88%), ensuring fairness to taxpayers (84%), protecting the dignity of every person (82%), and keeping families together (80%). There are few significant differences among religious groups; for example, white evangelicals are just as likely as white Mainline Protestants, Catholics and the unaffiliated to say protecting the dignity of every person is a very or extremely important value.
• A strong majority (71%) also say following the Golden Rule-”providing immigrants the same opportunity that I would want if my family were immigrating to the U.S.”- is a very or extremely important value.
• Nearly 9-in-10 (86%) Americans favor a policy that includes one of the key provisions of comprehensive immigration reform-that illegal immigrants be required to register with the government, work, pay taxes, and learn English before having the opportunity to apply for citizenship. Support remains strong across all religious traditions. When asked to choose between a description of comprehensive immigration reform and typical opposing arguments, Americans still prefer a comprehensive approach by a margin of nearly 2-to-1.
• There is general agreement across political lines about the importance of the values of enforcing the rule of law/promoting national security, and ensuring fairness to taxpayers, with more than 8-in-10 Americans rating these as extremely or very important.
• However, by double-digit margins, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to rate cultural-religious values as important for immigration reform:
  • For Democrats, the top two most important values that should guide immigration reform are protecting the dignity of every person and keeping families together. Democrats rate these values significantly higher than Republicans (88% vs. 74%, and 88% vs. 71% extremely/very important respectively).
  • Democrats are also significantly more likely than Republicans to rate religious values such as following the Golden Rule and welcoming the stranger as very or extremely important for immigration reform (75% vs. 65%, and 60% vs. 45% respectively).
• A majority of Americans who attend religious services regularly (at least once or twice per month) say they would be comfortable with clergy speaking out from the pulpit, and 6-in-10 say they would be comfortable with clergy discussing the issue in their congregation’s newsletter or website. Larger majorities would be comfortable with clergy talking about the issue in an adult education session (74%), at a local community meeting (77%) or in the local media (75%).

Update: Our initial March 23 release of the data described the overall survey sample as being drawn from registered voters when it should have been identified as a sample from the general population.  We have issued an updated version of the topline questionnaire and all related documents that show results for both the general population and a subset of voters. The survey found no significant differences between the general public and voters on measures of support for immigration reform.

Re-contact Survey Update:

PRRI conducted a short re-contact survey March 31-April 5, 2010, with participants of the original national and state surveys that were fielded March 5-11, 2010. The purpose of the re-contact survey was to assess whether the passage of comprehensive health care reform on March 21, 2010, which occurred after the original survey field dates, had influenced public attitudes about the direction of the country or specifically about support for Congress tackling immigration reform this year.

• We found no shift in support for Congress tackling immigration reform this year, with the public remaining evenly divided.
• However, we found a significant increase in satisfaction with the direction of the country, compared to attitudes prior to the passage of health care reform. While nearly two-thirds (64%) of Americans remain dissatisfied with the direction of the country, we found a significant 9-point increase (from 20% to 29%) in the number of Americans who said they were satisfied with the direction of the country.
• The increase in satisfaction with the direction of the country was driven primarily by a large increase in satisfaction among Democrats. Satisfaction increased 21 points among Democrats from only one-third (33%) to a majority (54%), compared to an increase of 6 points among Independents (15% to 21%) and only 2 points among Republicans (9% to 11%).

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The California Supreme Court today upheld Proposition 8, which repealed an existing California law allowing marriage between same-sex couples by amending the state constitution to restrict marriage to heterosexual couples. The role of religion in that vote has been the subject of much interest and debate, but solid data on religion has been scattered.

Last December, the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) conducted a state-wide poll to provide a more nuanced picture of the general election and Proposition 8 vote in the state. Public Religion Research worked with PPIC analysts to produce findings for major religious groups that were not made available in their initial data release.  We have released a new memo summarizing these findings, along with summaries of the NEP Exit Poll findings on religion and the Prop 8 vote.

The full memo can be found here:
http://www.publicreligion.org/research/published/?id=131

The following are the key findings regarding major religious groups and the Proposition 8 vote:

• The data show a more complex picture among religious groups than stereotypes often portray. For example, while white evangelicals were strongly supportive of Prop 8 (88%-12%), white mainline Protestants evenly split their vote (50%-50%). This finding resonates with the Clergy Voices Survey PRR released just last week of white Mainline Protestant clergy, which showed Mainline clergy more supportive of gay rights than the general population and largely in line with Mainline Protestant people in the pews. That study can be referenced here.
• The largest group of religious voters, those who occasionally attend religious services (46% of CA voters), opposed Prop 8 (54%-46%). Only those voters who attend religious services weekly or more (32% of CA voters) supported Prop 8 (84% - 16%).
• Supporters and Opponents of Prop 8 brought different motivations and value frames to the ballot box.  Supporters felt more strongly that the vote was important and were driven primarily by the desire to “preserve marriage” and by religious objections to same-sex marriage. Opponents felt less strongly that the vote was important and were motivated primarily by a desire to extend equal rights and freedoms to gay and lesbian people.

Overall, this analysis cautions against an overly simplistic view of the role of religion in the Proposition 8 vote.

On February 18, Public Religion Research presented new findings on American attitudes toward same-sex marriage from the Faith & American Politics Survey. The report examines religious and generational differences in support for marriage equality and looks at some of the most important demographic predictors of support. The report also offers insight about other significant factors influencing support, like a religious liberty assurance and personal relationships with gay or lesbian people. To read the full report, click here.

A new article by the Oregonian profiles a new survey conducted by Public Religion Research on the issue of torture among southern white evangelicals.

Torture and Evangelicals: Faith takes a back seat
By Tom Krattenmaker

The new findings about evangelicals and torture certainly won’t help in that regard. Commissioned by Mercer University and the Washington-based Faith in Public Life, and conducted by Public Religion Research, the survey finds that 57 percent of white evangelicals in the South believe torture can be justified. By comparison, an earlier poll by the Pew Research Center finds just 48 percent of the general public in support of torture.

Even more illuminating is this finding from the new poll: The evangelicals surveyed are far more likely to turn to life experience and common sense (44 percent) than Christian teaching (28 percent) in forming their opinion on torture. In other words, the segment of the population presumably most serious about their Christian faith is disinclined to be guided by the Bible on one of the central moral questions we face.

It comes as some relief to know that a different result emerged when the pollsters tweaked the question and challenged those surveyed to re-approach the issue with the Bible in mind, particularly its “do-unto others as you would have them do unto you” precept. Then, a majority agreed that torture should never be used.

Religion scholar Robert P. Jones, whose polling firm conducted the survey, believes evangelicals’ support for torture probably stems from two major impulses: Fear, and the understandable but unrealistic yearning for absolute safety from terrorists.

“When you reach for ultimate security and find it ever more elusive, you then begin to rationalize your principles in the way you treat people,” says Jones, author of the new book “Progressive and Religious.” “It extends all the way down to doing things that [before 9/11] would have been unthinkable, like rationalizing away the Geneva Conventions, and talking about how in these times we’re living in, the old morals don’t apply.”

…

You can read the full article from the Oregonian here.

A groundbreaking survey conducted by Public Religion Research and sponsored by Faith in Public Life details how younger Americans are transforming the political landscape in 2008. The report also reveals the issue priorities and the politics of young evangelicals and young Catholics. The full report can be found here.

Some highlights include:

Monthly worship attenders swing to Obama in 2008. The greatest shift in candidate preference between 2004 and 2008 has occurred among all voters who attend religious services once or twice a month, moving from 49% support for Kerry in 2004 to 60% support for Obama in 2008.

More Americans think Obama is friendly to religion than McCain. Forty-nine percent of Americans say Obama is friendly to religion, while 45% say McCain is friendly to religion. More than seven-in-ten (71%) say it is important for public officials to be comfortable talking about religious values.

Young first-time voters are heavily supporting Obama. Among young first-time voters, who make up close to one-third of this age group (ages 18-34), more than seven-in-ten (71%) support Obama, compared to slightly more than half (53%) of young voters who have voted in previous elections.

Younger Catholics more strongly support Obama, abortion rights, and more active government than older Catholics. While older Catholics (age 35 and older) are split between the candidates (46% for McCain and 44% for Obama), among younger Catholics Obama leads McCain by 15 points (55% to 40%). Six-in-ten younger Catholics say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, compared to half of older Catholics. Younger Catholics are more pro-government than any other religious group, with two-thirds preferring bigger government with more services, compared to 41% support among older Catholics.

Younger white evangelicals strongly oppose abortion rights but are less conservative and more supportive of same-sex marriage than older evangelicals.  Young white evangelicals are strongly opposed to abortion rights, with two-thirds saying abortion should be illegal in all or most cases. Yet, less than a majority (49%) of younger evangelicals identify as conservative, compared to nearly two-thirds (65%) of older evangelicals.  Among young evangelicals, a majority favor either same-sex marriage (24%) or civil unions    (28%), compared to a majority (61%) of older evangelicals who favor no legal recognition of gay couples’ relationships.

Younger white evangelicals are more pluralistic and more supportive of active government at home and of diplomacy abroad. While less than one-third (30%) of older evangelicals say a person can be moral without believing in God, 44% of younger evangelicals affirm this idea, a 14-point gap. A majority (56%) of younger evangelicals believe diplomacy rather than military strength is the best way to ensure peace, compared to only 44% of older white evangelicals. Younger white evangelicals are also more likely than older white evangelicals to favor a bigger government offering more services, by a margin of 21 points (44% and 23% respectively).