One Nation Under God?

Newsweek Web Exclusive

Email To A Friend

Please fill in the following information and we'll email this link.

SPONSORED BY

An interesting measurement of the poll looked at the number of people who leave one faith for another. The percentage of Americans who identify as non-evangelical Protestant (25 percent) is 5 points lower than the number who said they were raised that way. While 22 percent of respondents said they were Roman Catholic, 26 percent said they were born into Catholic families. The faith groups with net gains in believers were evangelical Protestants (29 percent compared to 25 percent who were brought up in the faith) and people who are agnostic, atheist or report no religion (also called "seculars"), up 3 points to 11 percent.

The pursuit of both religious and secular voters in the 2008 presidential race required candidates to walk a middle line, as it appears voters are evenly split on whether faith dictates their politics. The new poll measured that 51 percent of those surveyed, the vast majority of them evangelical Protestants, said their religion can have an impact on their personal politics. A bit less, 46 percent, reported that their faith is much less likely to affect how they vote on a candidate or an issue.

Measuring party identification by religion is not predicted as intuitively, but the poll shows that the GOP has lost ground to Democrats among all measured faith groups. The number of religious respondents who identify with the Republican Party has fallen nearly 10 percent among non-evangelicals and Roman Catholics. Often viewed as a Republican stronghold, more evangelicals now identify as Democrats (35 percent) than Republicans (34 percent). And other religions contain bigger divides. Among Catholics, the spread was the biggest—50 percent Democrats to 17 percent Republicans. Seculars also include a higher percentage of Democrats than Republicans (35 percent to 13 percent), but the majority (44 percent) of seculars identify as independents.

The survey was conducted among 1,003 adults, age 18 and over, on April 1 and 2, 2009. The margin of sampling error is 3.5 percentage points for results based on total adults. In addition to common sampling error, the practical problems of conducting surveys can also introduce error or bias into polls.

« Prev Page

Member Comments

- Reply
- Report Abuse
Posted By: bkrummel @ 04/26/2009 2:39:19 AM

Under the 1st Amendment, the government CANNOT establish Christianity as the national religion, either through decree or by passing laws based solely on Christian values.
- Reply
- Report Abuse
Posted By: bkrummel @ 04/25/2009 7:31:56 PM

Firstly, let me point out that I was not trying to discuss the teaching Intelligent Design issue, but acknowledging it as an issue of religion in education. I was trying to indicate that religion was not responsible for the failings of the school system and trying to move the education debate way from making religious people scapegoats and onto focusing on the real issue.

That said, Evolution is a scientific theory and Intelligent Design (which is just Creationism in disguise) is not. Creationism is theology, not science. Thus Evolution should be taught in science class and Intelligent Design should not. This doesn't mean Creationism is wrong or shouldn't be taught; it just means Creationism doesn't belong in the classroom. (Scientists make no claims on the Bible being right or wrong; they just don't study it.)

I think your post shows how little you know about Evolution. You sound like Mrs Garrison on South Park when talking about "fine humans came from little monkeys came from pond scum" (all you were missing is calling the pond scum a "retarded fish baby"). This is a rather ignorant view of Evolution. As for Lee Stroebel, he talks about the lack of evidence in the fossil record, such as transitional fossils, etc. Like all Intelligent Design people, he mostly makes a negative argument against Evolution. The fact is there is a body of evidence supporting Evolution, in the fossil record and in the behavior of microorganisms. Often there are complaints that transitional fossils, say between whales and land mammals or between fish and land animals, and often Evolutionary biologists will point to a recent discovery of such fossil records.
- Reply
- Report Abuse
Posted By: bkrummel @ 04/25/2009 7:20:28 PM

The screen name was not "Obama is a bad president"; it was "Obama was not my president". You are certainly allowed to disagree with Obama's politics and policies. But he is our president and anyone who says otherwise or defends people who say otherwise are un-American trash. Learn to be patriotic!

Moreover, calling the President or Liberal "Marxists" and "Fascists" is crossing the line. We may disagree with their policies and think the policies are flawed and infringe on liberty. But these are well-intended, patriotic Americans and we should respect them as such.

As for hate crime law, this is a debatable issue and I cannot intelligently speak on the details. But know that Congress should not be infringing upon your 1st Amendment rights and you should be free to express the view that homosexuality is wrong. You concerns are valid. But the 1st Amendment does not give you the right to speak to encourage people to harm others and disrupt public safety. The the Constitutionality of hate crime speech is debatable.

We were not founded a Christian nation; we were founded a Secular nation. Our laws are founded based not on Judeo-Christian values but on what is necessary to provide a free and civil society. Individuals are otherwise free to determine morality and values for themselves. Under the 1st Amendment, the government establish Christianity as the national religion, either through decree or by passing laws based solely on Christian values. Non-Christians should not be forced to adopt the Judeo-Christian values that they might not share via laws. Moreover, Atheists are not destroying the moral fabric of society. Atheists do not advocate for immorality like cheating and in fact often encourage moral behavior. Moreover, they are making society better by defending the rights of people (homosexuals, non-Christians, women) from whom the Religious Right wants to take away liberty. You yourself say that "the great thing about the design of America is that all beliefs are welcome". Well, every time you suggest that American is a "Christian nation" or a nation for "a religious people", you are making it painfully clear that Atheists are not welcome. When you force us to pray with you in public venues like schools, you make us feel unwelcomed. Learn to follow the Constitution and treat Atheists with respect.

That said, the 1st Amendment and respecting people goes both ways. Some atheists have overstepped and tried to take away your rights. You should feel free to pray or celebrate Christmas in public, provided non-Christians are not forced to join in. You shouldn't be harassed for expressing your beliefs. Moreover, most religious people are not extremists. It is people who want to force everyone to act Christian like them and who want to force their Christianity into our laws and schools that are extremists and they need to be deal with. But this is not mos