While constitutionally, the United States may be a secular nation, a new survey by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), indicates that faith will remain a big issue for large numbers of voters. The 2011 American Values Survey, which was released Nov. 7th, indicates, for instance that more than two thirds (67%) of the electorate believes it is either very important or somewhat important for a presidential candidate to have strong religious beliefs. The percentage is highest among White Evangelicals (93%) and lowest among the religiously unaffiliated (32%).
And the kind of religious beliefs a candidate has matters to many of them too. While a small majority (53%) of Americans would be somewhat or very comfortable with a Mormon president and 42% would be somewhat or very uncomfortable with one. Among the other religious viewpoints measured, discomfort with an Evangelical Christian president was 28%; with a Muslim president, 64%; and with an atheist president, 67%. Nearly half (48%) of voters surveyed indicated they would be very uncomfortable with an atheist president.
Overall, 19% of voters say they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who had strong religious beliefs if those beliefs were very different from their own. This figure was highest (36%) among White Evangelical Christians and lowest (15%) among Catholics. Along political lines, the figure was highest (27%) among Republican voters. For Democrats, it was 14% and among independants, 16%.
Another survey question measured attitudes towards Mormonism. 36% of all voters believe Mormonism is not a Christian religion. Among Republicans, this number rises to 39% and among White Evangelicals, to 49%. Another survey question however, indicates that despite these attitudes, there's still hope for Republican presidential primary candidate Mitt Romney because 4 out of 10 American voters don't even know he's a Mormon yet. Additionally, as PRRI CEO Robert P. Jones observed at a press briefing today, voter beliefs about Mormonism are loosely held and Romney may be able to counter them.
Other non-religious survey questions measured voter attitudes towards taxing the wealthy, health care and the Obama presidency. Survey metrics and other information can be found through the links here.
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