Hillsdale, USA - The Public Religion Research Institute, in partnership with the Religion News Service, recently released the results of a new national survey that finds equal numbers of Americans say both the Occupy Wall Street and tea party movements share their values (29 percent each).
Here are some more findings from the study:
- Among religious groups, white evangelical Protestants are the most likely to say that the tea party movement shares their values (49 percent), but 39 percent say it does not. Nearly 4-in-10 (38 percent) of religiously unaffiliated Americans say the Occupy Wall Street movement shares their values, compared with 34 percent of minority Protestants, 30 percent of white mainline Protestants, 29 percent of Catholics and 18 percent of white evangelical Protestants.
- Americans are evenly divided in their evaluations of the responses of churches and clergy to the economic crisis. Forty-six percent say churches and clergy have not provided enough moral leadership on the country's most pressing economic problems, compared with 45 percent who disagree. With the exception of minority Protestants, all major religious groups are divided on this question. Sixty-four percent of minority Protestants agree that churches and clergy have not provided enough moral leadership on economic problems.
- Majorities of nearly all other demographic groups, including all major religious groups, agree that it's fair to ask wealthier Americans to pay a greater percentage in taxes than the middle class or those less well off.
- There are interesting divisions over cutting federal funding for programs that help the poor, depending on whether the funding is going to religious organizations. Nearly 7-in-10 (68 percent) Republicans oppose cutting federal funding to religious organizations helping the poor, but only 46 percent oppose cutting general federal funding to help the poor. Among Democrats, there is an opposite, though less pronounced, pattern: 83 percent oppose cutting general federal funding to help the poor, but only 66 percent oppose cutting federal funding to religious organizations to help the poor.
Week in Religion
Nov. 22, 1963,death of C.S. Lewis, 65, Anglican scholar, novelist and Christian apologist.
Nov. 23, 1947,Pope Paul VI issued a decree barring cardinals over the age of 80 from voting for a new pope. Nov. 24, 1703, Justus Falckner is the first Lutheran pastor ordained in America.
Survey Says
The number of organizations engaged in religious lobbying or religion-related advocacy in Washington, D.C., has increased roughly fivefold in the past four decades, from fewer than 40 in 1970 to more than 200 today.
Good Book?
"In the Dark Streets Shineth: A 1941 Christmas Eve Story" by David McCullough
Days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt met at the White House. It was Christmas Eve, 1941. As war raged throughout the world, the two leaders delivered a powerful message that still resonates today. Bestselling author and historian David McCullough relates a compelling story about the spirit of Christmas and the power of light in difficult, dangerous times.