118 Religion in the voting booth

“Voters who say they go to church every week usually vote for Republicans. Those who go to church less often or not at all tend to vote Democratic.

Forget the gender gap. The "religion gap" is bigger, more powerful and growing. The divide isn't between Catholics and Protestants, Jews and Gentiles. Instead, on one side are those of many faiths who go to services, well, religiously: Catholics who attend Mass without fail, evangelical Christians and mainline Protestants who show up for church rain or shine, some Orthodox Jews. On the other side are those who attend religious services only occasionally or never.” USA Today, June 3, 2004

The studies cited in the USA Today article were done by Gallup and the University of Akron. However, Barna Group research shows very little difference, unfortunately, between the behavior of Christians and non-Christians, so there must be something else going on here other than faith.

“Jesus taught that Christians would be recognizable by their behavior – the way they love others and the ways in which their lives reflect their spiritual values and beliefs (i.e., the “fruit” of their transformation). Our current research report explores 19 lifestyle activities and compares people’s behavior in relation to their spiritual leanings. People’s faith does not make as much of as difference as might be expected – especially among non-evangelical born again Christians.”