Religion and Politics Research Highlighted

On Huffington Post, Robert P. Jones, CEO and Founder of the Public Religion Research Institute, offers his list of the “Top 10 Religion and Politics Research Findings of 2010.” Here is a sampling of the list:

* Pew found that nearly 1-in-5 (18 percent) Americans wrongly believe President Obama is a Muslim, and PRRI found a majority (51 percent) say his religious beliefs are different from their own.
* Fifty-seven percent of Americans are opposed to allowing NY Muslims to build an Islamic center and mosque two blocks from ground zero, but 76 percent say they would support Muslims building a mosque in their local community if they followed the same regulations as other religious groups.
* Americans are about five times more likely to give an "F" (24 percent) than an "A" (5 percent) to churches for their handling of homosexuality. Two-thirds see connections between messages coming from America's churches and higher rates of suicide among gay and lesbian youth.
* Forty-five percent of Americans say the values of Islam are at odds with American values and way of life, while a plurality (49 percent) disagree.
* If another vote similar to Proposition 8 were held now, a majority (51 percent) of Californians say they would vote to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry.

The post provides links to the underlying research.

JFB