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Pew Survey Finds Voters Uninformed on Life and Family Issues

Abortion, homosexual "marriage" issues continue to take back seat in voters' minds

By Hilary White

WASHINGTON, September 10, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A recent Pew research poll indicates that pro-life advocates have a way to go in bringing the life and family issues into the minds of voters.

The August 2007 Religion and Public Life Survey was taken between August 1 and 18 and surveyed 3,002 adults. The survey found that social issues such as abortion and homosexual "marriage" continue to take a back seat in voters' minds to other domestic issues and the war in Iraq.

In the last general election that voted in President Bush, the religious beliefs of candidates and the so-called "values" issues, including abortion, were found at exit polls to have been more significant factors than had previously been thought.

Currently, despite the efforts of pro-life groups, only 22 per cent of the public and only 31 per cent of Republicans know that Rudy Giuliani is pro-abortion.

78 per cent said the economy, health care and the environment were the primary considerations in voting. 72 per cent said the same about the war in Iraq, compared with 38 per cent who said that social issues like abortion and gay marriage were important.

The survey also showed that the issue of the religious beliefs of leaders has diminished in importance to voters since the last election. The two front runners, Hillary Clinton for the Democrats and Rudy Giuliani for the Republicans, are considered by voters to be the least religious.

Of the Democrat candidates, 84 per cent of those polled thought of Hillary Clinton as either "somewhat religious" or "not too religious at all". John Edwards, at 28 per cent and Barack Obama at 24 per cent, were viewed as the most religious.

47 per cent disagreed with the statement, "liberals who are not religious have too much control over the Democratic Party," and 37 per cent agreed. 44 per cent more Republicans than Democrats (26 per cent) listed religion completely agree that it is important for the president to have strong religious beliefs.

Being "religious" in itself is not enough to gain support and the survey showed a strong preference for the traditional denominations of Christianity.

Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is thought to be the most religious of all the presidential hopefuls, but people polled expressed reservations about his religion. A quarter of those polled, in all three parties, said they would be less likely to vote for a Mormon. This is followed by people saying they would not vote for an atheist or a Muslim.

61 per cent said they would be less likely to vote for an atheist; 45 percent say they would be reluctant to vote for a Muslim.

Read the Pew Forum August 2007 Religion and Public Life Survey:
http://pewforum.org/assets/files/religion-campaign08.pdf

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