Poll says most Americans want churches out of politics

Fifty-four per cent of U.S. residents think churches should steer clear of politics, according to a Pew Research Center poll announced Wednesday during a presidential campaign tinged with faith issues.

Pew said it was the third consecutive poll in four years to reveal that Americans who favour churches speaking out on political and social issues are outnumbered by those who believe they should not.

Of the 1,503 adults it surveyed by telephone on March 7-11, Pew said 40 per cent believed churches and other houses of worship “should . . . express their views on day-to-day social and political questions.”

Sixty per cent of Catholic respondents said the church should keep out of political issues, according to Pew’s findings.

Early this month, New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, leader of the increasingly outspoken U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the church was called upon to be “very active, very informed and very involved in politics.”

With President Barack Obama up for re-election in November, the Catholic Church is fiercely opposing his proposal for all employee health plans — including those at religious-affiliated institutions, such as hospitals — to cover the cost of contraceptives.

The Pew survey also found that 38 per cent of Americans say there has been “too much expression of religious faith and prayer by political leaders.” A further 30 per cent said there has been too little.

Pew, which posted full details of its research on its website (www. pewforum.org), said its survey had a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.