Majority of Americans Have Heard Pastors Speak about Political Issues, Says Pew Survey

Gateway church, Texas
Gateway Church, located in Texas. States in the South are among the most religious in the country, according to Gallup's study released on February 8, 2017. |

A new Pew Research survey finds that a majority of Americans have heard pastors speak about political issues from the pulpit.

About 64 percent of churchgoers said that they heard their pastors speak about at least one of the political issues mentioned in the Pew survey, such as religious freedom, homosexuality, abortion, immigration, environmental issues, and economic inequality.

Some 40 percent heard about religious freedom from the pulpit, and the same proportion of respondents (39 percent) heard about homosexuality. About 29 percent of Christians admitted to hearing about abortion. Immigration (27 percent), environment (22 percent), and economic inequality (18 percent) were the other topics discussed frequently at church.

Among those who heard about religious freedom, 32 percent reported their pastors defending religious liberty, and only 2 percent said their pastor did not believe it was under attack.

About 22 percent said their church leaders were against abortion, and only 3 percent supported abortions.

More churches (19 percent) held the view that Christians need to welcome and support immigrants, and only 4 percent advocated for stricter immigration laws.

Some 20 percent said that their pastors were against homosexuality, while 12 said their leaders encouraged acceptance.

Meanwhile, a lesser proportion has heard pastors speak about political candidates. About 14 percent of Christians who attended religious services in spring and early summer said that their pastors did speak about presidential nominees, and more spoke out in favor of Hillary Clinton. Some 9 percent said that the clergy spoke in support of a candidate. About 6 percent spoke in favor of Hillary Clinton while 1 percent did so for Donald Trump.

Around 11 percent of the churchgoers say that religious leaders have opposed a candidate, 7 percent of whom spoke against Trump and 4 percent against Clinton. Some 6 percent heard both opposition and support for the two candidates.

Black Protestant churchgoers heard more about political candidates from clergy than white evangelical Protestant Christians. About 28 percent black Protestants heard their pastors speak in favour of Clinton, and only 2 percent spoke for Trump. The leaders spoke more frequently (20 percent) against Trump, while only 7 percent spoke against Clinton.

About 3 percent of the white evangelical Protestant pastors spoke against Trump and only 2 percent voiced support for him.

"This is the first time we've asked these specific questions in this way," Jessica Hamar Martínez, a senior researcher at the Pew Research Center, was quoted as saying by The New York Times.

"We found that many people are hearing at least a little bit about politics from their clergy and religious leaders in their places of worship," she said. "But at the same time, it's a much smaller share who are hearing clergy say something specifically about a presidential candidate."

The survey was conducted on 4,602 American adults spread across the country via web and mail, between June 5 and July 7. About 4,172 were interviewed through online survey while another 430 were reached by mail.

Among the respondents, about 2,258 had attended a church service at least once in the previous few months.