The purpose of this project is to examine the role of religious interpretation in shaping political behavior. Building on preliminary results, this project aims to evaluate how the multiple dimensions of religious belief generate convergence and divergence on political values, opion, and partisanship. By better understanding what people believe their religious calls them to do, we can better understand how religion influences political behavior.
Scholars of American society and politics have long noted the importance of religion and have made strides to properly capture it by focusing on three key dimensions: belonging, behaving, and believing. The most robust of these dimensions has been beliefs. However, several studies have shown that individual characteristics mitigate the impact of beliefs. This study will allow for these differences to be examined more closely than has been the case previously. The specific goal of this pilot study is to establish valid and reliable measures of the different dimensions. This will be done by implementing a national survey which will allow scholars to examine the extent to which ordinary citizens adhere to various religious interpretations.
The research generated by this project will appeal to scholars interested in religion and politics, political communication, and American political behavior. Beyond academia, the findings from this research can help us better understand the variety of ways that religion intersects with American culture.
was to examine how groups within the same religion develop distinct religious interpretations and the political consequences of these interpretations. To accomplish these goals, the National Science Foundation provided funds to pilot a survey to examine the extent to which there were divergent religious interpretations. Further the survey examined the relationship between these interpretations and political behavior. In November 2012, a survey was administered to a random sample of 1,100 Black and White Christians. The survey focused on three specific religious interpretations: the Social Gospel, Prosperity Gospel and Religious Nationalism. In addition to the measures of religious interpretation, the survey also accounted for numerous political attitudes as well as religious beliefs and experiences. The results from this analysis support the belief that there are a variety of religious interpretations. The differences are evident between and within racial groups. Further, each of these interpretations is related to specific religious beliefs and experiences. Additionally, these interpretations are politically salient as they have clearly established relationships with political predispositions and policy preferences. Because of the nature of the sample, the survey is limited in generalizability. However, given the drastic differences in political beliefs and policy preferences between Black and White Christians it does shed some light on why these cleavages exist and how they may be mediated. While the data analysis is still in its early stages, the preliminary results indicate that differences in religious interpretation within and between racial groups are core elements of understanding the nature of the American political discourse. Further, these findings can help advance our understanding of the American religious discourse and how beliefs about religious duty are transmitted.
