Politics in pulpit loses some luster

Religious conservatives are having a change of heart about mixing politics and religion, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life says.

Fifty percent said in poll conducted this month that they believe houses of worship should not express views on day-to-day political matters.

That figure is up significantly from the 30 percent of conservatives who thought houses of worship should stay out of politics in 2004. Frustration and disillusionment with politics may be behind the rising number, according to poll results released Thursday.

The poll also asked about support for the presidential candidates by Christian voters from various groups.

It found that Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has about as much support from conservative and evangelical Christians as President George W. Bush did during the time immediately before the last presidential election.

But their support for McCain is more tepid than it was for Bush. Just 28 percent of white evangelicals say they are “strong” supporters of McCain.

Bush enjoyed a 57 percent rate of strong support from that group, and more than 70 percent ended up voting for him.

White Catholics are evenly split between McCain and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), and black Protestants give overwhelming support to the Democrat, 88 percent to 6 percent for McCain.

While beliefs about abortion and gay marriage being wrong have not changed among conservative Christians, those issues have dropped in order of importance among religious voters.

Topping the list of important issues were the economy at No. 1 and energy at No. 2.

To view the full report and list of questions, go to: www.pewforum.org.