NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Protestant pastors overwhelmingly agree
government should not attempt to regulate pastors’ sermons through
re-evaluation of a church’s tax exemptions, according to a new survey by LifeWay
Research.
The research, sponsored by the Alliance Defense Fund, followed a related study
conducted by LifeWay Research in October 2010 that found Protestant pastors
also largely believe candidates for public office should not be endorsed from
the pulpit.
In the new study, conducted in August 2011, 79 percent of 1,000 Protestant
pastors surveyed strongly disagreed – and another 7 percent somewhat disagreed –
with the statement: “The government should regulate sermons by revoking a
church’s tax exemption if its pastor approves of or criticizes candidates based
on the church’s moral beliefs or theology.”
The earlier 2010 survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors found 84 percent disagree –
70 percent strongly and 14 percent somewhat – with the statement, “I believe
pastors should endorse candidates for public office from the pulpit.”
A June 2008 LifeWay Research survey also found 87 percent of American adults
disagreed with the statement, “I believe it is appropriate for pastors to
publicly endorse candidates for public office during a church service.” In an
October 2008 study, less than 3 percent of Protestant pastors agreed that they
had publicly endorsed candidates for public office during a church service that
year.
Religion has emerged as a prominent issue in the 2012 presidential campaign.
Reporters are asking candidates questions about their religious faith and how
it relates to their approach to governance.
“Pastors and church people have strong feelings when it comes to moral issues
that some consider political, and historically churches have played a
significant role in shaping political opinions,” said Ed Stetzer, vice
president of research and ministry development at LifeWay Christian Resources. “Pastors,
however, clearly don’t think the pulpit is the place for politics, nor do they
think the church is the place for the IRS.”
Methodology of the survey: The August 2011 and October 2010 LifeWay Research
studies reported in this article were conducted by telephone among Protestant
pastors using the same methodology for both surveys. Churches were selected
randomly and each interview was conducted with the church’s senior pastor,
minister or priest. Size of church was controlled through interview quotas and
church location through statistical weighting to represent all Protestant
churches. The sample of 1,000 provides 95 percent confidence that the sampling
error does not exceed +3.2 percent for the total sample. Margins of error are
higher in subgroups. The 2008 voting intentions survey was conducted by phone in
October 2008 among 864 Protestant pastors and the June 2008 survey of Americans
included 1,208 adults randomly selected throughout the country in proportion to
population.
(EDITOR’S NOTE – Submitted by the LifeWay bureau of Baptist Press.)