Pew Forum: A Portrait of Mormons in the U.S.
"A new analysis of the Landscape Survey data reveals that as a group Mormons are among the most devout and conservative religious people in the country. The Mormon community is also internally diverse, with differences according to levels of religious commitment and educational attainment, regions of the country where Mormons live, and between lifelong Mormons and those who have converted to the faith. This report explores Mormons' unique place in the American religious landscape and is divided into three parts: demographic characteristics, religious beliefs and practices, and social and political views."
I just began to read the results of this new study. Check it out here.
*I'm adding comments with sections I find interesting.
"When asked whether they believe that their religion is the one true faith leading to eternal life or whether many religions can lead to eternal life, a majority of Mormons (57%) say theirs is the one true faith, with a sizable minority (39%) taking the opposite view. Only among one other religious tradition - Jehovah's Witnesses (80%) - does a majority say theirs is the one true faith leading to eternal life. Among evangelical Protestants, by contrast, 36% say theirs is the one true faith leading to eternal life and 57% say many religions can lead to eternal life. A smaller percentage of the religiously affiliated public overall (24%) says theirs is the one true faith leading to eternal life."
ReplyDelete"Mormons are very politically conservative. Six-in-ten Mormons identify as conservative, about three-in-ten (27%) say they consider themselves moderate and only one-in-ten identify as liberal. This is in stark contrast to the general population, in which roughly a third identify as conservative (37%), a third as moderate (36%) and 20% as liberal."
ReplyDelete"Nearly two-thirds (65%) of Mormons say they identify with or lean toward the Republican party, 15 percentage points higher than among members of evangelical churches (50%) and 30 points higher than among the general population (35%). Just one-fifth of Mormons (22%) say they are Democrats and the remainder say they do not favor either party. Members of historically black churches are the only religious group in which there is more consensus in partisanship than Mormons, with 77% identifying as Democrats."
ReplyDelete"This places Mormons to the right of all other major religious traditions on a continuum of ideology and partisanship; in fact, they are somewhat more conservative and Republican than members of evangelical Protestant churches."
ReplyDelete"In line with their party identification and ideology, most Mormons take an anti-abortion or "pro-life" position on the issue of abortion. Fully 70% say abortion should be illegal in most or all circumstances, compared with 42% among the general population. Unlike other major religious traditions that oppose abortion, however, Mormon opposition is concentrated on opposing it in most cases (61%) rather than in all cases (9%). Among members of evangelical Protestant churches, by contrast, 36% say abortion should be illegal in most cases and 25% say it should be illegal in all cases."
ReplyDelete"Mormons are distinctive in their views on the origins of human life. When asked about the theory of evolution, only 22% of Mormons say it is the best explanation for human life, with three-in-four (75%) disagreeing. Only among one other major religious tradition - Jehovah's Witnesses (90%) - does a higher proportion disagree that evolution is the best explanation for human life. The general public is more evenly divided on this question, with 48% saying it is the best explanation and 45% rejecting that position."
ReplyDelete"Similarly, Mormons are less likely than the population overall to support the government doing more to help the needy. Among the general public, two-thirds (62%) say the government should do more for the needy, while only about half of Mormons (49%) say this. Four-in-ten Mormons (42%) say government cannot afford to do much more to help the needy, compared with 29% among the population as a whole."
ReplyDeleteWow.
"Mormons are more likely than the general public to favor military strength over diplomacy as the best way to ensure peace. But a plurality of Mormons (49%) still lean toward diplomacy. More than a third (37%) says military strength is the best way. Among the general population, 59% say good diplomacy is the best way to ensure peace, while 28% say military strength is the best way."
ReplyDeleteSpencer W. Kimball is rolling in his grave.
"Those who attend services at least once a week are more than 30 percentage points more likely than Mormons who attend less frequently to be Republican (73% vs. 39%) and oppose legal abortion (78% vs. 44%). In fact, among those who attend church less often, majority opinion leans in the opposite direction on these two items; pluralities of those who attend church less than once a week are Democrats (40%) and favor legal abortion (49%). The same is true with regard to opinion on the size of government; among weekly attenders, 61% support a smaller government while 31% prefer a larger government, and among less-frequent attenders, just 37% prefer a smaller government while 53% prefer a bigger government."
ReplyDelete"Mormons who have more education tend to be more Republican. College graduates and those with some college education are 20 percentage points more likely to be Republican than those who have a high school education or less. A similar pattern exists on views on abortion, with 77% of college graduates or those with some college education opposing legal abortion, compared with 60% among those with a high school education or less. College graduates also are approximately 20 percentage points more likely to prefer a small government than those with a high school education or less. Differences in ideology also are significant, though somewhat smaller in magnitude: 63% of college graduates say they are conservative, compared with 52% of those with a high school diploma or less education."
ReplyDeleteI'm interested in whether or not this changes with Mormons who attend graduate school.
I starting reading this on the way home from work today, and was gonna blog on it. But it looks like you've got it covered.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested in whether or not this changes with Mormons who attend graduate school.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that this only changes if the student attends "real" graduate school (i.e., not professional school in a non-technical field.
Sorry for filling up your comments. That last sentence is supposed to be:
ReplyDelete"My guess is that this only changes if the student attends 'real' graduate school (i.e., not professional school) in a non-technical field."
Hopefully this doesn't derail the focus of your thread Loyd, but I had to comment on Steve's silly comment. Are you really so egocentric that you believe the education at professional schools to be inferior to that of the others? I would like to know why you would consider my DDS not real graduate study while a student getting his PhD in, say, molecular biology is "real"?
ReplyDeleteThe comment just really rubbed me raw, and had you eliminated the word "real" it would have changed everything and come across so arrogant.
Loyd - Thanks for sharing this. It is ver interesting and I appreciate you additional highlights.
ReplyDelete"Similarly, Mormons are less likely than the population overall to support the government doing more to help the needy. Among the general public, two-thirds (62%) say the government should do more for the needy, while only about half of Mormons (49%) say this. Four-in-ten Mormons (42%) say government cannot afford to do much more to help the needy, compared with 29% among the population as a whole."
ReplyDeleteI don't think this is as heartless as it seems on the surface. I imagine that many mormons follow the advice of President Benson with regards to the responsibilities of the government. I find myself in that camp, that it is not the roll of the gov. to support the poor, but the responsibility lies with the family, neighbors and community to help the poor. Yes, MUCH, much more needs to be done to help the poor, hungry and the homeless, but that should come from individuals, and not the government.
Cody,
ReplyDeleteAre you really so egocentric that you believe the education at professional schools to be inferior to that of the others? I would like to know why you would consider my DDS not real graduate study while a student getting his PhD in, say, molecular biology is "real"?
Dude, I'm in freakin law school.
When people say "graduate school" (as Loyd did in this comment, to which I was responding), they normally mean a M.A. or Ph.D. program, as opposed to professional programs like law or business school. Some people may use "graduate school" broadly, so as to encompass professional programs, but my intent in using the phrase "'real' graduate school" was simply to distinguish traditional M.A./Ph.D. programs from J.D./M.B.A./other professional programs.
My point had nothing to do with prestige. Rather, I simply feel that the correlation between education and conservatism in Mormonism is not likely to break down in professional programs or graduate programs in a technical field.
I need to proofread my comments more (obviously). Yes, I know, people go to graduate school for M.S. degrees as well. I think I've sufficiently made a bumbling ass of myself by now.
ReplyDeleteCody,
ReplyDelete"I find myself in that camp, that it is not the roll of the gov. to support the poor, but the responsibility lies with the family, neighbors and community to help the poor."
Which is one of the reasons why there are so many suffering poor in the world. President Hugh B Brown and Elder Benson strongly disagreed with each other here. Unfortunately, Benson went against President McKay's instructions to shut up about it and won out. This is the same reason why J Fielding Smith's anti-evolution rhetoric won the day over Talmage's and Roberts contrary positions.
Steve, yes. I was referring to traditional academic programs, which I do consider to be the 'real' graduate degrees... mostly because that is what I am pursuing and I am egocentric and think I am better than most people. I can't help it that I am.
ReplyDeleteSteve, I'm sorry then for misunderstanding your statement. I guess I'm just hyper-sensitive of my sacrifices for 4 years not being considered real graduate work as the labor and energy that I put into it rivals what others in "traditional" academic programs do. I see what you and Loyd are aiming at though, and again I apologize.
ReplyDeleteLoyd, I disagree that the statement made by President Benson is one of the reasons why there are so many poor in the world. Why then do socialist/communist nations like Cuba and Venezuela have such staggering numbers of poverty when it is their government's responsibility to provide for all?
In fact, I would argue that because of President Benson's statements I have taken more of an effort to help the poor out in my community so that the government doesn't have to. This year alone I have consciously helped several individuals so that they wouldn't have to burden government socialist programs to support them. Whereas many people today won't help the poor because in the back of their mind the government will step in and rescue the downtrodden and poor.
Cody,
ReplyDelete"Why then do socialist/communist nations like Cuba and Venezuela have such staggering numbers of poverty when it is their government's responsibility to provide for all?"
Probably because their GNP is significantly lower than ours and other industrial countries. I don't know much about Venezuela, but I know that Cuba's economy is severely limited by the economic embargoes we have in place over Cuba. You do realize that any cargo ship that ports into Cuba is banned from using a US port. Not many countries or companies will be willing to work with Cuba if it means being shut out from American business.
I think it is awesome that you are willing to help others. Unfortunately I think you are the exception and not the rule.
The survey generally confirms my perception of Mormons and abortion--they are generally opposed to it, but take a moderate pro-life position that does not favor total prohibition. However, I must admit I was surprised to read that "[o]n the issue of legal abortion, . . . younger Mormons are significantly more conservative than their older counterparts."
ReplyDeleteI wonder why this is. Conservatives have all but lost the culture war when it comes to abortion, and I've never had the sense that this was a particularly hot-button issue among young Mormons. As far as social issues go, homosexuality and broader gender issues (e.g., women working outside the home) seem much more relevant. Any ideas?
Interestingly, "[y]ounger Mormons are also less likely than their older counterparts to describe themselves as ideological conservatives." I wonder if this has to do with stigmas that are perceived to be associated with the "conservative" label. As one of my friends pointed out to me, when someone indicates on facebook that s/he has "moderate" political views, 9 times out of 10 that means s/he is ultra-conservative.
So Loyd says (I'm paraphrasing):
ReplyDeleteThe idea that family and community should be taking care of poor while the government sits idly by is one of the reasons there are so many poor people.
..and Cody responds:
Oh yeah, then why are there so many poor people in communist countries where government takes care of poor people?
Cody seems a bit...um...insane.
The thing I found interesting was that fully 100% believe in God or supreme being. I mean, I knew the number would be high, but this is like...perfect score.
ReplyDeleteSo it makes me wonder how this plays out...for example, are inactives included or not? (Theoretically, it's all about who self-identified as Mormon, so couldn't inactives do that?) But if so, why would inactives not change the results even a little bit?
Thanks for bringing this study to my attention. I love data like this. I got a minor in sociology and those are the only academic books that I have kept around for reference.
ReplyDeleteLloyd, it's fun to read your blog and perhaps even more fun to read the comments. I don't know that Cody is 'the exception to the rule' when it comes to the genorosity of mormons. The LDS church organization donates mega-bucks to those in need, regardless of faith or geographic location. A lot of that money is donated by church membership, above and beyond tithing donations. I think the real question is whether the mormon population trusts the caregiving of the needy by the government.
ReplyDelete