CT Poll: What Do Christians Want from the Candidates?

NEWS

NATIONAL ELECTIONS

The ill-fated Pat Robertson run for the White House weakened the notion of a monolithic Christian voting bloc. However, a new CHRISTIANITY TODAY survey suggests that while there is political diversity among Christians, Republicans and Democrats could make political hay of several issues where evangelicals are united. For that reason, Christians will be watching both parties as they set their platforms at their respective conventions later this summer.

In a random survey mailed to 749 CT subscribers, 401 readers responded to a variety of issues likely to come before both parties during the platform process. The 54 percent response rate (indicating a 95 percent confidence level) is the highest ever achieved from a CT survey.

Education

According to the survey, CT subscribers are united on most educational issues. The majority want creationism taught along with evolution in public schools (74 percent), more religion in textbooks (80 percent), and for government to take a stronger hand in improving the quality of public education (90 percent). An overwhelming majority (86 percent) also oppose school-based health clinics that distribute birth control under any circumstance.

Responses are mixed for school prayer and sex education:

• 82 percent support allowing voluntary prayer in schools.

• 49 percent do not want institutionalized prayer in public schools, while 32 percent favor it. (When two percentages are listed it reflects a significant number of undecided responses.)

• 42 percent want to see mandatory sex-education courses ended, and 36 percent would favor keeping them in the schools.

Aids

Respondents are strongly unified on issues surrounding AIDS, with overwhelming majorities supporting more public education on AIDS (86 percent), more federal money allocated to AIDS research (72 percent), more emphasis on abstinence and fidelity as preventative measures (98 percent), and mandatory testing for prison inmates/immigrants/hospital patients (76 percent), and marriage-license applicants (77 percent).

On other AIDS-related issues:

• 63 percent oppose focusing more on the condom to help prevent the spread of AIDS.

• 51 percent support restrictions on homosexual rights as a way to stop the spread of AIDS.

• 47 percent support beginning AIDS education for children in the early school grades; 27 percent oppose it.

Social Issues

A clear consensus emerges around abortion, with strong majorities supporting a constitutional amendment prohibiting abortion except to save the life of the mother (76 percent) and favoring a ban on federal funding of abortion and abortion-related activities (77 percent). Strong majorities also support more federal money to clean up the environment (73 percent) and the appointment of conservative judges (79 percent).

Responses to other social issues are not as one-sided:

• 65 percent oppose the Equal Rights Amendment.

• 57 percent oppose including sexual preference in anti-discrimination legislation.

• 35 percent support federal day-care legislation, while 33 percent oppose it.

• 43 percent would like to see the federal government take a stronger role in mediating racial tensions in urban areas; 60 percent want the church to take a stronger role.

Defense

As a group, CT subscribers tend to be less conservative on defense issues than on social issues:

• 61 percent oppose increasing federal spending on defense.

• 44.5 percent oppose making substantial cuts in the overall defense budget; 37.5 percent favor the cuts.

• 42 percent favor pursuing rapid deployment of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), while 27 percent oppose it.

Most subscribers (72 percent) support more nuclear disarmament treaties with the Soviets, and a majority (54 percent) oppose pursuing a U.S. unilateral disarmament proposal. In a theological breakdown, those calling themselves fundamentalists are least likely to support more nuclear disarmament treaties with the Soviets and a unilateral U.S. disarmament.

Economics

While the overwhelming majority (85 percent) of CT subscribers want to see a mandated balanced federal budget, there is little clear-cut consensus on other economic issues:

• 38 percent support and 38 percent oppose raising taxes to reduce the federal deficit.

• 35 percent support and 40 percent oppose reforming social security and Medicare to reduce the federal deficit.

• 26 percent support and 34 percent oppose using foreign trade barriers to reduce the trade deficit.

• 29 percent support and 35 percent oppose having the federal government take a strong role in regulating the stock market.

Half of the respondents oppose cutting defense spending to reduce the deficit, and almost half (48 percent) would like to see the government provide more low-interest loans and more subsidies to farmers.

Foreign Policy

There is somewhat less agreement on foreign policy issues as well. Strong majorities support the U.S. initiating a peace process between Israel and the Palestinians (71 percent) and maintaining a military presence in the Persian Gulf (71 percent). Respondents oppose (41 percent to 22 percent) increased U.S. support for the way Israel is handling tension in the Gaza Strip.

Respondents are more divided on other areas of foreign policy:

• 47 percent support and 25 percent oppose military aid to the Nicaraguan Resistance (contras).

• 57 percent oppose cutting off all aid to the contras. 44 percent do not want the U.S. to take less of an intervening role internationally.

• 55 percent want the U.S. to work harder at fighting communism around the world.

• 39 percent support and 36 percent oppose increasing economic sanctions against South Africa.

• 52 percent oppose lifting all sanctions against South Africa.

Voting Patterns

CT subscribers appear to take their voting responsibilities seriously. The overwhelming majority (92 percent) are registered voters, all of whom voted in the last presidential election. Voter turnout among subscribers in the last presidential primary was about three times the national average. However, few (13 percent) consider themselves to be political activists, and slightly less than one-fourth do not consider themselves to be “single issues voters.”

By Kim A. Lawton.

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