In 1991, 30 percent of respondents said they strongly agree that religious leaders should not influence voters in an election. In 2008 those number rose to 44 percent.

Southern Baptist ethicist Dr. Richard Land says survey data in the recently published American Religion: Contemporary Trends are too vague to accurately suggest Americans do not want religion mixed into their politics. Land also says evangelicals are growing in number despite the book’s claims of the declining religious base for the Tea Party and the religious right.

Duke University Sociology and Religion Professor and American Religion author Mark Chaves told The Christian Post, the majority of Americans disapprove of their religious leaders getting involved in politics according to data collected from the General Social Survey.

“Three times since 1991- once in 1991, once in 1998 and most recently in 2008 – [the General Social Surveys] ask whether they (respondents) agree or disagree with two different statements. One of them is ‘Religious leaders should not try to influence how people vote in elections’ and the other one is ‘Religious leaders should not try to influence government decisions,'” he described.

“The percent of people who say they strongly agree that religious leaders should not do those things really went up quite dramatically.”

In 1991, 30 percent of respondents said they strongly agree that religious leaders should not influence voters in an election. In 2008 those number rose to 44 percent, he said. Combine that with those who simply agreed with the statement, Chaves says the survey shows a solid majority of Americans (73 percent) agree that religious leaders should not influence elections.

“It’s a clear trend in the direction of disapproval of religious leader involvement in politics,” he concluded.

Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, noted, “There’s no definition for ‘religious leaders,’ there’s no definition for ‘involved,’ there’s no definition for ‘politics.’ So people are left to their own interpretation, which basically makes the survey rather meaningless.”

Land, also an executive editor for The Christian Post, says most people would likely interpret the statements to mean they want their pastors, elders, priests and church leaders to endorse political candidates or get involved in campaigns.

“I don’t think that religious leaders ought to do that,” he says.

However, Land does believe, “Religious leaders ought to deal with what the Bible has to say with public policy issues, and we should be looking for candidates who endorse us.”

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