Community, Not Political Advocacy, is What Religious Leaders Encourage
Figures like Pat Robertson on the right and Raphael Warnock on the left are two leaders that have blended religion and politics in their messaging. And, they are not the only ones. Many more religious leaders of varied faiths and traditions are following suit and explicitly mixing politics into their religious work. While it appears that religious leaders have become more political and influential in recent years or are more common in today’s religious landscape thanks to social media, new data suggests that religious leaders are not trying to impact politics, but are far more interested in promoting community and charitable work.
In reality, mixing politics and religion does not sit well with most Americans. The Pew Research Center has found that Americans are emphatically clear that religious institutions should stay out of politics. Pew reports that:
Nearly two-thirds of Americans…say churches and other houses of worship should keep out of political matters, while 36% say they should express their views on day-to-day social and political questions. And three-quarters of the public expresses the view that churches should not come out in favor of one candidate over another during elections.
Looking at the arc of history, there have been moments in time when faith-based institutions and religious leaders have had significant influence and engaged in political advocacy. Father Charles Coughlin’s broadcasts in the 1930s to the Moral Majority and Jerry Falwell during the Reagan years to the evangelical support of the Republican Party behind George W. Bush are among the most notable examples. But new data which captured the voices of nearly 2,000 young adults aged 18 to 25 in a nationally representative survey coordinated by Neighborly Faith reveals that for young Americans today, the messaging from their leaders is that of community improvement along with civic engagement and political position taking is barely present.
The data show that when it comes to politics, religious leaders do indeed promote civic behavior – but not ideological behavior. Over a quarter (28 percent) of religious Gen Zers state that they are encouraged to vote in elections and a similar number of younger religious Americans report (24 percent) that they have been encouraged to engage in activism. But communal activism is viewed differently from protesting. The data also demonstrate that Gen Zers do not see their religious leadership advocating for that sort of disruptive behavior; just 7 percent of religious Gen Zers assert that their religious leadership has encouraged them to protest. This is telling – activism is promoted; harmful protesting is not. Religious leaders are not suggesting engaging and being political with one’s local government regularly either; just 7 percent of religious leaders, again, encourage their youngest religious adherents to do this.
It also appears that religious leaders are not overtly political either despite what is seen on various social media outlets. Only 10 percent of moderately and very religious Gen Zers reported that their religious leaders were advocating for particular causes or public policies. Non-religious Gen Zers reported seeing issue advocacy just 6 percent of the time. Despite characters like Reverend Al Sharpton and Rabbi Daniel Lapin who promote particular political views, Gen Zers make it clear that direct appeals toward specific public policies within faith-based communities are not nearly as salient as they may appear.
What religious leaders are much more likely to do instead of political position taking is promote community-focused behavior. For instance, 43 percent of devout Gen Zers report that their religious leaders encourage community service and volunteer work. Moreover, faithful Gen Zers note that 33 percent of their religious leaders inspire them to engage with various community groups. Similarly, 34 percent of religious leaders encourage innovations to help their local communities and 26 percent encourage engaging with non-profit, local institutions. And a fifth (20 percent) of religious leaders encourage their congregations to interact with people of different religions and faiths which only serves to building social and communal capital within communities. The data is clear: religious leadership is far more likely to promote community service and volunteer work than anything political.
New survey data powerfully demonstrates that religion is a positive civic force for Gen Z. Young Americans are encouraged to be active in their communities as a force for good; they are not being told en masse what political positions to take. While Americans have historically seen religion as a positive facet of society, Pew has found that Americans today see things a differently and are more likely to say that churches and other houses of worship currently have too much influence in politics (37 percent) rather than too little (28 percent). Regrettably, American’s misunderstand the impact of faith-based leadership and the potent role that they play in promoting and building a strong civil society; just because certain religious leaders capture a disproportionate amount of attention around politics does not mean all houses of worship are sites for political activism.
Samuel J. Abrams is a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
