Del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
StumbleUponAn Alien World
When the Catteralls and Cambres agreed to switch homes for ten days, they shared the same concern: Would they get a cold shoulder from their new neighbors? In fact, they were warmly received. But in no time, both families felt like they had entered an alien world.Faith Factor
The Catteralls came to a southern town of 2,000 people that has no fewer than 30 places of worship. Rebecca quickly realized "how front and center religion is to many people in this area." The Catteralls were even more struck by overt displays of religious faith, such as a food trailer at a town festival that was covered with Bible verses. According to James, his daughter Hannah -- who attended a study group at Faith Presbyterian Church -- was put off by "the One and only One Way beliefs of fundamentalists."
For his part, James was troubled by an "uncritical acceptance" of government policies and saw a "scary" parallel between that stance and the unquestioning religious faith he encountered.
Steve Cambre, a devout Catholic, was bothered that religious faith was not more in evidence in Topanga. "Religion is our guidepost," he says. "[In Topanga] I was struck by the lack of any religious grounding."
When he spoke to local residents about religion, "some of them would say they were religious but none of them would say they attend church regularly. The proof is in the pudding." And that's in keeping, he thinks, with a red/blue divide where faith and politics intersect. "For the most part, the views of conservatives are based in the morality of religion," Steve said.
These reactions are consistent with the big political chasm between the deeply religious and the more secular. But among all Americans who say they are believers, there is a much more even split. After all, 90% of us profess to believe in God, yet the last two Presidential elections have been extremely close. So the votes of "religious" Americans, defined as those with a firm belief in God, are dividing more narrowly than we sometimes think.
Look at the evidence. White evangelicals went strongly for Bush -- 78% to 21% -- while people professing no religious belief went for Kerry, 67% to 31%. That's a real divide. But once you go beyond these groups you find the gap closes sharply.
Among all those who attend religious services a few times a year, Kerry won more votes than Bush; the two candidates were tied among those who attend a few times a month; and Bush won when it came to once-a-week churchgoers. Most Americans of faith aren't at war over religion. The huge partisan gap is between fundamentalists and the nonreligious. The poles, not the center.
Abortion Truce?
So if faith is not necessarily as polarizing as portrayed, what explains the bitter conflicts over moral issues like abortion and gay rights?
Everyone has heard the heated arguments on abortion, which were on display when the Cambres attended a July 4th picnic in Topanga. Anita Cambre cringed when one person in the group said firmly, "It's a woman's choice to do what she wants to with her own body." The three women talking to Anita looked equally appalled when she said that teaching abstinence was the solution. It dissolved into a flurry of heated words: "What about in cases of rape and incest?" "Do you know how it feels to lose a child?" "These kids are having ten babies and they aren't taking care of them."
Advertisement 
Your Comments
See all
...
Post your commentCancel