New poll shows a voting divide between white Christians and other people of faith

Oct. 18--A new Pew Research Center poll shows a voting divide between white Christians and other people of faith -- and it's playing out in one of the most contentious presidential elections in decades.

According to the Pew Center's poll, President Donald Trump is the favored candidate among a majority of white Christians -- Catholics and Protestants -- while a majority of other religious groups including Black Protestants, Jews and Hispanic Catholics join the religiously unaffiliated in preferring former Vice President Joe Biden.

The poll of 10,543 U.S. registered voters nationwide was conducted Sep. 30 to Oct. 5, as Trump spent four days in the hospital amid a White House COVID-19 outbreak.

The poll's findings aren't shocking to some Oklahoma religious leaders. They said each group of voters is casting their ballots for either Trump or Biden for different reasons.

The Rev. Harry Black, leader of the Capital Baptist Association, a network of metro Southern Baptist churches, said he wasn't surprised by the poll's results.

"I serve in an association of ethnically diverse churches. One third of the churches in our association are made up of an ethnicity other than 'white.' I have come to realize that while we share consistent theology, we prioritize different values in life and at the ballot box," Black said.

He said every church in his network believes the Bible and teaches it faithfully and they all believe in the sanctity of human life and that, as God's creation, all people deserve respect and dignity.

Where the churches differ is on what issues take priority this election, said Black, who is white.

"For some, the most important issue is the life of the unborn, while for others it is security and opportunity for the next generation. For some, the most important factor in the election is the demeanor of a candidate, while for others it is the normalization of a non-biblical perspective on sex and gender. The list could go on and on. We believe all of these issues are important, but we do not agree on what is most important," Black said.

"Sometimes the priorities are determined by cultural influences, ethnicity or historical perspective; sometimes by religious or biblical convictions or perceived constitutional rights. A voter who is concerned about a necessary operation is going to be much more concerned about healthcare than whether Roe v. Wade will be overturned."

The Rev. A. Byron Coleman III, senior pastor of Fifth Street Baptist Church and an African-American Studies college professor, said the Pew poll wasn't news to him, either. He pointed to the voting divide between white and Black faith groups, in particular.

"There's some history behind that. That's normally been the case when it comes to significant moments in history," Coleman said. "African-American Christians usually vote based upon culture, where they come from, the struggles and dilemmas that face the African-American community. White evangelicals usually vote their values, even if their values sometimes override their conscience."

Coleman, who is Black, said the "moral majority" -- voters who say a candidate's moral character is of the utmost priority -- have largely been silent with Trump as their preferred candidate. The pastor said that's why he thinks many white Christian voters are likely casting ballots for the president for a different reason: maintaining their status quo in the American social strata.

"It's about class and race," Coleman said.

"With an individual like Donald Trump, the 'moral majority' doesn't have a leg to stand on. This election is not about having a president that represents our values necessarily, but really about maintaining some sense of permission and control in society and culture. You haven't heard a Republican talk about family values because it's not about family values in this election."

Coleman said many African-Americans duly noted that Trump refused to condemn white supremacy during the first presidential debate.

"We've never had a president who is as bombastic and inflammatory as Donald Trump, so for many African Americans, this is an easy vote," he said.

Meanwhile, Rabbi Vered Harris, spiritual leader of Temple B'nai Israel, said the poll findings that 70% of Jews support Biden is about right, nationally. She said this may not be true in Oklahoma, but reflects a longtime national trend that the Jewish faith community tends to vote "blue" or Democratic.

Divide is part of partisan trend

The Pew Research Center hosted the virtual presentation "Faith and the 2020 Elections: A Look at Public Opinion" on Thursday to discuss the intersection of religion and public life as reflected in trends and the center's polling data.

The presidential election, party preferences among religious groups and how they view Republican President Trump and his Democrat challenger Biden were topics of discussion.

Senior researcher Elizabeth Sciupac said partisan trends -- white Christians mostly voting Republican and other faith groups mostly voting Democratic -- are consistent with what researchers have seen in previous elections.

The poll divided white Christians into three major groups: white Catholics, white Protestants who are not evangelical and white evangelical Protestants. According to the findings, Trump's support has slipped among these groups since August. But researcher Gregory Smith said the president has generally enjoyed favor from a large swath of white Christians throughout his four-year term.

"Though it certainly feels like ... a lot has happened over the last four years, and maybe that's especially true of 2020, Donald Trump's approval ratings have been fairly stable across a wide variety of religious groups," Smith said.

"Over the course of his term in office, the share of white evangelical Protestants who approve of Trump's handling of his job as president has tended to hover between 70% and 80%. His approval rating among white evangelicals in August of this year, which is when we most recently asked the question, was 72%. That's basically identical to the 73% of white evangelical Protestants who said they approved of Trump's performance all the way back in April 2017, during the spring of his first year as president, so not very much changed there."

Other findings include:

--Among White Catholic voters, Trump is ahead of Biden by 8 percentage points: 52 percent in this group say they would vote for Trump (or lean that way) if the election were held today, while 44% favor Biden. According to the poll, this gap has narrowed significantly. Trump was 19 points ahead of Biden (59% to 40%) the last time this question was asked in a poll conducted in late July and early August.

--Support from White Protestants who do not consider themselves to be evangelical or born-again has dropped at a similar pace: 53% said they would vote for Trump if the election were today, down from 59% who said this in the summer poll. The poll found that white evangelical Protestants have softened slightly in their support for Trump, though they overwhelmingly remain on his side: 78% of White evangelicals said they intend to cast ballots for Trump, compared with 83% who said this in August.

--Biden is currently favored by 90% of Black Protestant registered voters, 70% of Jews and 67% of Hispanic Catholics. Among people without a religious affiliation, Biden is the preferred candidate for 83% of atheists and agnostics, and 62% of people who describe their religious beliefs as "nothing in particular." In all of these groups, support for Biden is on par with that seen in the August survey.

Richard Johnson, Oklahoma City University political science professor, said moderate and conservative faiths are more drawn to the Republican Party and that party's stands on social issues like abortion.

"You add to that Trump was very smart when he chose Mike Pence as vice president because this group normally votes Republican, but they might have had problems sort of squaring their faith with the interesting life that Donald Trump has led. Vice President Pence sort of validated President Trump among conservative Christians, with the underlying promise that the president would appoint judges to the federal court system that would be conservative, and largely that's a bargain that has held up," Johnson said.

"The president, along with (Senate Majority Leader) Mitch McConnell, has done a very good job of shepherding people (judges) along. If you look at (U.S. Supreme Court nominee) Amy Coney Barrett, he has the upper hand in the situation and he knows how to drive it home."

He said other faith groups like Black Protestants tend to align with the Democratic Party. Johnson said Blacks and Hispanics, as people who are more marginalized in society, may have a broader sense of social justice and may be more concerned about issues like police reform, incarceration, economic issues and education as opposed to a single issue.

Johnson said Catholics are interesting because Biden is a Catholic. The Democratic Party has long held the position that women have the right to choose whether they have an abortion while the Republican Party, particularly Republicans of faith, tend to have the view that abortion is murder.

Johnson said for many socially conservative Catholics, the issue of ending abortion is a priority. The professor said some Hispanic Catholics may have other social issues they are concerned about, which may mean they are more likely to support the Democratic candidate.

Division keeps people quiet

The Rev. Brian Buettner, pastor of St. Joseph Old Cathedral, said he preferred not to speak about the Pew Center's findings because the topic is divisive.

However, he said he has already voted by absentee ballot and he thinks voting is an important way that Americans make their voices heard.

Buettner said many people are steering clear of talking about the presidential election and politics in general because that nation is extremely polarized. He said no matter where an individual's views fall on the political spectrum, an argument often ensues with someone who disagrees.

"That's not what politics should be -- it should be an opportunity to talk about issues, to be open to forming your conscience about what those issues are, to vote in the way your conscience is directing you," the priest said.

"Politics today has just become an opportunity for people to yell at each other and scream and not have any sort of useful dialogue."

Like Buettner, Harris said she also hesitates to talk about political views.

"It does put us as clergy in a challenging position because I certainly don't want to alienate," Harris said.

Black said he senses the nation's polarization, and he doesn't speak much about politics because of it.

"Our culture, our nation, our populace, we're much more divided than we've ever been," he said.

The Capital Baptist Association is one of several regional affiliates of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma affiliate of the Southern Baptist Convention also known as Oklahoma Baptists.

Black said he is focused on leading his diverse group of churches and working with them without compromising his Christianity.

"My responsibility is to love and work with people where I can without compromising our core Christian convictions," he said.

"I think all thoughtful voters vote their values. True Christians vote biblical values, but even Christians prioritize different biblical values at the ballot box. It's a matter of personal perspective."

To learn more

For more information about the Pew Research Center's report on faith and the presidential election, go to https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/10/13/white-christians-continue-to-favor-trump-over-biden-but-support-has-slipped/

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