Are Conservatives More Religious and Liberals More Spiritual?

[cbayer]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-hutson/conservatives-more-religious-liberals-more-spiritual_b_1553460.html


Matthew Hutson
Posted: 06/06/2012 12:50 pm

In the United States, religion and politics have always been (fitful) bed buddies. But whether faith drives people left or right (or neither) is not obvious. On one hand, there is the Christian right, a demographic epitomized by Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson that values tradition and authority and opposes gay rights and the teaching of evolution. On the other hand, we owe many of our advancements in civil rights -- a predominantly left-wing cause -- to religious leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. One way to make sense of the relationship between faith and political orientation is to recognize the difference between religiousness and spirituality.

In a paper in press at the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, Jacob Hirsh, Megan Walberg and Jordan Peterson of the University of Toronto asked approximately 1,300 people in the U.S. and Canada their political orientations. Then they measured respondents' religiousness (e.g., how important they feel church services are) and their spirituality (e.g., whether they've ever felt deeply connected with the universe). They also assessed respondents' personalities and personal values.

The more religious a person is, the more conservative he is, and this relationship is strongly mediated by the value placed on tradition -- respect for customs and institutions. But even though religiousness and spirituality are highly correlated, the more spiritual a person is, the more liberal he is. This relationship is mediated by the value placed on universalism -- social tolerance and concern for everyone's welfare.

As with previous studies, conservatives were more conscientious (organized and self-disciplined), while liberals were more agreeable and more open to new ideas and experiences. The trend of conservatives being more religious and liberals being more spiritual held even when controlling for these personality factors, and when controlling for age, gender and socioeconomic status.

more at link

[msongs]

1. religious conservatives need a god that will kill all the people conservatives don't like,

killing those people either now on earth, or after they are dead (hell).

[2ndAmForComputers]

2. Liberals are less religious. One can argue by how much, but it's unquestionable they are.

[dmallind]

3. hmmmm.... problem here

In the United States, religion and politics have always been (fitful) bed buddies. But whether faith drives people left or right (or neither) is not obvious. On one hand, there is the Christian right, a demographic epitomized by Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson that values tradition and authority and opposes gay rights and the teaching of evolution. On the other hand, we owe many of our advancements in civil rights -- a predominantly left-wing cause -- to religious leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. One way to make sense of the relationship between faith and political orientation is to recognize the difference between religiousness and spirituality.

In a paper in press at the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, Jacob Hirsh, Megan Walberg and Jordan Peterson of the University of Toronto asked approximately 1,300 people in the U.S. and Canada their political orientations. Then they measured respondents' religiousness (e.g., how important they feel church services are) and their spirituality (e.g., whether they've ever felt deeply connected with the universe). They also assessed respondents' personalities and personal values.

The more religious a person is, the more conservative he is, and this relationship is strongly mediated by the value placed on tradition -- respect for customs and institutions. But even though religiousness and spirituality are highly correlated, the more spiritual a person is, the more liberal he is. This relationship is mediated by the value placed on universalism -- social tolerance and concern for everyone's welfare.

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I'm not the world's most organized guy, but I can usually keep central points of the subject at hand straight for two short paragraphs. Needless to say, as every single study where crosstabs for the two are available validates (and as the truism of "duh, they needed to study THAT?" tells us), it's the second bolded statement where he gets it right.

No doubt there will be quibbles about the words "faith" and "religion", but since the cop-out of "spiritual" has a tough time indeed explaining exactly in what it has faith, while religion surely does not, it's a distinction without a difference.

[dimbear]

4. We are stardust, we are golden, and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden.

or

Onward Christian soldiers,
Marching as to war,
With the Cross of Jesus
Going on before.



Pick one.