Americans’ political outlook and their theological beliefs track very closely together. The pollster who has confirmed that link suggests it’s both a blessing and a curse.
Have you ever wondered why so many evangelical churches seem to be full of Republicans? Or why so many Republican leaders are also born-again Christians? Pollster George Barna says the data from a recent poll confirm the link.
“There’s a pretty strong correlation between a person’s political ideology and their theology,” he offers. “Among people who are politically conservative, four out of five of them are also theologically conservative – [and] at the other end of the continuum it was exactly the same.” That is, four of every five political liberals are also liberal theologically.
Barna, founder of the American Culture & Faith Institute, sees two big upsides to the link between theology and political leanings. First, he says, one’s faith is likely to influence their politics. Pro-life Christians, for example, will vote for or become pro-life politicians.
“[In addition] the fact that only 45 percent of Republicans or 51 percent of political conservatives are born-again … tells us that with that particular group it’s a very fertile field for us to plow, evangelistically speaking,” he tells OneNewsNow.
But there’s a downside here as well, he notes: faith may influence politics, but politics should never influence faith. For example, supporting the Second Amendment right to bear arms is not a Christian issue; rather, it’s more of a patriotic or constitutional duty. Barna says there’s a difference.
“There’s always that danger where you’ve got to know what your priorities are,” he explains. “You’ve got to understand what truth is – and that it’s God’s truth that we work with, not man’s truth.”
As for the often-heard accusation that evangelicals gave up on their theological principles if they voted for Donald Trump, Barna says that’s also a political and not a spiritual decision.
“I don’t think we can go all the way that some analysts have [gone] to say that Christians lost their mind in the election because they voted for an immoral man,” he suggests. “The truth is that in God’s eyes we’re all immoral.”