Public Opinion on the Family - Religion And The American Family

Periodically, the Gallup organization interviewed Americans on the role of religion in their lives. In 2000 the poll found that 68% of Americans claimed to be members of a church or synagogue, a percentage that had changed little over the past sixty years. About one-third of Americans claimed they went to church or synagogue at least once a week, and 11% said they went almost every week. Another 11% never attended religious services. A majority of Americans believed that "religion can answer all or most of today's problems," while 17% thought it was "old-fashioned."

The debate continued over nature or nurture as the cause for homosexuality. A 2003 Pew Research Center report titled Opinion of Homosexuals compares 1985 and 2003 attitudes about the cause of homosexuality. In 1985 20% of people surveyed said homosexuality was something people were born with and 22% said it was a result of the way people were raised. In 2003 30% believed it was a birth factor and 14% attributed homosexuality to upbringing. A consistent 42% believed "some people just prefer to live that way." (See Table 7.6.) Seventy-three percent of Evangelical Christians, who attended religious services often and said religion was very important in

TABLE 7.2

Public opinion on gay marriage and civil unions, 2003
	Allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally %	Legal agreements giving many of the same rights as marriage %
SOURCE: "Gay Marriages and Civil Unions," in Opinion of Homosexuals: Religious Beliefs Underpin Opposition to Homosexuality, Part 2: Gay Marriage, The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, November 18, 2003, http://peoplepress.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=197 (accessed July 26, 2004)
Favor	32	41
Strongly	9	13
Not strongly	23	28
Oppose	59	51
Strongly	35	30
Not strongly	2	8
Don't know	9	8
	100	100

their lives, believed that homosexuality could be changed. Sixty-six percent of the secular community believed that homosexuality could not be changed. (Table 7.7.)

Evangelical churches spent the most time addressing public issues. Abortion and prayer in schools were the most frequent topics (72% each). The Roman Catholic Church focused the most attention on abortion (85%). Mainline churches spent less time discussing public issues. (See Table 7.8.)

In a series of surveys, the Pew Research Center monitored public opinion on abortion. In 1987, 41% of people surveyed favored and 51% opposed making abortions more difficult to obtain. By 2004 just 36% favored and 58% opposed making abortions difficult to obtain. (See Table 7.9.) In 2003 and 2004, 33% of women compared to 26% of men opposed greater restrictions on abortion. (See Table 7.10.)