Robert Jones of the Public Religion Research Institute takes the longer view. He said, “In the American context, the word atheism has a troubled past.”
It was associated with Communism during the Cold War, and Jones says belief in a higher being is still seen as a proxy for morality.
“And I think for many Americans evaluating and saying, ‘Does this person believe in God or not,’ is a sort of mental shortcut, I think, that many religious Americans make when they’re evaluating candidates,” he said.
It’s one reason so many official speeches end with “God bless America.”
But with surveys showing one third of adults under 30 don’t identify with any religion, God’s place of prominence in American politics may no longer be as assured.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25