Religious liberty and homosexuality among key issues Americans are hearing about from clergy, according to a new survey from the Pew Research Center.
Four in ten recent church-goers in the US said they’d heard from clergy about each of the two subjects during the northern hemisphere spring and early summer while almost 30 per cent said they’d heard about abortion and 27 per cent immigration. About one in five reported hearing about environmental issues and a smiliar proportion about economic inequality.
The survey, which was was conducted online and by mail over the month from 5th June among a nationally representative poll of more than 4,500 adults, found that 40 per cent of Americans reported attending religious services at least once or twice in the few months prior.
Of this group, 64 per cent said they had heard clergy at their church or other place of worship speak about at least one of the six social and political issues mentioned in the survey. Almost half (46 per cent) indicated that religious leaders had spoken out on multiple issues.
The survey also found that only 14 per cent of Americans said they had heard their clergy speak against a specific presidential candidate in the months leading up to the survey with black Protestants most likely to hear this kind of message.
