ABERNETHY: John, what does this new survey have to say about evangelicals and politics in 2004?

Prof. GREEN: Well, you know, the last couple of years white evangelicals have been seen as a strong Republican constituency. They voted very heavily for George Bush in 2000, and our survey suggests that that support for Bush is maintained. For instance, we found that 71 percent of white evangelicals said they would vote for Bush over Kerry if the election were held today. So these are clearly a conservative or Republican group. But you know, they are not monolithically so. About 23 percent said they would vote for Kerry, and it's possible that, under [certain] circumstances, the Democrats might get even a few more votes.

ABERNETHY: What circumstances?

Prof. GREEN: If the social issues come up in the campaign in a way that allows the economic and foreign policy concerns of evangelicals to be relevant to their votes.

Ms. GREENBERG: They are very interested in being strong militarily, very strong on the war on terrorism, very strong on Iraq. And that is, I think, as set of positions that probably favors Bush.

ABERNETHY: Anna, are there signs that evangelicals are becoming what you might call more tolerant?

Ms. GREENBERG: I think there are. We would expect, given the intense religious and theological beliefs that evangelicals have, that they would have a pretty rigid, you know, view about who is saved and who is not saved. It turns out only about half, even less than half, say we have to be born again in order to be saved; [that] suggests, you know, openness to other Christians and openness to other people. If you look at issues, it also looks like they are becoming more tolerant. We asked this question about gay marriage. Overwhelmingly, 82 percent say they are against gay marriage. But when you ask them, "Do we need a constitutional amendment?" only about half of them say we need an amendment. The other half says state laws are sufficient.

I think there was some sense, probably on the right, that this would be sort of a home run with this base group for the Republican Party. But, in fact, you know, a majority think that, you know, the laws are okay.

When we asked them, "Would you vote for a candidate who held a different position than you on the question of gay marriage?" only about 47 percent said, "I would vote against that candidate if they had a different view than me." The rest were okay. So it's not even a litmus test for them. So I'm not sure if they're becoming more open or tolerant, per se, but they certainly have nuanced views about these issues.

ABERNETHY: And what about evangelizing? Do evangelicals think they must try to convert others, or is it enough to talk about one's faith, to share it?

Ms. GREENBERG: It doesn't have to be a deliberate attempt to convert. It can just be spreading the "good news," talking with friends, talking with family. About 75 percent say on a weekly basis they just talk about these issues.

Prof. GREEN: But there is a difference in the survey, though, between sharing one's faith, talking about one's faith, and actually trying to convert people. And significantly fewer evangelicals say that they actually try to convert people than say they simply share their faith with others.