{"id":13468,"date":"2013-03-08T14:25:29","date_gmt":"2013-03-08T19:25:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/?p=13468"},"modified":"2013-05-10T14:57:35","modified_gmt":"2013-05-10T18:57:35","slug":"october-19-2012-none-of-the-above-political-implications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2013\/03\/08\/october-19-2012-none-of-the-above-political-implications\/13468\/","title":{"rendered":" None of the Above: Political Implications"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!-- http:\/\/www-tc.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/rss\/media\/video\/episode.1607.nones.political.implications.m4v --><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align:center\"><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>KIM LAWTON<\/strong>, correspondent: In the battleground state of Ohio, volunteer Monette Richards is making calls for state and local Democratic candidates.  She wants to encourage liberal voters, and especially those who support abortion rights, to get out to the polls next month.<\/p>\n<p><strong>MONETTE RICHARDS<\/strong> (Activist): We get the government that we deserve because we get the government that we vote for.  And right now it&#8217;s not good enough for me.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LAWTON<\/strong>: Richards is part of a growing force on the political scene:  the 46 million Americans who say they are not affiliated with a religion.  Their numbers have been rising rapidly, and they are heavily Democratic.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PROF. JOHN GREEN<\/strong> (University of Akron): Something like a quarter of people who identify with the Democrats or lean towards the Democratic Party are in this unaffiliated category.  That&#8217;s a lot of votes.  That&#8217;s a major group.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2012\/10\/post01-nones-political.jpg\" alt=\"Prof. John Green, University of Akron\" width=\"280\" height=\"210\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-13482\" \/><strong>LAWTON<\/strong>: Professor John Green directs the Bliss Institute at the University of Akron and has long studied the relationship between religion and politics.<\/p>\n<p><strong>GREEN<\/strong>: Religious affiliation has often been closely associated with the major party coalitions, with the Democrats and the Republicans each drawing on different religious communities, and sometimes fighting over religious communities that are pretty evenly divided between the two parties.  Well, as people are less involved in organized religion, then those relationships change.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LAWTON<\/strong>: The religiously unaffiliated, often called \u201cthe nones,\u201d are about twice as likely to describe themselves as political liberals than as conservatives, and they strongly support legal abortion and same-sex marriage.  In a breakdown by faith group, the religiously unaffiliated are now the largest constituency for Democrats, outnumbering black Protestants, white mainline Protestants and white Catholics.<\/p>\n<p><strong>GREG SMITH<\/strong> (Pew Forum on Religion &amp; Public Life): In 2008 about three quarters of religiously unaffiliated voters voted for Barack Obama over John McCain. This group, the religiously unaffiliated, was as heavily supportive of Democrats and Barack Obama as evangelicals are of Republicans and as they were of John McCain.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2012\/10\/post02-nones-political.jpg\" alt=\"Rev. Derrick Harkins\" width=\"280\" height=\"210\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-13483\" \/><strong>LAWTON<\/strong>: Although people of faith all together still make up the majority of the Democratic coalition, for many years, the Democrats battled a perception that they were not as friendly toward religion as the Republicans.  As director of faith outreach for the Democratic National Committee, Reverend Derrick Harkins has been working to change that perception.<\/p>\n<p><strong>REV. DERRICK HARKINS<\/strong> (Democratic National Committee): People of faith make up a significant and important and valuable part of who we are as Democrats and that\u2019s across the spectrum of faith traditions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LAWTON<\/strong>: Green says the growing number of religiously unaffiliated voters could complicate those efforts.<\/p>\n<p><strong>GREEN<\/strong>: How do they for instance get the black Protestant churches to mobilize voters and to be very enthusiastic about their platform and their candidate without turning off unaffiliated voters, and how do they appeal to those people and get them involved and excited about the candidate without alienating some of the religious communities that support the Democratic Party?  It&#8217;s a really interesting problem.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LAWTON<\/strong>: Harkins asserts that the Democratic tent is wide enough to accommodate all.<\/p>\n<p><strong>HARKINS<\/strong>: In having respect for that broad spectrum of faith traditions, we also certainly have respect for people who may not practice. The president often says himself that we need to honor and respect those who certainly practice faith and indeed those who may not.<\/p>\n<p><em>PRES. BARACK OBAMA (in inaugural speech): We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus &#8211; and nonbelievers.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2012\/10\/post03-nones-political.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"280\" height=\"210\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-13484\" \/><strong>LAWTON<\/strong>: The rising number of religiously unaffiliated may be posing new challenges for the Republicans as well.  Although they still make up only about 11 percent of the GOP, a disproportionate number of them are young.  About a third of all adults under the age of 30 are \u201cnones.\u201d  At the University of Akron, these members of the College Republicans say they aren\u2019t affiliated with any particular faith.  They worry that their party\u2019s close relationship with the Religious Right could weaken its viability in the future.<\/p>\n<p><strong>BRAD PHLIPOT<\/strong> (Student): With the Republican Party focusing so much on religion and getting the religious vote, I think it might kind of burn out the people in my age group who are like \u201cwell you know I\u2019m not really that religious and if they\u2019re focusing so much on religion, you know, maybe that\u2019s just not me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>MATTHEW MONEYPENNY<\/strong> (Student): It\u2019s more about what they believe politically rather than religiously because that doesn\u2019t really have an effect on society as much as it used to in my opinion.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LAWTON<\/strong>: According to our new survey with the Pew Forum on Religion &amp; Public Life, almost 70 percent of the religiously unaffiliated say that churches and other religious institutions are too involved in politics. Only 46 percent of the general public agreed with that.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SMITH<\/strong>: People who say they\u2019re not religiously affiliated are much more likely than others to say that they think religious organizations are too political, they are much more likely to say that there\u2019s been too much religious talk from politicians, they\u2019re much more likely to say they think churches and other houses of worship should keep out of political matters.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2012\/10\/post04-nones-political.jpg\" alt=\"Monette Richards\" width=\"280\" height=\"210\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-13485\" \/><strong>RICHARDS<\/strong>: When you can\u2019t get into office unless you profess your religion and talk about how religious you are, it&#8217;s a very big problem for us.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LAWTON<\/strong>: Like most religiously unaffiliated voters, Monette Richards doesn\u2019t want to hear politicians quote from the Bible or make other overt religious appeals. She believes candidates can eliminate the God-talk without alienating faith-based voters.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RICHARDS<\/strong>: I don&#8217;t know that there should be any offending or marginalizing the religious just simply because they aren&#8217;t pandering to them anymore.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LAWTON<\/strong>: But most Americans still do see a role for religion in politics.  About two-thirds of the general public say it\u2019s important for a president to have strong religious beliefs.  A majority also say it doesn\u2019t make them uncomfortable when politicians talk about their faith. In today\u2019s politics, Republicans can\u2019t win without strong support from evangelicals. And in this election season, several groups have been waging an active campaign to mobilize religious conservatives through churches and other religious institutions.  The Faith and Freedom Coalition\u2019s Ralph Reed has been spearheading efforts to turnout the evangelical vote.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2012\/10\/post05-nones-political.jpg\" alt=\"Ralph Reed, Faith and Freedom Coalition\" width=\"280\" height=\"210\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-13486\" \/><strong>RALPH REED<\/strong> (Faith and Freedom Coalition): It\u2019s one out of every four voters and if they turn out in huge numbers, they could really change the outcome of this election.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LAWTON<\/strong>: While both parties have projects to reach out to faith constituencies, many religiously unaffiliated voters say despite their growing numbers, they still feel neglected by politicians.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RICHARDS<\/strong>: We&#8217;ve been pretty much erased from any kind of election talk.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LAWTON<\/strong>: But how do you reach out to people who aren\u2019t at the same place at the same time every week talking about their shared beliefs?<\/p>\n<p><strong>PHLIPOT<\/strong>: Religion it\u2019s a great place for politics to find people is at church. So maybe that\u2019s something we\u2019ll have to figure out.  You know in the future it\u2019s going to be social media you know Facebook groups, stuff like that, Twitter handles. I think that\u2019s something we should use more to utilize the people who are not church going.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2012\/10\/post06-nones-political.jpg\" alt=\"Brian Crisan and other members of University of Akron\u2019s Secular Student Alliance\" width=\"280\" height=\"210\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-13487\" \/><strong>BRIAN CRISAN<\/strong> (Student): Religions have a very, they have a structure to their communities and a support network and though I don\u2019t agree with many religious beliefs, I do believe having a support network is important.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LAWTON<\/strong>: Brian Crisan is part of the University of Akron\u2019s Secular Student Alliance, which tries to provide that support to nonbelievers. This spring, Crisan and several other alliance members came to Washington, D.C. for the Reason Rally, which organizers billed as the largest secular gathering ever in America. One of the goals was to demonstrate their potential clout.<\/p>\n<p><strong>BRYAN POOLE<\/strong> (Student): There are definite political movements growing for atheism or people who particularly do not have religious affiliations and those particular organizations can help people basically find identity.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LAWTON<\/strong>: Richards also attended the Reason Rally and says she came away more inspired than ever to be politically engaged. She says she gets frustrated that religious conservatives have co-opted the term \u201cvalues voters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/files\/2012\/10\/post07-nones-political.jpg\" alt=\"Reason Rally in Washington, DC\" width=\"280\" height=\"210\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-13488\" \/><strong>RICHARDS<\/strong>: It&#8217;s interesting that we still equate values sort of with piousness and piety and we need to change that association for us, so that we can move past that and know that values is just, you know, ethics and morals and just good people doing the right thing as opposed to, you know, reading the right book.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LAWTON<\/strong>: What values do you apply to your politics?<\/p>\n<p><strong>RICHARDS<\/strong>: Progressive, social justice.  We&#8217;re all in this together kind of thing, it doesn&#8217;t have to be a me against you, Democrats vs. Republicans or anything.  It&#8217;s, you know, move forward, help the people that need help.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LAWTON<\/strong>: Unaffiliated Republicans say they also want to be known as values voters.<\/p>\n<p><strong>NICK CASTRO<\/strong> (Student):  There\u2019s many people that are out there who I\u2019m friends with who I know who do not believe in anything, who are not affiliated with any religion, but they believe in that strong economical growth, they believe in that strong values just they don\u2019t take it from the values from God or from whoever, they take it from the values of themselves.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LAWTON<\/strong>: One challenge may be getting those religiously unaffiliated voters to the polls. In recent elections, the \u201cnones\u201d voted at lower rates than their religiously affiliated counterparts.  But given their rising numbers, experts say a politically organized and active movement of the unaffiliated could play a key role in the political landscape for years to come.  I\u2019m Kim Lawton in Akron, Ohio.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How will the Democratic Party appeal to religious voters without alienating the rising numbers of religiously unaffiliated voters? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2013\/03\/08\/october-19-2012-none-of-the-above-political-implications\/13468\/\" class=\"more\">More <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":17981,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6569],"tags":[10129,1030,9894,8740,10874,1172,6846,984,10872,5843,2220],"class_list":["post-13468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-videocast","tag-campaign-2012","tag-democrats","tag-faith-and-freedom-coalition","tag-greg-smith","tag-none-of-the-above","tag-ohio","tag-pew-forum","tag-politics","tag-religiously-unaffiliated","tag-secularism","tag-separation-of-church-and-state","topics-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>October 19, 2012 ~ None of the Above: Political Implications | March 8, 2013 | Religion &amp; 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