Religion and Politics in the US

In Britain politicians tend to avoid getting involved in debates surronding religion. Although the UK has an estbalished church, major ethical and moral debates such as abortion and stem cell research are left to the scientisits and medical professionals. In the USA however, where you stand on abortion or stem cell research may either improve or weaken your chances of electoral success.

In many states, such as the Southern States of Georgia and Mississippi (commonly reffered to as the ‘Bible Belt’) there is a very large Christian population which is normally aligned with the Republican party. This was shown in the 2004 Presidential elections between the incumbent President George Bush and the Democrat nominee John Kerry. Opinion polls showed that the most important reason why people voted for Bush was his stance on ‘moral values’. Recent trends have also shown that traditional Democrat supporters such as Irish Americans and Italian Americans have begun to vote Republican in larger numbers. This is attributed to their traditional Roman Catholic beliefs.

Religion has come to the fore in the Republican primaries and over Obamas Heathcare bill. For Obama the big issue is the provision of contraception under his national hetalh care reforms. For Mitt Romney, the leading Republican candidate in the primaries, the debate is over his mormon faith.

Both are covered in depth by the Lexington article from the Economist which is linked below.

http://www.economist.com/node/21547241