Belief in bib­li­cal inerrancy is down. Source: god​hatesshrimp​.com

A peri­odic sur­vey from the Pew Forum on Reli­gion and Pub­lic Life has shed some light on gen­er­a­tional dif­fer­ences in reli­gious belief and prac­tice that may soon be reflected in vot­ing behavior.

For some time, a gen­er­a­tional shift in sup­port for par­tic­u­lar issues has become appar­ent. For exam­ple, 69 per­cent of those aged 18–30 are in favor of legal­iz­ing same-​​sex mar­riage, while 38 per­cent of those aged over 65 feel the same.

Vot­ing in the 2008 Pres­i­den­tial elec­tion divided up along gen­er­a­tional lines as well. For exam­ple, 66 per­cent of those under 30 voted for Barack Obama, while only 45 per­cent of those over 65 did so.

Evan­gel­i­cal Chris­tians are espe­cially unlikely to vote for Barack Obama. In the 2008 elec­tion, only 11 per­cent of Evan­gel­i­cals voted for Obama. The fact that 22 per­cent of those polled in 2012 may vote for him is big news, and may rep­re­sent an Evan­gel­i­cal dis­com­fort with Mitt Romney’s mem­ber­ship in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-​​Day Saints.

The recent Pew Forum sur­veys (one from June 2012, bol­stered by a more in-​​depth sur­vey of reli­gious val­ues from Feb­ru­ary 2010) point up the grow­ing gen­er­a­tional divide in reli­gious values.

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