No religious pitches to gain votes, say most Americans

More than two-thirds of Americans think presidential candidates should not use their religious beliefs to sway voters, a new poll shows. The poll, conducted in October by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research for the Interfaith Alliance, asked 1,000 adults to agree or disagree with the following statement: “Presidential candidates should not use their religion or faith to influence voters to support them.”

Sixty-eight percent said they agreed. Even regular churchgoers think presidential hopefuls should not use their faith as a campaign tool; almost 60 percent of respondents who regularly attend religious services agreed with the statement.

Candidates can certainly speak about their religion and beliefs as “points of identification for who they are,” said C. Welton Gaddy, president of the Interfaith Alliance. But candidates push the limits when they imply that voters should support them because of their religion, he said. (RNS)