A majority of those who attend religious services weekly oppose President Bush’s move to increase U.S. troops levels in Iraq and support the idea of Congress setting a timetable to bring U.S. forces home by the end of ’08.Clearly, there's more than one way to read these numbers (and no, I'm not starting another blogwar with Pastor Dan!). I've deleted the numbers simply because Atrios has them, the original source has them, and they make my head hurt. I've elided some of the text Pastor Dan includes, because I have my own purposes.
Those who say they attend religious services weekly were more supportive of the administration's move to increase U.S. troops levels in Iraq. But a majority still opposed that idea.
....
Those who say they attend religious services weekly were the least likely to support the idea of Congress setting a timetable to bring U.S. forces home by the end of next year. But a majority still supported the proposal.
My conclusion? The Constantinian church is alive and well. Sad, but true: those who regularly attend worship are more likely to expect institutions to "do the right thing." Which is one reason why we haven't heard a enormous outcry from the pews about the horrors of torture (and didn't hear an enormous outcry from the pews about civil rights. Indeed, I know of more than one pastor who lost his position in the '60's for being in favor of the civil rights marchers.) Which is why I often say God has a nasty sense of humor, best displayed by my call to the ministry. I am, per the MadPriest, the most orthodox of people. On the other hand, I'm as anti-institution as they come, even as I recognize the necessity for them.
But I'm Protestant enough (or always thought it was the Protestant in me) not to let someone else do my thinking for me. The next time I talk about the "post-Christendom" church, remind me about this survey, will you?
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