The percentage of voters identifying Obama’s religion as Christian has increased since August 2010, from 38% to 49%, while there has been little change in the percentage saying he is Muslim (19% then, 17% today). Still, fewer say Obama is Christian — and more say he is Muslim — than did so in October 2008, near the end of the last presidential campaign. The increase since 2008 is particularly concentrated among conservative Republicans, about a third of whom (34%) describe the president as a Muslim.
Overall, 45% of voters say they are comfortable with Obama’s religion, while 19% are uncomfortable. Among those who say Obama is Christian, 82% are comfortable with Obama’s religious beliefs. Among those who describe him as a Muslim, just 26% are comfortable with his beliefs.
The survey also finds continued public ambivalence about the role of religion in politics. Fully 67% agree “It’s important to me that a president have strong religious beliefs,” an opinion that has changed little over the past decade. And more than half say they are comfortable with politicians expressing their religious beliefs.
Yet the public remains opposed to churches explicitly endorsing political candidates, with two-thirds saying churches and other houses of worship should not come out in favor of political candidates. And a Pew Research Center survey released in March found that concern about too much church involvement in political matters has been on the rise over the past decade.
The new survey also finds that 66% of the public says that religion is losing its influence on American life. That is little changed from 2010, but among the highest percentages saying religion is losing its influence since the question was first asked in a Gallup poll in 1957. A small but growing share of Americans say it is good that religion’s influence is declining: Currently, 12% say this, up from 6% in 2006.
Read Section 1: Candidates' Religions and Views of Mormonism and the rest of the report
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