Two graphs that show how much religious interference we want in politics
The majority of Labour and Lib Dem supporters were in favour of public comments from religious leaders
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A survey has shown that more of the public want the influence of religious leaders than those who don’t.
44 per cent of the public believed that religious leaders should intervene and make public comments on political and economic matters, compared to 39 per cent who didn’t.
However, despite more of the public wanting influence than not, 75 per cent admitted that they had never been influenced by a religious leader and 57 per cent said they took no notice of what they said.
The political leanings of those surveyed by YouGov also affected their attitudes on whether religious leaders should comment on such issues.
The majority of Labour and Liberal Democrat supporters believed that they should, whereas the majority of Ukip and Conservative supporters believed they should not.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, was determined to have made “the best contribution to moral and religious life in Britain”, over his predecessor Rowan Williams and both Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments