Faith in Presidential Candidates More Important to Minority Millennials Than Whites
Study Finds 'Striking Differences' Bewteen Minorities and Whites About the Importance of Faith
A recent survey showed that millennials in minority categories stated that a candidate's faith was more important to them than their Caucasian counterparts in the same age group.
The survey was conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute in conjunction with Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affair. In it, researchers revealed that nearly 70 percent of black and 57 percent of Hispanic millennials between the age of 18 to 25 think it's important that a presidential candidate be someone of strong religious beliefs.
Conversely, the survey also revealed that white millennials held a vastly different view of the importance of a candidate's faith, with only 44 percent stating that a candidate's faith was important to them. 53 percent declaring that is was not an important aspect of what they look for in a candidate.
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"There are striking differences along racial lines about the role of faith in the lives of presidential candidates," Thomas Banchoff, director of the Berkley Center, stated in a press release.
"Strong majorities of black and Hispanic younger millennials say it is important for presidential candidates to have strong religious beliefs, while a majority of white younger millennials disagree," he added
The overall divide among millennials concerning the importance of a candidate's faith was almost evenly split. 49 percent of respondents revealed that a candidate who had strong religious beliefs was important, while 48 percent insisted that the religious beliefs of a candidate were not overly important.
The survey also gauged respondent's perceptions of the candidate's traits. Traits such as honesty and leadership were thought more aligned with President Obama while 54 percent of respondents identified Mitt Romney as a candidate with strong religious beliefs as opposed to 32 percent for Obama.
Dan Cox, research director for the polling firm, also described that question showed a large racial divide.
69 percent of black millennials said the president had strong religious beliefs, while only 22 percent felt Romney did.
