Latinos, Religion, and Politics

A new Pew study suggests that most Latinos believe religion should have a major place in America’s public life.  From the report:

Two-thirds of Hispanics say that their religious beliefs are an important influence on their political thinking.  More than half say churches and other houses of worship should address the social and political questions of the day.  By nearly a two-to-one margin, Latinos say that there has been too little expression of religious faith by political leaders rather than too much.

Differences among Latinos tend to fall along denomination lines, with evangelicals being more gung-ho than Catholics about faith in politics.  Among Latino evangelicals, 86% say religious beliefs are “somewhat” or “very” important influences on their political thinking, whereas among Catholics, that figure falls to 66%.  Still, that’s a pretty solid level of agreement in the Latino community.  Even 37% of secular Latinos say religion impacts their political views.

On the related question whether our political leaders should do more to express their faith, Latinos say yes.  For Catholics, the margin is over two-to-one; for evangelicals, it’s four-to-one.

Lesson to the Democrats: if you’ve got faith, don’t hide it under a bushel.  Latinos, like most Americans, want their politics to reflect their deepest values — and for most of them, that involves faith.