April 19, 2001 | Read Time: 4 minutes
By LAURA HRUBY
Seven of 10 Americans support proposals to provide government subsidies
to religious groups that run social-service programs, according to results of a nationwide poll released last week.
But the majority of Americans also have concerns about the idea, which President Bush has sought to make a hallmark of his administration. Last week he proposed that more than $258-million in new federal aid be provided to religious groups and other small charities.
The poll was based on telephone interviews with 2,041 adults and was conducted by two groups financed by the Pew Charitable Trusts: the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
Seventy-seven percent of those polled said they thought a good reason to support government financing of religious groups was that it would make it easier for people in need of help to choose from a wide range of social-service groups, including faith-based groups, secular charities, and government agencies. Respondents cited other reasons to support such aid: 72 percent said that the people who worked or volunteered at religious groups would be more caring and compassionate than those at other social-service providers, while 62 percent said that religious groups could do a better job than other organizations because the power of religion can change people’s lives. Sixty percent said that religious groups could provide services more efficiently than government programs.
But 68 percent of Americans also expressed concerns that government might intrude on religious groups in improper ways, while 59 percent worried that religious groups might try to proselytize people who participate in government-financed social-service programs. In addition, the poll found that 78 percent opposed the idea of allowing government-supported groups to hire only people who share the same religious beliefs — a practice that was protected by Congress in legislation designed to make it easier for religious groups to compete for federal social-services aid.
Excluding Religious Groups
Despite widespread support for allowing religious organizations to compete for government funds, a majority of those surveyed would exclude some nonJudeo-Christian groups from the process. Fewer than half said they would support government funds’ going to Muslim mosques (38 percent), Buddhist temples (38 percent), the Nation of Islam (29 percent), or the Church of Scientology (26 percent). By contrast, more than 60 percent said they would support giving funds to Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, and more than half would support government aid to Jewish synagogues, evangelical Christian churches, and Mormon churches.
In general, the poll found that Americans consider religious groups more likely than secular nonprofit organizations or the government to provide high-quality social services. Thirty-seven percent said they thought religious organizations could best help people in need, while only 27 percent thought community-based groups and 28 percent thought government agencies were best able to help the needy.
However, respondents said nonprofit groups or government agencies could better provide certain services. People said they thought community-based groups would be best at dealing with issues such as teenage pregnancy, child care, and alcohol and drug addiction, while religious groups would be most successful at feeding the homeless or providing prison counseling. Respondents said that literacy, health-care, and job-training programs should be run by government agencies.
The report showed strong differences in views among various types of people. Among the characteristics that led to divided views:
Age. Eighty percent of those under 30 support government aid to nonprofit groups that have a religious affiliation, compared with only 55 percent of those 65 and older.
Race and ethnicity. Eighty-one percent of blacks and the same percentage of Hispanics support efforts to channel government aid to religious groups, compared with 69 percent of whites. Only 17 percent of blacks and 16 percent of Hispanics said they thought nonprofit groups could best serve people in need, compared with 28 percent of whites.
Religious backgrounds. Fifty-three percent of white and 46 percent of black evangelical Protestants said they thought religious groups provide the best care for the needy, compared with 33 percent of other white Protestants, 31 percent of other black Protestants, and 35 percent of Catholics.
Income. People with higher incomes are slightly less likely to believe that religious groups should be able to compete for government funds — 69 percent of people with family incomes of $50,000 or more support the idea, compared with 75 percent of those whose family income is less than $20,000. Affluent people are also much more likely to think nonprofit groups are best at providing social services — 38 percent of those with family incomes of $75,000 or more believe that is true, compared with 21 percent of those with family incomes under $20,000.
For a free copy of the study results, contact the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life at 1150 18th Street, N.W., Suite 775, Washington, D.C. 20036-3823; (202) 955-5077; fax (202) 955-0658. The report also is available at http://www.pewforum.org.
