Survey: America's 'culture war' may be exaggerated

RAW STORY
Published: Friday August 4, 2006

The extreme emphasis placed on America's 'culture wars' may be just that: extreme, according to a new study based on a poll of 2,003 American adults released by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life late Thursday, RAW STORY has learned.

"Americans cannot be easily characterized as conservative or liberal ontoday's most pressing social questions," the Pew study reveals. "The public's point of view varies from issue to issue."

"They are conservative in opposing gay marriage and gay adoption, liberal in favoring embryonic stem cell research and a little of both on abortion. Along with favoring no clear ideological approach to most social issues, the public expresses a desire for a middle ground on the most divisive social concern of the day: abortion," according to the Pew Forum study.

In an article entitled "Culture war" in America may be overblown: poll, Reuters noted that "[o]n five prominent social issues -- abortion rights, stem cell research, gay marriage, adoption of children by gay couples, and availability of the "morning-after" pill -- most Americans did not take consistent stances."

"Just 12 percent took the conservative position on all five issues, while 22 percent took the opposite stance on all five," Reuters reported. "The bulk of Americans had mixed opinions."

Some key findings from the study, as noted in a Pew Forum press release:

"A clear majority (56%) continues to oppose allowing gays and lesbians to marry while 35% express support, but just three-in-ten favor a Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages. A growing number of Americans see homosexuality as an innate trait people are born with, and a 49% plurality now believes a person’s sexual orientation cannot be changed. While a slim majority (54%) favors allowing gay couples to enter into civil unions, only 42% believe gay couples should be allowed to adopt children," the study finds.

"Abortion continues to split the country nearly down the middle. But the large majority in favor of finding “a middle ground” on the issue extends broadly across the political and religious spectrum. Only one group expressed unwillingness to find a middle way. Two-thirds (66%) of those who support an outright ban on abortion say there should be no compromise. In contrast, two-thirds of those who want abortion to be generally available are ready to seek a compromise," says the study.

Link to full study can be found here