Little Evidence That Born-Again or Conservative Protestants Are More Anti-Catholic Than Are Other Americans

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert's appointment last Thursday of a Roman Catholic priest as chaplain of the House of Representatives underscored the visibility in recent months of the issue of Americans' attitudes toward Catholics. News accounts asserted that Hastert's appointment of the Rev. Daniel Coughlin was based in part on his desire to end the controversy over charges that Republican leadership in the House had an anti-Catholic bias. This, in turn, followed on the heels of the controversy that erupted after presumptive Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush visited the campus of Bob Jones University in South Carolina in February without publicly denouncing that school's anti-Catholic positions.

Is there indeed anti-Catholic bias among Americans, particularly among fundamentalists and among Republicans? On the surface, it does appear that a significant number of Americans -- about one in four -- has a negative view of the Catholic religion. A new Gallup poll, conducted March 17-19, shows that 27% of Americans say they have a negative perception of the Catholic religion. Sixty-four percent have a favorable opinion, while 9% say that they don't have an opinion at all. (Thirty percent of Protestants -- about six out of ten Americans -- have an unfavorable opinion, although 12% of self-identified Catholics say that they themselves have an unfavorable opinion of their own religion.)

By way of comparison, 48% of Americans say they have a favorable opinion of "Christian fundamentalist religions," while 35% have an unfavorable opinion (16% have no opinion at all).

The controversy that embroiled Speaker Hastert has been based in part on his unwillingness earlier this year to appoint another Catholic -- the Rev. Timothy J. O'Brien -- to the chaplain's post, raising the criticism from some quarters that conservative Republican Congressmen have an anti-Catholic bias. Then, George W. Bush's speech at Bob Jones University created a furor among some observers when Bush did not publicly decry the official position statements of the university that were negative toward the Catholic faith, though these statements proclaimed a love for individual Catholics themselves.

Despite these contretemps, there is no evidence from the recent Gallup poll that Americans who themselves are more fundamentalist or who identify with the Christian right are more likely to be negative toward the Catholic religion than is anyone else. Additionally, Republicans are no more anti-Catholic than are independents or Democrats.

Born Agains and Members of the Christian Right
About 46% of Americans consider themselves to be "born again or evangelical." Of that group, 29% have an unfavorable view of Catholics -- essentially no different from the entire Protestant population, and only slightly larger than the 25% of Americans who are not born again who hold this opinion.

About 26% of Americans say they consider themselves members of the Christian right, and 27% of that group has an unfavorable opinion of the Catholic religion -- again no different from the entire U.S. population.

Baptists -- a term that encompasses more than 20 groups, including the largest Protestant denomination -- are usually considered to be at the more conservative, fundamentalist end of the spectrum of Protestant groups in this country. They are also no different from the entire sample in their attitudes towards Catholics. (John F. Kennedy -- the first and only Catholic president the country has ever had -- made a pilgrimage to Houston, Texas some 40 years ago in the midst of the 1960 presidential campaign in order to meet with Southern Baptist leaders and to assure them that he would not be taking orders directly from the Vatican if elected.)

In fact, an examination of the data suggests that one of the biggest predictors of negative attitudes toward Catholics is an overall lack of personal religious faith or practice, rather than intense religious belief in a different religion. Having an unfavorable attitude toward the Catholic religion may be more a part of a negative attitude toward any religion, rather than a specific or targeted negative attitude toward the Catholic faith:

• Among those who say that religion is not very important in their daily life, 44% have an unfavorable view of Catholics.
• Among those who are not members of church or synagogue, 39% have an unfavorable view of American Catholics.
• Among those who never attend church, 54% have an unfavorable view of Catholics.
• Among those who think that religion is largely old-fashioned and out of date, 45% say they have an unfavorable opinion of Catholics' religion.

Those Who Dislike the Catholic Religion Also Dislike Christian Fundamentalist Religions
The hypothesis that anti-Catholicism is a negative reaction against religion more generally is borne out by an examination of attitudes towards Christian fundamentalist religions. The overall number of Americans with an unfavorable attitude toward Christian fundamentalist religions is 36%, slightly higher than the percentage that have an unfavorable opinion of the Catholic religion. Some might predict that people who have an unfavorable opinion of Catholics would also have an unfavorable opinion of Christian fundamentalist religions, and vice versa. In fact, it is indeed the same people who have an unfavorable opinion of both:

ATTITUDES TOWARD THE CATHOLIC RELIGION BY ATTITUDES TOWARD CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST RELIGIONS
	OPINION OF CATHOLIC RELIGION
OPINION OF CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST RELIGIONS	Favorable Opinion	Unfavorable Opinion	Don't Know
Favorable Opinion	75%	19	6
Unfavorable Opinion	51%	44	5
Don't Know	59%	12	29

As can be seen, only 19% of those who have a favorable opinion of Christian fundamentalist religions also have an unfavorable opinion of Catholic religion, significantly lower than the overall average in the population. At the same time, 44% of those who have an unfavorable opinion of Christian fundamentalist religions also have an unfavorable opinion of the Catholic religion. In short, Americans who have an unfavorable opinion of one of these two groups usually have an unfavorable opinion of the other.

In addition, the less religious the individual, the more likely he or she is to have an unfavorable opinion ofbothChristian fundamentalist religions and the Catholic religion.

ATTITUDES TOWARD THE CATHOLIC AND CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST RELIGIONS BY PERSONAL IMPORTANCE OF RELIGION
	Attitude Toward Catholic Religion		Attitude Toward Christian Fundamentalist Religions
Personal Importance of Religion	Favorable	Unfavorable	Favorable	Unfavorable
Very Important	68%	23	55%	29
Fairly Important	65%	29	45%	41
Not Very Important	42%	44	24%	62

The same pattern pertains to both groups. People for whom religion is not very important are more likely to have an unfavorable opinion of both religions.

In summary, although about one-quarter of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of the Catholic religion, there is little evidence that supports the hypothesis that this anti-Catholicism is disproportionately located among conservative Protestants. In fact, given the fact that people who have negative attitudes toward Catholics also have negative attitudes toward Christian fundamentalists, and that those who are most personally irreligious are most negative towards Catholics, the more sustainable hypothesis is that anti-Catholicism is an outgrowth of a more generally negative attitude towards religion, rather than towards the specific beliefs or history of the Catholic church.

Republicans Slightly Less Likely to Have Anti-Catholic Attitudes
Additionally, the data show that 23% of Republicans have an unfavorable view of Catholics, compared with 31% of independents, and 27% of Democrats. In short, rank-and-file Republicans nationally are actually slightly more positive towards Catholics than are independents and Democrats.