From Pews to Polling Places: Faith and Politics in the American Religious Mosaic

Does religion promote political mobilization? Are individuals motivated by their faith to focus on issues of social justice, personal morality, or both? What is the relationship between religious conviction and partisanship? Does religious identity reinforce or undermine other political identifications like a race, ethnicity, and class?

From Pews to Polling Places seeks to answer these questions by unveiling a rich mosaic of religious and ethnic perspectives including those of evangelical Christians, the religious left, Catholics, Mormons, African, Latinos, Jews, and Muslims. Along with these groups, the book takes a unique look at the role of secular and antifundamentalist positions.

Promment religion and politics scholars demonstrate how different theologies, histories, and social situations drive distinct conceptualizations of the relationship between religious and political life. At the same time, however, the book points to important commonalities across traditions that can inform our discussions on the impact of religion on political life. In emphasizing these similarities, the authors explore the challenges of political mobilization, partisanship, and the intersections of religion and ethnicity.