Thirty-eight percent of those polled said there’s too much expression of religious faith. Poll: Too much religion talk

Almost four in 10 Americans say there is “too much” talk of religion and prayer by politicians — an all-time high since the question was first asked more than 10 years ago, according to a new poll.

Thirty-eight percent of those polled said there’s too much expression of religious faith and prayer from political leaders, while 30 percent said there’s too little of it, a survey from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found.


This is a reversal of what people said about the topic in 2010, when a larger percentage of people, 37 percent, said there is too little talk of religion and prayer from politicians compared with 29 percent who said there was too much of it.

Democrats were more likely than Republicans to think that there is too much religious expression from politicians, 52 percent to 27 percent.

Supporters of Rick Santorum were less likely than Mitt Romney backers to think that there is too much religious discussion by political leaders, 16 percent to 33 percent.

The poll also found that more than half of Americans, 54 percent, think churches should stay out of politics, while 40 percent said religious institutions should express views on social and political questions.

The majority of Romney supporters, 57 percent, said they believe churches should stay out of political discussions, but 60 percent of Santorum backers said they think religious institutions should be open about their views on social and political matters.

The Republican Party is considered more “friendly” to religion than the Democratic Party — 54 percent of those surveyed said the GOP is friendly toward religion, compared with just 35 percent who said the same about the Democratic Party and 39 percent about the Obama administration. Meanwhile, only two in 10 people polled, 19 percent, said reporters and the media are friendly to religion.

The Pew survey was conducted March 7-11 among 1,503 adults, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.