There were some comments below to the effect that secular conservatives tend to be more “libertarian” than religious conservatives. Anyone who has moved in libertarian circles knows that atheists & agnostics are well represented; after all, many libertarians are strongly influenced by the aggressively atheistic Objectivist philosophy, even if few become full-blown Objectivists. I have posted data before which do suggest that conservative seculars tend to be libertarian, but I thought I would do something a bit more systematic. Below the fold are a list of GSS results where the top half are more “social” and the bottom more “economic.” Because of the small number of secular conservatives I used the GSS sample spanning 1988-2008. This is important to keep in mind for questions relating to homosexuality, since those views have shifted a great deal over that time, though others such as abortion have remained static.
\n<\/p>\n
| Conservatives in GSS, 1988-2008<\/strong> <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | <\/td>\n Atheist\/Agnostic<\/strong><\/td>\n | “Know God Exists”<\/strong><\/td>\n | Full Sample<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Favor death penalty for murder<\/em><\/td>\n | 82.2<\/td>\n | 78.8<\/td>\n | 78.8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Favor gun permits<\/em><\/td>\n | 66.7<\/td>\n | 74.4<\/td>\n | 74<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Marijuana should be made legal<\/em><\/td>\n | 38.4<\/td>\n | 14.9<\/td>\n | 16.3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Courts not harsh enough dealing with criminals<\/em><\/td>\n | 82.5<\/td>\n | 81.6<\/td>\n | 81.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Mode for “liking of Israel,” 5 to -5 scale<\/em><\/td>\n | -2<\/td>\n | 1<\/td>\n | 1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Allow racist to speak<\/em><\/td>\n | 80.1<\/td>\n | 57.8<\/td>\n | 58.9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Allow Communist to speak<\/em><\/td>\n | 86.7<\/td>\n | 61.9<\/td>\n | 63.1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Abortion if woman wants for any reason, yes <\/em><\/td>\n | 64.7<\/td>\n | 19.8<\/td>\n | 22.1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Approve of banning Bible prayer in public schools<\/em><\/td>\n | 55.5<\/td>\n | 29.5<\/td>\n | 31<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Homosexual relations always wrong<\/em><\/td>\n | 50.2<\/td>\n | 85.1<\/td>\n | 83.4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Taxes on high income people too high<\/em><\/td>\n | 26.5<\/td>\n | 16.2<\/td>\n | 16.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Too little Welfare<\/em><\/td>\n | 9.8<\/td>\n | 16.7<\/td>\n | 16.3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Too little Social Security<\/em><\/td>\n | 39.2<\/td>\n | 51.7<\/td>\n | 51<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Too little assistance for child care<\/em><\/td>\n | 30<\/td>\n | 48.4<\/td>\n | 47.5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Should be no gov. action to reduce income differences<\/em><\/td>\n | 30.9<\/td>\n | 18.9<\/td>\n | 19.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Federal income tax too high<\/em><\/td>\n | 64.9<\/td>\n | 64.8<\/td>\n | 64.8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Socioeconomic index greater than 58 (17-97 scale)<\/em><\/td>\n | 42<\/td>\n | 33.7<\/td>\n | 34.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | % Male<\/em><\/td>\n | 69.3<\/td>\n | 44.7<\/td>\n | 46<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n | I put the data about sex breakdowns to suggest an important point: the political peculiarities of secular conservatives may have less to do with secularism per se, as opposed to the demographic breakdown of secular individuals in general.<\/b> In particular, secular conservatives tend to be male, and somewhat above the median in socioeconimc status.<\/b> Both of these variables tend to lean toward libertarianism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There were some comments below to the effect that secular conservatives tend to be more “libertarian” than religious conservatives. Anyone who has moved in libertarian circles knows that atheists & agnostics are well represented; after all, many libertarians are strongly … Continue reading |