Culture War Divisions Exaggerated

Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has just released information about a poll that reveals Americans are not as divided on cultural issues as many believe. Here are the key findings:

Homosexuality
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.

Abortion
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.

Stem cell research
A 56% majority continues to believe that it is more important to conduct stem cell research that may lead to new medical cures rather than to avoid destroying the potential life of human embryos involved in the research (32%). For the first time in Pew polling, more white evangelicals now favor stem cell research (44%) than oppose it (40%).

The Morning-After Pill & Birth Control
Americans split 48% to 41% over whether to allow the morning-after pill without a prescription. But by 80% to 17% they believe pharmacists should not be able to refuse to sell birth control pills based on their religious beliefs.

Here's a link to the entire report.