More Americans want church and politics separate: poll

By Ed Stoddard

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A slim majority of Americans, including more conservatives and Republicans than previously, want to keep religion out of politics, a survey released on Thursday found.

The results come as Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain actively vie for the support of religious voters among others ahead of the November 4 presidential election.

The survey by the Pew Research Center found that 52 percent of Americans thought that churches and other religious institutions should stay out of politics, an increase of eight percentage points since 2004, when the last U.S. presidential election was held.

Forty five percent in the survey of nearly 3,000 adults conducted earlier this month took an opposite view, saying churches should make their political views heard.

The result marked the first time since the Center began asking the question in 1996 that those who said churches should keep out of politics were in the majority.

A huge shift came from voters who described themselves as conservative, with 50 percent saying churches should stay out of politics compared to 30 percent in 2004.

Among Republicans, 51 percent held this view, up from 37 percent in August of 2004.

Such a shift could have profound political implications as conservative white evangelical Christians have become a key base of support for the Republican Party.

Commenting on the results, the Pew Center said: "Where there was once a substantial partisan and ideological gap on this question, there is now far less of a divide."

Among Democratic voters, the percentage who wanted churches out of politics was almost unchanged since 2004 at 52 percent.

The conservative religious vote remains important, a point underscored last Saturday when the two presidential candidates each took questions from influential evangelical pastor Rick Warren at a nationally televised forum.

(Editing by Alan Elsner)