Political Congregations, Race, and Environmental Policy Attitudes

Abstract

Using data from eight surveys collected between 1996 and 2016, this study examines race differences in the association between hearing sermons about environmental and other social‐political issues and support for policies aimed at protecting the environment. While accounting for religious faith, political partisanship, and social‐demographic characteristics, we find that Blacks and Hispanics are more likely to hear sermons about environmental and other social‐political issues. However, hearing such messages more strongly associates with Whites supporting environmental conservation policies than it does for Blacks and Hispanics.

The Politics of 130,000 American Religious Leaders: A New Methodological Approach

“…While we do not know, from this analysis, whether the relationship arises from individuals' sorting into denominations that align with their views versus the persuasive power of pastors and their church communities, other work suggests it is unlikely that pastors are moving their congregants' views in line with their own (Djupe and Gilbert 2009;Smith 2005). See also Djupe and Hunt (2009) and Brown, Eschler, and Bron (2021). It is more likely the case that a significant portion of religious individuals may select denominations with theological climates, proxied here by pastors' partisanship, that align with their own views on important issues related to personal morality.…”

Climate Change and the Voluntary Sector: An Introduction

“…Work in this cluster of 18 (22%) articles addresses voluntary organizations in local environmental politics (e.g., Daneri et al, 2021), environmental justice movements (Vandepitte et al, 2019), advocacy and litigation coalitions (Aamodt, 2018; Holm & Berardo, 2020; Nilsen et al, 2018), the role of religious and indigenous organizations in environmental conservation teaching and awareness (e.g., Brown et al, 2021; Ellingson et al, 2012; Mlaki & Massawe, 2019; Standley et al, 2009), nonprofit scientific institutions as brokers of credible climate change information (e.g., Wagner et al, 2021), and the role of voluntary organizations in participatory governance or as democracy-building, bottom-up actors in climate action (e.g., Greenspan et al, 2022; Van Veelen & Eadson, 2019). Two articles address advocacy organizations vis-à-vis the commercial sector (e.g., Odziemkowska, 2022; Spitz et al, 2021).…”

When to Preach About Poverty: How Location, Race, and Ideology Shape White Evangelical Sermons

“…Examining sermons through quantitative and qualitative approaches provide an avenue for understanding more about how religious elites model and speak about prejudicial behavior (Price, Terry, and Johnson 1980). Clergy provide one of the most common sources for elite cues about acceptable behavior, delivered in an environment where boundary setting is not only tolerated, but expected (Boussalis, Coan, and Holman 2021; Brown, Eschler, and Brown 2021; Djupe and Gilbert 2003; Oldmixon, Calfano, and Suiter 2011). Sermons are also a key element of liturgy, religious formation, and identity maintenance (Brown, Brown, and Jackson 2021; Hirschkind 2006; McClendon and Riedl 2019; McClure 2007).…”

“…Clergy provide one of the most common sources for elite cues about acceptable behavior, delivered in an environment where boundary setting is not only tolerated, but expected (Boussalis, Coan, and Holman 2021; Brown, Eschler, and Brown 2021; Djupe and Gilbert 2003; Oldmixon, Calfano, and Suiter 2011). Sermons are also a key element of liturgy, religious formation, and identity maintenance (Brown, Brown, and Jackson 2021; Hirschkind 2006; McClendon and Riedl 2019; McClure 2007).…”