(Clearwisdom.net) A new national poll by Harvard University's
Institute of Politics finds that seven out of 10 American college students
believe religion is somewhat or very important in their lives and morality also
plays an important role in students' political views.
According to the CNSN news report on April 11, the survey of 1,200 college
students was drawn randomly from a national database of nearly 5.1 million
pupils. While a majority believes hot-button issues like abortion, same-sex
marriage and stem cell research are issues of morality, many also agree that the
government's response to Hurricane Katrina, education policy and Iraq war policy
are also questions of morality.
Institute Director Jeanne Shaheen said, "Religion is not only very
important in the lives of college students today, but religion and morality are
also critical to how students think about politics and form opinions on
political issues."
The article says among the findings of the poll are:
-- Religion is important in the lives of college students. Seven in 10
college students say religion is important or very important in their lives.
-- Morality plays a strong role in students' political views. College
students believe many issues at the forefront of political debate today are
closely linked to morality. Not surprisingly, a majority of students agree
somewhat or strongly that hot-button issues like abortion policy (61 percent),
stem cell research (51 percent), and same-sex marriage (50 percent) are
questions of morality.