Religious lobbying is changing political focus

The American political landscape has seen a significant increase in religious advocacy groups since 1970, from 40 religious lobbies in Washington to over 200 today, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center. The groups are as dynamic as they are diverse, the study found, and represent everything from traditional American religious groups like Protestants and Catholics to smaller or newer religious movements in the U.S. such as Mormons and Muslims.

These groups have changed the political discourse on issues like gay marriage and abortion, as well as church-state questions like school prayer and aid to parochial schools. But according to leading researcher Allan Hertzke, religious advocacy doesn't end there."In any congressional session, religious leaders will ... be embroiled in battles over food stamps, foreign aid, civil rights litigation, social security, funding for day care, environmental protection farm bills and the list goes on," he said.

Catholic and Evangelical affiliated groups make up the majority of religious lobbies, while two religious minorities — Muslims and Jews — also have a significant lobbying presence compared to other faiths. The study's authors surmise that one reason these groups are so engaged in political advocacy is that as religious minorities, they are concerned with maintaining the ability to practice their religion.

Faith-based lobbying groups don't necessarily fall into one political party, or follow a certain ideological agenda, the study found. Groups like the Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family, for example, advocate for "conservative" principles like the traditional definition of marriage, limited access to abortion, and school choice. Other religious lobby groups have policy objectives that are considerably more "liberal." For example People for the American Way and the United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries advocate for civil rights, same sex marriage, and fair trade.

In Hertzke's book, "Representing God in Washington," a precursor to the Pew study, he warns that it is difficult to peg religious lobbies as wholly conservative or liberal. According to Hertzke, the Catholic Bishops have "in many ways have strategically placed themselves between ideological poles." They take what are widely considered "liberal" positions on certain issues while embracing many of the aims of fundamentalists on conservatives on social issues.